GTD vs GT3; Lambo Temerario Drive; Lemons Buttonwillow; More
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Concept
performance car of the year
The 'performance car of the year' is a title given to the best sports car based on how well it drives. Different cars are tested to see which one is the fastest and most fun to drive.
Concept
lemon's race
A 'lemon's race' is a fun car race where people use cheap and not-so-great cars. It's more about having a good time than winning.
Car
Ford Ranchero
The Ford Ranchero is a mix between a car and a truck, made a long time ago. It's special because it was one of the first vehicles to combine those two styles.
Car
MGB GT
The MGB GT is a classic sports car made by MG. It has a unique shape and was popular for its fun driving experience.
Part
Buick V8
The Buick V8 is a type of engine made by Buick that has eight cylinders. It's known for being powerful and was often used in various cars.
Term
cubic inch
Cubic inch is a way to measure how big an engine is. A bigger number usually means the engine can produce more power.
Term
liter
A liter is a way to measure how big an engine is, similar to cubic inches. A bigger number usually means the engine can produce more power.
Term
horsepower
Horsepower is a way to measure how powerful an engine is. The higher the horsepower, the faster and more powerful the car can be.
Term
in-line four engine
An in-line four engine has four cylinders lined up in a row. It's a common type of engine that helps cars be both efficient and powerful.
Car
Mazda Miata
The Mazda Miata is a small, two-door car that is really fun to drive. It's known for being light and easy to handle, making it a favorite among people who love sports cars.
Term
aluminum block
An aluminum block is a part of the engine made from aluminum instead of heavier materials like iron. This helps make the car lighter and faster.
Term
VR6
A VR6 is a special kind of engine made by Volkswagen. It has six cylinders that are arranged in a unique way, which helps it fit in smaller cars while still providing good power.
Car
MG
MG is a brand of cars that makes sporty vehicles. They are known for their classic designs and have been popular for many years.
Term
iterations
Iterations are like different versions of a car that get updated or changed over the years to make them better or different.
Term
shock damping
Shock damping is how well a car's shocks control the bumps and movements of the car. Good damping makes the ride smoother and helps the car handle better around corners.
Car
Ford Excursion
The Ford Excursion is a really big SUV that can carry a lot of people and things. It's known for being strong and good for towing heavy loads.
Term
drain plug
The drain plug is a small part that lets you remove oil from the engine for changes. If it falls out, oil can leak out quickly, which is bad for the car.
Term
catastrophic failure
A catastrophic failure means something in the car broke very badly, which can cause a lot of damage and might need a lot of money to fix.
Part
front main seal
The front main seal is a part of the engine that keeps oil from leaking out. If it breaks, oil can spill out, which can cause serious problems for the engine.
Part
drum brakes
Drum brakes are a kind of brake that uses a round drum and brake shoes to stop the car. They are often used in the back of older cars.
Part
live axle
A live axle is a part of the car that helps the wheels move and supports the car's weight. It's often found in cars that send power to the back wheels.
Part
TK5 transmission
The TK5 transmission is a manual gearbox used in some cars, like the Ranchero. It's known for being strong and reliable.
Car
Chevrolet Corvette
The Chevrolet Corvette is a fast and stylish sports car that has been around for a long time. It's famous for being powerful and is often seen as a symbol of American car culture.
Term
gearbox
A gearbox is a part of the car that helps it change gears, which affects how fast the car can go and how much power it has.
Part
bushings
Bushings are small parts that help make the car's ride smoother by connecting different parts of the suspension. They absorb shocks and vibrations to improve comfort while driving.
Part
disc brakes
Disc brakes are round metal plates that help slow down the car when you press the brake pedal. They work better than older types of brakes in many situations.
Term
brake pad backing plate
The brake pad backing plate is a part of the braking system that holds the brake pad in place. If it gets damaged, the brakes might not work properly.
Term
pistons
Pistons in brakes are parts that push the brake pads against the wheels to help stop the car. If they push too hard, they can break other parts of the brake system.
Part
open differential
An open differential is a part of the car that helps the wheels turn at different speeds when going around corners. It can sometimes make it harder for the car to grip the road, especially when turning tightly.
Term
open diffs
An open differential is a part of a car that lets the wheels turn at different speeds. This can be a problem when turning corners quickly because it might not give the best grip on the road.
Part
head gasket
The head gasket is a part of the engine that keeps oil and coolant separate. If it breaks, it can cause serious problems with the engine, like overheating.
Car
Ford Mustang
The Ford Mustang is a popular American car that is known for being powerful and fun to drive. It's a sporty car that many people love because of its cool looks and strong performance.
Car
BMW E36S
The BMW 3 Series is a small luxury car that is known for being fun to drive and comfortable. It's popular among people who want a nice car that also performs well on the road.
Car
Audi RS3
The Audi RS3 is a fast version of a small car called the A3. It's known for being powerful and great for everyday driving while still being exciting.
Car
Volkswagen Golf R
The Volkswagen Golf R is a sportier version of the regular Golf. It has a stronger engine and all-wheel drive, making it great for driving fast and handling well.
Car
John Cooper Works Mini
The John Cooper Works Mini is a sportier version of the regular Mini. It has a more powerful engine and better handling, making it fun to drive.
Car
Volkswagen Golf
The Volkswagen Golf GTI is a sporty version of a small car called the Golf. It's known for being fun to drive while still being practical for everyday use.
Car
Ford Mustang GTD
The Ford Mustang GTD is a powerful version of the Mustang, known for its sporty design and performance capabilities.
Car
Mercedes-Benz AMG GT
The Mercedes-Benz AMG GT is a fancy sports car that is very fast and stylish. It's known for being powerful and luxurious, making it a dream car for many.
Car
Porsche 911 GT3
The Porsche 911 GT3 is a super-fast version of the famous 911 car. It's built for people who love to drive on race tracks and want an exciting experience.
Car
BMW M5
The BMW M5 is a fast and luxurious car that is designed for people who want both comfort and speed. It's known for being really powerful and fun to drive.
Car
Mercedes-Benz SL
The Mercedes-Benz SL is a luxury convertible car that is known for being comfortable and stylish. It's a great car for enjoying sunny days while still being powerful.
Car
Porsche 911 GT3 RS
The Porsche 911 GT3 RS is a super-fast version of the 911 that is made for racing. It's very lightweight and built to be as fast as possible on the track.
LIVE
What's up, everybody? Welcome to The Smoking Tire Podcast. Today's episode is, as always, brought to you by Off The Record. We love Off The Record here at The Smoking Tire. They're looking out for me. They're looking out for you. I know when I'm driving down the road, Off The Record has my back no matter where I am. And what does that mean? It means if I get a ticket, or if you get a ticket anywhere in the United States, don't plead guilty. We get Off The Record like smart people. They'll connect us with a qualified attorney.
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Hey, everybody. Welcome to the show today. I am at Thunder Hill Raceway up in far, far northern California and Zack is at home. We don't like to do the remote shows, but I am in the middle of a 2.5 week trip. And so in this case, it was on the void of all we're doing performance car of the year. And I can talk about that a little bit on this show, but a lot was going on.
I did a thousand mile road trip before I got here,
but I want to hear about Zach Clapman's lemon's race
at where did you race?
But in Buffalo.
Oh, okay.
Okay.
The Ranchero team, Team Jeff Glocker, right?
Team Jeff Glocker and we had dose cars.
So we are, we are team Wavos Rancheros with the Ranchero
and we also had, so the owner of the Ranchero,
his dad had built an MGB GT,
but put a Buick V8 in it.
And I learned that they sold them,
they sold the, they sold these MGs in UK
with this V8 back in the day.
It sold out.
Oh, it was an optional engine
or it was like a custom job thing.
I think it was an optional engine.
It's a 215 cubic inch engine, tiny.
Oh, little.
So tiny, three and a half, what do you have for that?
Three and a half liter of heat, does it sound good?
Dude, it sounds like it's a 400 cubic inch
like a destruction machine.
It is, I don't, someone said it's louder than Ranchero.
My tonight is says otherwise, but it,
it's like, it sounds like a big dog
and then you open the door and you're like,
oh, look at that.
And it makes like 160 horsepower, it's torquy.
It's the, so we have two.
Imagine going through the trouble
of getting a V8 into a car only to end up
with so little power.
What a fucking shame.
I had the same thought except one,
it's like, it's true to this car.
So it's like on brand, we'll say.
The other thing though is that this engine
weighs 50 pounds less than the iron in line four
that came out of it.
It's the Miata problem because that in line four was iron
and this thing is an all aluminum block,
aluminum heads, aluminum everything.
So it's actually significantly lighter.
So it's, it is much quicker
and it's a good moment to machine.
It's just like on the streets,
it sounded like you're going fast
and then a gym walks you.
You know, and lemons, you never know it lemons.
Sometimes the cars look like garbage in their fast.
Sometimes they look fast in their garbage
and everything in between.
So I don't know if that gym was like tuned up or what,
but I'm pretty sure I got walked by a VR6.
Yeah.
Well, let's see, let me, let me screen share
because there's a picture that you should see
that will explain how the week started.
How do I do their screen?
Well, you did send me a picture of a car
that was rather than being on the track
was a part and being worked on.
So that, that set it up early in the weekend.
Right, well, there's, there's two parts to this story.
So let's see, you should be able to see stuff now.
Okay, great.
Yep, yep.
Oh, that's the MG.
It's got a bunch of speed holes in the hood.
They just cut those holes.
I mean, it's for a heat, yeah.
I mean, it does look from this angle, like rather good.
It's a kind of a pretty, is it a full coupe
or is it just off a hard top?
No, full coupe, which I've always wanted to drive.
One of these, I think they look great.
And of course, the one I drive is Frankenstein.
I think they've built it five or 10 years ago.
It's gone through a couple iterations.
It, like jumping ahead, it actually handles great.
The shock damping was really good
until one of the shocks decided to quit the race early,
which we could talk about.
It's very tight inside, like it's small even for me.
Glucker fits, but like your arms are banging into stuff.
It's a very small cockpit.
And steering feedback is good.
But I'll get ahead to, let me just show you this real quick.
So that looks like Jeff's Montero on a trailer.
Yeah, so I'm driving up there.
Please tell me the fucking ran,
Cheryl is towing the trailer.
No, it's being towed by the coolest,
best zombie apocalypse excursion in the world.
So unfortunately for Jeff, on the way up there,
he went to get gas off in Gorman, basically for people listening.
This was like an hour into a three hour drive
and he looks under the car
and there's lots of oil to quote him,
falling from the vehicle.
And too much oil to drive.
So Tim, the guy that owns the chair.
Did he just lose the drain plug or is this a catastrophic failure
of some kind?
Well, you know, we go pick up the car
and you got a bunch of mechanics at lemons.
We got two days where like we could probably fix
whatever's happening.
Let's be optimistic.
And then four guys dive under the hood to take a look
and they all pop back out, you know, like water polo players
out of the water and they go.
Front main seal.
So it's not like engine out.
Yeah, and they were willing and then they looked,
they did some research online to see how involved it is
and the answer is extremely.
So the, but we used AAA, like 200 mile limit towing
and see Jeff sent it back down to his house.
So not a great start to a weekend.
And then the joke was, well, Jeff's car sacrificed itself
to the maintenance gods.
So maybe the cars will run well all weekend.
Sure, sure.
That's like, that's, that's good like car guy math.
It's total car guy math, right?
Yeah, yeah.
So Saturday, I went out for this angle.
You just, Zach just pulled up a picture of this fucking MGB
at a front three quarter.
That's a tough looking little car.
Dude, it's such a good looking car for people
just doing it with MGB GT.
They got a great hat shape, very small car.
And it sits right.
Yeah, good stance.
Good, everything.
Most of them in stock, they would sit too high
and the wheels were too small.
This looks like the wheels had been plus one
and it's at the correct ride height.
And that really, really looks good.
I was so stoked.
What does it has?
It has drum brakes in the rear.
It's got a live axle.
It's got a TK5 trans just like the Ranchero,
which I think is becoming one of my favorite
trans missions with, with the right shift lever.
It's like you can shift it quicker than a Corvette,
but it feels really precise.
It is a great.
Yeah, that's a fox body gearbox.
Yeah, they're good.
Like with good bushings and stuff.
Yeah, I'm not trying to put like 800 horsepower through one.
If you've got like sub 300 horsepower,
a T5 is lovely.
I really liked it.
And both cars have the same one.
It felt familiar.
But each car has its little asterisk caveats.
How to drive the vehicle?
We'll say.
So a bunch of the guys on the team
have driven this car before,
and they're explaining to me,
I think the night before, they're like,
all right, so when you hit it,
when you get on the brakes,
you have to press the brakes twice.
And I go, what are you talking about?
And there's some, I don't remember
or understand the interaction that's happening,
but at the front, the fronts are discs, the rears are drums.
At the front, there's some sort of like spring plate
that catches.
And if you just press the brake pedal once,
you only activate the rear brakes.
So every time you brake, Matt Ferra,
on this course of 12 turns, whatever it is,
you have to double tap the brake pedal.
So you do like a quick press.
That's crazy.
I agree.
You do a quick press.
And then you do,
and then you brake the way you would normally brake and apply it.
So, that was insane.
Why would it anybody build a car like that?
Well, they ended up here,
and they've tried to fix it.
Lemons, for so many people,
it's like, you know, they build the thing all year or whatever,
they don't test it and then they go out and they try it
and it doesn't work.
So last time they ran this car,
the pistons were so strong that they somehow pressed
through the brake pad backing plate and the pad,
like cut holes in it, like Swiss cheese.
And that was all very scary.
So, you know, Tim's a good driver and he was out there
and he's like, all of a sudden I had no front brakes
and we learned why.
So, yeah, that's wild.
You know, they put a new plate thing on it
and now you have to do this double brake thing.
And it was so funny that all the guys in the team were like,
yeah, that's what you do.
You know, it's like, yeah, it's weird.
It's not great, but it's like kind of fun.
And yes, it is kind of fun.
You just accept that you have to do this.
And I went out first session Saturday.
I started the race, which is a really fun way
to do lemons because your speeds aren't super high yet
because there's a lot of traffic,
but you get to manage traffic and you pass a lot of people.
There's just a lot happening.
There's a lot of yellow flags happening also
which is gets a little annoying.
Yeah, I mean, someone always fucking does something
real stupid at the start.
And so the first thing is to avoid that,
but then it's like, you know,
it's mayhem for about four or five laps
until people settle into a pace.
Yeah, I think I call the first 30 minutes
getting to know the corner workers
because each corner worker gets to wave their yellow flag
at a different time.
There were so many cars going off,
but then like the herd fins out of it.
So I'm driving this thing and I'm doing the double tap
and it's like a silly gimmick, but it's working.
And it's got good grip except out of tight corners,
it's a open diff.
And so yes, it has no power, but the torque is like pretty good.
So you got to be really gentle on throttle.
And I'm sitting there like coming out of the S's
and just feeling the slip happen and letting off.
And I'm going McLaren deserves so much credit
for their electronics to make an open diff work.
So yeah, because this is the mechanical version.
And it's just one of the big hamstrings on this car.
Yeah, I mean, you're just really disappointed
with this car.
It started off looking so great.
And now it's got these stupid brakes and open diffs.
Well, I'm very quickly wanting,
not wanting to drive this thing before.
But there's only a few corners where the diff is an issue.
The rest of it, like the high speed corners,
it's awesome.
The shock damping, like I was taking the S's
and the back of the button will flat out,
hidden each side a little bit, it's not disturbed.
It was a really fun handling car.
And the team afterwards, like we all agreed,
like fixing the brake thing would be great.
The problem with the diff is to change the diff,
you then have to change like the rear braking,
it's as spacious as like there's a lot of knock-on effects
of changing that thing because this car is so old.
You can't just like, I mean, maybe you could buy
a really expensive diff to put in it,
but the owner was basically saying,
if I put a posi in the back, now I have to reconfigure
where the shocks go.
Now I have to reconfigure this, now I have to change that.
So that's why it's more complicated.
I mean, they're well aware that that's a problem,
but everything's going great.
I did like a two hour, 15 minutes stint,
and I think around two hours a long stint, wow.
I did two long stints each day, or one long stint each day.
And the only, so I'm managing this double brake system,
and I feel like I'm playing drums,
like double base type of situation with Lamb of God
or whatever, and I'm coming through bus stop,
which if people are listening, it's low right,
and then there's a left and another left that tightens.
And for some reason, this brake system
gets more upset under high speed, left hand corners.
And a double tap is not sufficient.
It needs a triple tap.
So I come at the bus stop, and I do the double thing,
and I have no front brakes,
and then I'm overcooking it,
and then I try to hit the brake again.
And then I just full on spin, but on, stay on the track.
I just, just come into a stop,
and I gotta tell you, one of the most unique views
I've ever had is looking out the passenger window,
and you just see race cars coming towards you,
and I go, oh, this is not good.
Oh, yeah, this is really bad.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
No one hit me, I didn't get black flag,
because I stayed on the track,
which is an advantage of this tiny, tiny car.
But that was basically the end of my stint anyway,
and I went in and I was like, man, this thing is so fun,
but these brakes suck.
Like, yeah, I mean, that's just like,
like when, like, I like when cars are a little different,
you gotta do something different,
like the dumb little red knob on the banks,
and all that stuff,
but if you're talking about actual wheel to wheel racing,
going for it, we can't have to have pumping of brakes.
I mean, that's just, that's crazy shit.
I mean, I think it's more common at lemons than you think,
but I agree with you, it's like,
this is a fundamental safety system.
Yeah.
So hopefully they work out because the car is fun.
The owner, I mean, the whole team jelled so well,
it was so much fun.
And we all just accepted this kind of silly thing.
It's not gonna place in class,
but it's a riot to drive when it's going.
Oh, but okay.
So it wasn't that hot yet,
but the guy, he made two marks on the gauges,
on the oil temp and the water temp.
And he's like, if it gets up to yellow,
just, you know, back it down a bit,
shift early, yeah, yeah.
So it's getting really warm on the water side
through my whole stint.
And then I start up shifting really early,
and I'm cruising the whole track in fourth.
Oil comes down, water doesn't.
This story continues through the day,
and one of the other drivers,
it overheats basically well past where it should have been.
So that's when I sent you a photo
because we, after lots of diagnostic checks,
because everyone's just going,
let's check this before we decide it's a head gasket.
Let's check this before we decide it's a head gasket.
Well, we did all those diagnostic checks,
and wouldn't you know what the doctor says?
It's a head gasket.
So that's when I think I sent you this photo
and we start pulling out the part.
So we had to change the head gasket, starting it around.
I think 5 p.m.
I think we kind of ground it out
and kept adding water and stuff till four,
and then we realized it was just a fundamental problem.
We hadn't worked the heads or anything,
but yeah, so basically Jeff's sacrifice did not work.
So did that car get repaired in time
for the next day's race?
Yes, and then it ran the entire next day at about,
I think about 3 p.m. it came in a glucker drove it
and he comes in and he goes, feels bouncy.
Well, all right, let's take a look and we look under it
and one of the rear left shock is hanging down
from the top it come off.
So the owner of the car and myself spend like half an hour
just like threading this bolt and the nut looks messed up
and whatever and we torque this shit out of it,
we get it mounted back up with new hardware
and it goes back out.
And then I think about half an hour later,
we get a call that it feels weird again
and Ted, the owner, he pulls in and we look at it again
and now half the shock is gone.
So the bolt had backed out again
because the bottom half just fell out.
Well, I think that bottom half caught on like a curb.
He's like, I was like, I went over a curb
and I heard a sound or like I bet you did.
So we had half a shock.
So I think we didn't retire the car then
we were just like, oh, he's gonna be weird out there.
So man, I think it was described as being someone said
it's just unpredictable now,
so you don't wanna go too fast.
So I was very lucky.
I drove it first and it was good
and then everyone else had to drive it with these problems.
So you drove both, you got lucky in both stints.
You got to have two real stints
before real the real fucking shit went down, huh?
Yeah, I drove Ranchero.
Same thing, I opened the race on Sunday.
I did like two 20, two hour 20 minute stint
and then we actually ended up getting third in class.
So everyone drove long stints to just minimize
our driver changes.
And the Ranchero, they fixed the problems from Thunder Hill.
This truck fucks.
It is fast, it is so loud.
I have so much tonight is two days later
and it like it sticks well.
What are you guys using all year piece comms?
Yeah, I have foam earpiece comms,
but after this trip I'm gonna buy the custom molded things
because yeah, I was gonna say that's where you
did you have anything?
Well, I have the foam things that have the speaker in them,
which I thought were pretty good,
but my ears were ringing for like a full 40 hours
more than they normally do
and I immediately got home and started looking up
those custom molded things, they're expensive,
but this truck is like, it's like a dyno room
in a mailbox.
I mean, it's a good like high revving-ish
small block forward, but it's a tin can truck
and I just didn't realize, even with those things in
I drove for two hours straight and man,
my head was like messed up, so yeah.
That's not great, but it was fun, other than that.
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Dude, it was so fun.
And then the rear tires started getting hot
and the air expands.
And the thing went from being lightly oversteery
to oversteering everywhere.
By the end of the day,
we had like a totally bald rear tire.
And I think Tim, the owner, he finished the day
and he's like, man, this thing does go through tires.
And I was like, well, some of us might have been
over driving the vehicle a little bit.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I wanted to beat the fastest guy on our team.
He beat Jeff and I wanted to get close to him.
And I think I was just trying to figure out
how to make this non-ABS tin can stick.
And it was really hard to tell when you went
from like threshold breaking to sliding.
It was very hard to detect the lock up.
So that was a little tough.
But dude, it was so much fun.
It's got a new steering box.
Like it drove like a really fun, slightly taller Mustang.
And it was cool.
It was fast.
I got some fun video of like passing two people at once,
like splitting down between people.
On one straight away, Tim, the owner,
was watching from the tower.
And I guess I went four wide with three other cars
down the main straight.
And he said, he's watching me.
He goes, Zach makes mark decisions.
Makes mark decisions.
He's like four wide on the front straight.
Oh, shit.
So dude, it was a blast.
And it feels like vintage racing in the present
with that thing.
There are people out there in E36s and all manner of stuff.
Couple of rolling chicanes.
Some newbies out there.
I don't want to name the car they're in.
But when people are new and they follow the racing line
exactly and they have no awareness of what's around them,
try not to be that person.
You are in the way.
Yeah.
So it was an app.
You're going to go slow.
You really need to be in your mirrors
and pointing people by or whatever.
Putting yourself offline in places
where there's room to do that.
Yeah, well, the perfect example.
There was an old like a 60s fiat there.
And they stayed in the left side of the track.
The whole lap, they were out there all weekend.
They knew their place.
And they were just turning laps out of the way.
And they were predictable AF.
But this other car was like following.
Like someone had drawn them a map of the Absolute Apex line.
And they would refuse to deviate.
And it caused some interesting moments for everybody.
So it sucks.
Yeah.
Well, I'm glad that's fun though.
Cheap racing is very fun if your car works properly.
Yeah.
And I mean, the Ranchero had problems at Thunder Hill,
but it worked all weekend flawless.
We were in contention for second for a while.
And it was rad.
That car was really fun.
Cool.
That's a good time.
Nice.
Cool.
Well, that's a good weekend.
I like that very much.
And as Glocker since figured out what's wrong
with his Montero or no.
Well, I think he needs a new front main seal,
but it's just like, it's just expensive, you know.
They have to pull off his water pump.
Basically, they have pulled off the front of the motor.
They don't think they have to take the engine out, maybe.
But they have to take the grill off.
I think you have to take the cam out.
It didn't cause further notable damage though.
No, because it got towed everywhere.
So yeah.
All right, cool.
Sweet.
Well, I did the road and track experiences event.
It's called the seaside to Sierra.
We started in San Francisco.
We went to Sonoma Raceway.
Got a full day at Sonoma.
Some back roads out to Grass Valley, which
is a very cute little town in northern California.
And then we ended in Tahoe, which is fabulous.
The Ritz Carlton.
And I drove the new Audi RS3, with performance back.
There's a couple photos of it on my Instagram in Kailami,
green.
Kailami, green.
The RS3, this is such an interesting car,
because when I drove it on the launch in Spain,
I was like, this is awesome.
I love it.
And then I drove this green one here.
And I didn't love it so much.
It has, unlike the European cars,
it doesn't have the really good seats.
It's got the basic seats.
It has the square steering wheel
that I didn't like on the launch
and that I'd like even less now.
And I've found at Sonoma that when I
tried to drive it beyond the limit,
meaning like use the torque rear mode
to slide it around and stuff, it'll do it.
It does do it, but it doesn't do it predictably.
When I find when you have cars that use technology
to overcome physics, like this is an all-wheel drive car,
but it's a front wheel drive based all-wheel drive car,
which can never really behave like a rear-wheel drive car,
or even like a Subaru with true symmetrical all-wheel drive.
It uses tech to send power to the rear,
but because the motor is so boosted
and because there's so many like software and sensors,
like telling torque to go all over the place,
it doesn't do the same thing every time you do.
Ever I'm going around a course
and I'm trying to slide this corner the same way,
it doesn't respond to the same way to the same inputs each time.
And that was a little frustrating, and also I wasn't super stoked
on the ride.
I found it to be a little harsh.
Having said that, at the end of the trip,
we then got it here to Thunder Hill and in context
of the other sub-100,000 dollar offerings here at Peacote
at Thunder Hill, which is a John Cooper Works mini
and the Volkswagen Golf R. In context of those cars,
I liked it a lot better on this track.
I also found that in the lower speed corners of Thunder Hill West
versus the higher speed corners of Sonoma,
the torque rear mode and the slidey bits
did happen a little more predictably.
And so I'm starting to come back around to it,
maybe a little more.
And even after this big group test,
I'm driving it to Monterey to play golf with my dad
and then I'm driving it all the way home.
So I'm driving like another 1,000 miles in this thing
once this test is done.
So by the time we're done, I'll have driven like 2,500 miles
in this thing, which is pretty nuts to think about
from one press car.
What is the difference in, I guess,
its slide behavior or rear end behavior?
Do you think it's less predictable on the road
because you're not as committed to whatever that moment
is versus at the track, like in my misunderstanding?
Well, first off, I was not trying to slide it on the road.
I don't know what to say about that.
Yeah, I'm talking about at Sonoma Raceway
versus at Thunder Hill Raceway West.
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So Noma is twice as long.
It's over three miles long.
It's got really big elevation and it's got really fast corners.
Thunder Hill is just under two miles long
and most of the corners where you would do a slide
are slower than the ones at Sonoma.
And so anyway, and the surface is different
and there's less elevation and so I don't know
the track is just, it just behaves a little differently here
than it did at the other place.
And so I find that interesting.
Ultimately, I think this is a really nice car
if you really need a car to do it all.
Summer, winter, race track, canyon, daily drive, road trip,
get your family around.
It really executes at a very high level.
It's fast, the brakes are great, the tech is not too overwhelming,
although I hate the haptic buttons on the steering wheel.
I hate the steering wheel period, the square steering wheel
and the buttons on it, just rip that out
and find a Q8 steering wheel.
And you're done, thank you, good night.
That's about the perfect steering wheel.
A Q8 or RS Q8 steering wheel.
But for, you know, $75,000, $80,000, it is a lot of car.
It's 180 mile an hour car.
Yeah, and so it's, and people love it on the street.
People are a lot of thumbs up, people are digging it.
So it does have a presence on the street.
So yeah, it's funny, as I keep driving it
and doing more things with if this car,
my opinion on it is like changing.
It's kind of why it's like, it's really important
to do these like big group tests.
It provides such like important context to cars.
I mean, I don't, I can't give away what, whatever,
what I don't know what the winner of performance car
of the year is going to be.
I have driven all the cars on the track now,
not everybody has their, they're still, they're still going.
And I'm going to go back and drive more in a little bit.
But, but, you know, when I, when you drive a car in isolation,
versus driving a car back to back with some of its competitors,
you start to realize that maybe things that you thought
about the car originally were not necessarily not accurate,
but without the context, we're not really complete thoughts.
And so, you know, we have the Mustang GTD here.
We have the Corvette ZR1 here.
We have the new Lamborghini Tamerario here.
And we've got the John Cooper Works Mini, the Golf R,
the RS3, we've got the AMG GT Pro.
We've got the 911 GT3 with a stick, comfort seats,
and steel brakes, which is interesting.
Well, I think I have a couple.
Yeah.
It's like when we drive cars in isolation,
it's kind of in a vacuum or the, the scale is in present,
I guess, so we can go, oh, the steering is great.
Then you drive other cars and you go,
oh, actually, that steering is better
because I was able to experience them back to back.
So maybe what I thought was great is actually good.
Right.
But I'll just give you one.
I spent a week and a half telling everybody
how good the Mustang GTD takes carbon.
How good the ride is in the track.
I said it to you over and over, didn't I?
Well, guess what?
Doesn't take them like a ZR1 does not even close.
Wow.
And it doesn't mean it's bad,
but what I thought was a beautiful riding car
in isolation compared with some other stuff.
Not actually, not actually.
And it doesn't mean slow,
it doesn't mean that it doesn't,
it still does a lot of things super, super well.
But yeah, I mean, I drove like four
really quick front engine cars yesterday
and then I got in the GT3, you know?
And like, I drove the GTD for, no,
I drove, excuse me, I got out of the Mercedes AMG
and into the GT3.
And the Mercedes, the GT Pro is much sharper
than the last AMG GT.
It has super light forged wheels,
it has a retune suspension, retune braking system.
Everything is much, much more focused
to be a better driver's car.
And those efforts are largely very successful.
And that car turns in really nicely
for a heavy front engine car,
really does turn in great.
And then you drive a GT3.
And you go, oh, no, actually,
I thought that was great, turn in.
But actually, the GT3 is, you know,
and I said to you the other day,
you know, and I actually wrote in my GTD review
for road and track that the car is 4,400 pounds
but does not feel it.
You can't feel that it's that heavy.
I'll tell you what,
if you'll do about 12 laps in a GT3,
and then you get in a GTD,
it is every fucking pound of 4,400 pounds.
Right.
Does that mean it's not very fast or very capable?
No.
But my calibrator, you know,
if I drove a Mustang dark horse to Chuck Walla
in order to lap a GTD.
So compared to feeling a dark horse,
it does not feel like it's much more heavy
than a regular Mustang, which it is.
Because of the technology,
they mask the weight of its, the weight gain of itself.
But compared to an actually light car,
like a GT3, which I believe is under 3,300 pounds,
it's, yeah, it's really obvious how heavy it is.
It's, and how huge.
It doesn't mean it's not awesome,
but it is enormous.
Yeah, it is enormous.
I mean, the GT3 is not a small vehicle either.
The GT3.
No, but in this company it does look small.
The GT3 parked next to a ZR1,
a GTD, the AMG Pro,
and not necessarily the Huracan,
or the Temerario, which is a smaller car,
but compared to some of those other ones,
the GT3 does seem small.
And they have it, it's white,
but it has these and dial graphics package on it.
It's actually like pretty slick looking,
I'm kind of into it.
So, I'll just give you like,
I don't know, you know, this is a group test
that's decided by group voting and lap times.
And I'm not driving the lap times.
Mike Austin is setting the lap times,
but Jeff Rose not here this year,
he's doing top here, that's why Mike Austin
is doing the lap times.
But that means I'm doing the slides.
So, I have been elected chief drifter
in absence of somebody from England.
They're very good at that.
Dude, that's rad, that's the dream.
That's my dream, at least.
That is actually, no, it is actually,
because like people read the lap times,
they see the lap times,
but they get to see me like,
you know, the smoky smoke.
Oh, me of the M5 touring,
which I forgot to mention earlier.
So, that's another one.
We had it in LA, kind of hated it.
Out here with a racetrack,
kind of a different story.
I mean, with a racetrack,
that thing fucking hauls the mail proper.
And I mean, you,
it's by far the best sliding car we have here.
And because it has PSS-5s and not like sticky-ass,
you know, fake slicks,
it gets mega smoky.
Once we're done recording this,
I'll post the clip on my Instagram.
They just fucking got out, can I?
It's not worth,
maybe I can actually pull it up now and just show it.
Can I?
Yeah, hit the share button.
Does that work?
And yeah, all right, we'll just, we'll try this.
Allow to share, oh, no, sorry.
I'm bad at this.
I'm bad at this.
Share entire screen.
Is that how this works?
Oh boy.
I, I don't know what I just did,
but I don't know how to do it.
Oh, you just need to show a different window.
All right, whatever.
I'm, okay.
I'm gonna put it on Instagram
by the time everyone else can see this.
I'm sorry.
I'm not, I can't be trusted with this technology.
So anyway, it's a group test,
and we haven't driven the cars on the road yet.
So I haven't even made my opinion yet of all the cars.
I mean, there's cars that can be great on the track
and completely fall apart on the road,
which is what we saw, I don't know if it was last year
or the year, last year I think with the dark horse Mustang,
which was, it was so fun on the track
and then it was really just beat everybody up on the road.
So it was a doubt, there was that.
So, so that we're gonna see what happens later,
but I'll go through all the cars real quick
and just give you my quick vibes on them.
The John Cooper works many.
They have fully, I think, transitioned to this
being coming a luxury car.
I mean, it's automatic only, it's soft,
it has a glass roof, it has massage seats.
What?
And it does not, yeah, and it has no like real diff or in it.
So, you know, as a small pseudo luxury car,
it is reasonably successful,
but as a real sports car, I don't think,
I don't think that's it.
The new Golf R, which has what's called
a Euro style package on it, which is a dumb name
for an actually functional minus 80 pound light weighting kit.
Slick top, cloth manual seats, better wheels
and an Acro exhaust and after driving the Mini,
the fucking Golf feels like I'm a clarinet.
I mean, yeah, I haven't wanted to recommend the Golf R
to somebody in a long time,
but I think this Mark 8.5 with the Euro style,
I want to get one at home,
but I was very impressed with it on the track.
It offered a lot of what the RS3 offers
for a much cheaper price point,
and actually has a better ride than the RS3 as well,
although it's clearly not as fast.
But a really tight package,
and yeah, you can't get the manual with the Golf R anymore,
and that's a bummer because manuals are good,
but Volkswagen's manual wasn't that good.
I preferred this car with the DSG
or whatever they're calling their DCT now before, anyway.
We have just talked about the RS3.
The M5 touring, so many modes, so much tech,
I'm not particularly interested in it as a road car.
I, we talked about it a lot before,
it doesn't really do it for me on the road,
but it's fucking fast on the track.
The rear wheel drive mode is so much power to the rear wheels.
When I went out to start doing sliding things with it,
a DSC off, you don't want to put it in Sport Plus
because it makes it too much,
too sensitive on the throttle, so I put Sport,
put everything in the middle, but then off, right?
And when you, you can rotate it on the entry,
it's got really good brakes,
you could shift the weight forward,
rotate it on the entry when you're loaded up.
But what I tell you, Zach,
that in order to do a slide in this car,
we're talking about dry tarmac,
we're talking about good tires.
You need to modulate, initiate, and modulate
with somewhere between one and five percent throttle.
Any more insta-spit, insta-spit.
Yeah, I mean, if you want to,
if you want to drift with more throttle than that,
leave it in four-wheel drive.
You put in four-wheel drive Sport,
and if you want to fucking do one of these,
you can absolutely get angle and get crossed up on it.
But if you want big smoke, it's rear-wheel drive,
medium sensitivity, and the lightest amount of throttle
your right foot can manage.
And you can,
I mean, what the wheel speed was at that point.
Top of third gear.
It's all third gear.
You're not in set.
If you try and do a slide in second gear,
you're insta-spit.
It's all third gear,
because with the hybrid assist,
the battery comes into play as well.
And it helps torque fill at the bottom
so you can just get it in the third.
Yeah.
Silly, silly, silly car.
And once I figured out how little throttle it really took,
it became quite rewarding.
Temerario is the same.
Temerario is a five percent throttle position
in order to slide.
I wonder if that's a unique challenge
to hybrid assisted things
because they're like the hybrid system is trained
to add a ton of torque down low and weight to help
distract you while the turbo's good going.
So you're just at low throttle input.
You're getting a ton of electric torque.
And that's a big hard.
It depends how,
like for instance, Temerario,
which has a three motor hybrid system
with a V8 that revs to 10,
which is awesome.
Twin turbo V8, the revs to 10.
But in the same situations,
it's a second gear move in the Temerario
because you actually do need to have the revs up higher.
You can't boot it at 2,500 RPM
and have that big torque like you'd have in the M5.
Peak torque, I don't know the number,
but it's like 7,000 area-ish RPM.
It's very high.
So when you're running laps in the Temerario,
the, I don't think the revs go below five once.
Wow.
Yeah, that car is fucking something.
I mean, remember how awesome Revuelto was?
Yeah.
Take that same exact system,
put it in a smaller car.
That's fantastic.
That's a fucking monster.
It's like 907 horsepower
with the magic front end
that comes from having two motors up there.
It goes to 10.
It sounds fabulous.
I mean, it picks up,
I think, where Ferrari left off
in the V8 department.
The exhaust, my God, I put on.
It sounds really, really good.
It doesn't sound...
There's room on the table for the aftermarket
on the outside of the car.
It's not super loud outside the car.
Inside the car, it sounds great.
That's a good color.
That sort of blueish color.
The one we have here is like an Irish green
and it fucking rips.
It's really nice.
I will say that under breaking,
this car rotates fabulously.
Really, really great.
And it has a very neutral balance at the mid corner.
When you feed in throttle,
unless you set it up for a slide,
it will push a little bit.
But that's okay.
I think you can use that push sometimes.
And it does have...
I think it looks very nice above the midpoint,
but if you look at the front,
I think it's been to the front, Zach.
So the...
See this?
In this photo or rendering or whatever,
the entire lower mouth is just pretty much black here.
The... In reality, it's a very gray piece of plastic
with a lot of like sensors and stuff in it.
And it's like kind of full of things and busy.
And this is a...
This is a incredibly complimentary photo
or rendering of the car that I don't think represents
what the actual front-end looks like.
Well, it looks like the front has a huge black rectangle
and then it's flanked by these radar cruise control sensors.
Right.
And yeah, it's just gonna put this.
Look, I'm gonna show you this.
It's not ideal, but just up to the camera,
how this looks in real life.
There, look. There you go.
That, so see that?
Yeah.
That is not just an empty black thing.
That's actually quite busy.
Yeah, there's a lot of things and vents and things.
Yeah, I mean, it's a cleaner design than the Revolto,
which thought was...
I mean, it's an adventure door successor.
It's very aggressive, but this looks moral in line
with like the Lamborghini version of a 296
and I think the front end of the lights are closer to that.
So it's gonna be more subtle or a little more tame,
but if it's still ripped and that's perfect.
It would not keep me from purchasing this car
if I was in the market.
It was, it was, this car is a serious, serious piece
of hardware and I didn't really,
the whole, that's like the color of it in the green,
which is just fantastic.
Yeah, the sticker on this is $568,000.
What?
Yeah.
This one has the light weighting package,
which is 73 grand, a bunch of carbon.
The paint is 20K.
Yeah, and I mean, and there's a bunch of nickel and dimey,
you know, carbon this contrast stitch that blah, blah, blah,
everything is four figures.
Every option is four figures.
But I think between, look, I'm not saying it's just,
this is silly money.
This is money for people that are not us.
You know, it doesn't, what's the difference
if it's three or five, we can't fucking afford it.
You know what I mean, but, you know, what they,
when I saw the sticker and I went,
ah, I like, I literally like,
yeah, and they were like, what?
I was like, this is $568,000.
And they're like, yes, well, bless you.
I said, honestly, I was expecting maybe a four,
you know, I think the Huracans, you know,
started with a two, most sold with a three.
I figured this would be a four.
Wow, so, but you know, they were like,
well, you know, the increase in performance
and then, you know, the inflation
and, you know, I mean, I go, yeah, okay, I hear you,
but still fucking yikes.
It's a, well, that, you know,
everything's any more expensive like beef prices.
Everything is like, you know,
nearing all time highs or worse.
But that creeps up, but we go from like car model
to car model, so the jump, it's funny
that it's almost like more glaring to us in this job
because I go, why is this gone up $200,000?
Yeah, so it's a big number and apparently
they have a year and a half waiting list.
So the fuck do I know, you know,
this rear view that you've just pulled up
is pretty exceptional, honestly.
I mean, you see so much of the rear tire
when you're behind this car.
You really do.
I mean, it seems like it would need mud flaps
till, you know, in some states.
Yeah.
I'm truly looking at the back end.
I think we are seeing more than 50%
of the rear tire vertically.
You are really, yeah.
You're seeing where it goes beyond perpendicular
and starts to curve into the top.
You can see just that bit.
That's wild.
It's really crazy.
Yeah, but, and I've only had, you know,
I just, I did maybe 10 laps in the Temerario.
I haven't, I'm going to drive it some more
and drive it on the street.
I'm very excited.
I'm excited to get one in LA to try as well.
But fuck me, what a car.
I mean, it's the Revuelto, but smaller,
which is like awesome.
Yeah, that's a wild thing.
Yeah, cool.
So that's great.
GTD, I've talked about a lot.
The AMG, I did just talk about a little bit before.
It is much more driver-focused, the new AMG Pro.
I can't wait to try it on the street.
I think it's more of a trackable street car
than a streetable track car.
There's still some stuff about it I don't love.
It does not like being driven beyond the limit.
It gets all kinds of fucking unhappy if you try and slide it.
It is very difficult to turn off traction control all the way.
And even then, I'm not really sure
that it actually is all the way off.
Having said that makes a great sound.
The seats are great.
It looks beautiful.
Mercedes has done a hell of a job starting with that SL.
We drove two years ago and then
to end up where they are now.
And I think it's a, even though it's very expensive,
it's like 170 something thousand dollars.
I think you are much more than halfway
to a Bentley for less than half the price of a Bentley GT.
I don't love the touchscreen stuff I never have,
but driving dynamics, as long as you don't plan
to over drive the car for fun, then it's great.
It stops great, it turns in great.
It's got a great amount of grip.
It takes bumps really well.
The interior holds you nice and snug without being
like a real bucket seat.
A lot of great things about that car.
Was the Bentley speed better at the limit than the AMG?
Yeah, wow.
Yeah, it is.
It was.
I mean, the Bentley fucking drifts awesome.
That car does really big slides very effortlessly
in a way that was shocking and incredibly pleasing.
This won't do it.
This car is, no one has considered that somebody
might want to drive this beyond the limit.
And they're probably right.
Yeah, I mean, it's nobody except journalists
or people making videos.
Yeah, yeah.
I'm not saying that it can't be slid.
Chris Harris could probably figure out how maybe
Jethro could figure out how.
But it certainly didn't want to cooperate with me.
But as long as you're not intentionally trying to do that,
it was quite a lovely car.
The GT3, we've reviewed the new GT3.
It's just, you just, you drive it in all this other stuff.
It's got less than half the power of the ZR1.
You know, it's got just over half the power
of both the Lambo and the GTD.
It's an updated version of a car that's now five years old.
The engine goes back to 2014, although it's
been refined and improved and has made essentially
the same power output since 2014,
with an incremental increase in weight since then.
And it isn't a, quote, fancy car.
This car had manual cloth seats.
It's a stick shift.
It's got the basic climate control stuff.
I mean, by the standards of these other cars
with their trimotor hybrid stuff,
and this is a very basic car, the only naturally aspirated
engine in our test, the only stick shift car in our test,
and it is just the most joyous thing to use.
I mean, it's, I haven't seen the lap times of anything,
so I actually don't know how fast it went.
But my bet is it will overperform on the racetrack
in terms of a lap time versus a 500 horsepower output
compared to an 890 or 1,000 horsepower car.
It'll overperform this track, which is short.
We'll favor this type of car on a longer track.
The difference would be more pronounced.
But when I lapped everything yesterday,
I drove all the cars, and we finally finished at sunset.
It was time to drive back to the hotel, and I fuck.
Sneaky, sneaky.
When nobody was looking, went out and put my shit
in the GT3 and grabbed the key and put it in my fucking pocket,
so nobody else could take it.
I drove everything all day, and at the end of the thing
is like, I need a drive in that to the hotel
to fucking unwind my mind and make me feel good about the world.
And you drive it, and you go, like, all these other companies,
they're even Porsche.
They're chasing the next power level, the next this.
Porsche has to innovate just to stay the same.
The engine makes the same power output as last year's version,
but it's much, much cleaner.
The emissions are much, much cleaner than last year.
And it makes the same power output as last year,
but a little less torque, but they shorten the gear ratios
so that it actually feels quicker.
So they're doing all this.
They're running to stay in place.
But what ends up happening is the other cars
get more digital, more software defined.
This becomes such a wonderful thing to have
as a sort of permanence.
This car won't age like a computer will.
Right, they're lucky that this car can kind of exist
on its own.
Yes, they offer other cars.
But it's a very unique offering where, like, the M5,
that platform gets shared with the lower five series
and they want them to be fast.
And I think that kind of forces these manufacturers
to make all these hybrid turbo changes.
And also, well, it seems like it's probably easier to go,
OK, well, if we need more power next year than this year,
what do we do?
Add turbos.
Then what do we do next the year after that?
We add more boost.
And you can just keep adding more power
to sell the car to the person who needs the newest fastest
thing.
And Porsche knows that there's a strong enough market out there
that will buy the car that feels very similar,
because that's what we want.
And the C of cars that are constantly changing
and drifting away from a lot of the fundamentals
of driving joy, Porsche goes, yeah, we'll
keep selling that thing.
Makes sense, you know.
And it's just, you know, from the turn
in to the shifter feel, to the firmness of the brake pedal,
to the balance and the way it takes,
I mean, it just does everything right.
There's nothing about this car that it doesn't do right.
You know, it may not have torque because it doesn't have turbos.
And it may not be as fast around the track
because it only has six years and not eight.
And you have to shift them yourself and blah, blah, blah.
And I do not care one bit.
It is the kind of car where you buy one today
and you drive it for 20 years.
And you don't have the urge to upgrade to the next thing.
It's a real, real treat to get to lap
one of those around a track.
And so it's the GT3.
You drive it and you go, this is, I know.
Now I know why everybody wants one.
No one can get one.
And it's the thing that pretty much everyone who loves sports
cars says they're looking for.
Yeah, like exactly.
Pretty much.
And then, yeah.
And then, of course, the ZR1, which I was probably
more excited to try this week than anything else.
I haven't driven on the street yet.
Ironically, now after driving it,
and I don't want to take away anything
from any of the hard working people
who design and engineer this car.
But it's one of those cars I could have written the review of
without driving it.
It doesn't mean it's incredibly exciting.
It's incredibly fast.
But as Z06 was 2458, ZR1 is 2488.
It is that change.
There's more grip, more downforce.
MI capable of pushing the Z06 to its absolute limit
to the point where the incremental difference is
feelable, I am not.
And I think most of the chassis hardware
is the same between two cars.
There's obviously a lot of cooling and stuff
for the turbo motors.
And there's some more scoops and things.
But the steering feel, the braking feel, all of those things
are very, very similar between the Z06 and the ZR1,
at least as far as I don't have a Z06 right here to compare to.
I have to go to the last one I drove.
And to be honest, I'm sure that when we had Z06
at Performance Car of the Year, it was not at this track.
So I don't think we have a direct Z06 time
to compare to at this track.
Although we do have an e-ray time to compare to.
I don't know if that makes a difference.
But the point being is, on this two mile Thunder Hill West
track, there isn't a whole lot of difference in pace
or experience between 670 and 1080 horsepower.
I mean, yes, it's fucking poles.
It's an animal that pulls and it's a fabulous engine.
And it's a fabulous thing to use on a racetrack.
No matter what you're doing, I mean, grip, slip.
It does, really nice, very sticky, fabulous front end,
fabulous ride and handling and body control does everything well.
Too well.
You're like, it's one of those, like, you're
fucking, you're selling this to people.
That's crazy.
But at the same time, I'm not sure that on anything less
than an enormous racetrack, I could really go much quicker
because you're just, you're at the end of the fucking
straight so far.
Right, right, right.
And with in almost every mode, in every gear up to fourth,
it pulls timing if you go flat.
The PTM is amazing.
And it doesn't kill the driving experience.
But you don't have full power in that car
if there is any kind of system on until, like, fourth gear.
Right, so if the PTM is pulling all this power,
it's almost like, is PTM reducing your power down
to 0.6 levels to keep you on the track?
At which point, like you said, a lot of the turns
and short straightaways, you're actually
going the same as 0.6 until you get those big straights
that you would really get to make up the difference.
Sure.
Over 100 miles an hour, I'm sure the difference
is more pronounced.
There's only one place on this circuit where even a fast car
can go over 100 miles an hour.
And it's only like 120 or 125.
It's not a particularly long track, sorry, just isn't.
So at road America, yeah, more difference there for sure.
At this track, not really much difference, which is OK.
It's still a very exciting car.
It still fucking sounds great and goes fast
and has great dynamics all around, just like the 0.6 did.
And this one, that we're driving,
has all the go-fast shit on it and the carbon wheels.
And so it's over 200,000.
But just like when we drove the 0.6, you get the one
without all the big wings and without the carbon wheels
as a road car.
And you're under 200K with a hell of a car.
Really fucking hell of a car.
So it is in the long line of Corvette's
that overperformed for their price tag.
Yeah, that's so much power though.
I mean, that's, it is, it's an insane amount of power.
Yeah, it's wild.
And it's probably too much for most people.
But, yeah.
But, you know, it's because it's horsepower of a two-wheel drive.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And, but because it's a Chevy, it also,
you could also just use it as a car.
You know, you can, you can just, it can just be.
I drove it around like just around here
and we're going to drive it on the road.
But like, other than not having a trunk
because it now has a pass through up front like a GT3 RS,
other than that, you still have the back trunk,
which I guess is good.
GT3 RS doesn't have that.
You could just use it as a car.
I mean, every day proper, every day car.
And it will, because it has to meet that same durability
cycle of like the trucks and stuff.
You know, there's no such thing as a Chevy
that isn't a Chevy.
So, you just use it as a car, which is kind of awesome, you know?
And the top comes off on all of them.
Yeah, it offers a lot of crazy psychotic performance value
and value in general.
It's like, it comes with radar crews.
Top off, like, yeah, it's, it's all these features.
Does it, does it look like a Ferrari
or have the procedure stuff?
No, obviously, but it gives you, it takes a lot of good.
Yeah, I think this C8 body style, the more aggressive,
not necessarily with the wing, but the wider body work
and all that stuff.
Even the e-ray, it does make it look much better
than the earlier narrow body cars.
It fixes a lot.
I agree.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I know we have a lot of questions from people,
but I only have about five minutes before I have
to go back to work.
So, should we do one or two, or should we save them
for next time?
Is there anything that's particularly timely
for what we've talked about today?
If it's general stuff, I'm happy to save it
for the next show because I don't want to burn my track time.
This is so much driving this week.
This is a fucking crazy amount of driving.
And I love driving, and I love sports cars, but like, man,
I have been every single night putting the CBD cream
on my elbows just to keep the 10 to 90's at bay.
Anything?
There's nothing about Peacote or anything like that.
So, well, in that case, they can probably wait.
We appreciate you, Patrons, very much.
But I only had a limited time to do this gig today.
I have more tires to destroy at Thunder Hill West.
And we will be back with your regularly scheduled
smoking tire programming once we are back
in the studio next week.
And I certainly appreciate everyone's patience.
Please, if you haven't yet, check out the Zinger 21C video,
which was actually exact.
Did you know we were on trending?
We made it into trending with that.
We did?
We did.
We made it briefly onto trending.
So, it's been a very long time.
So that one's doing well.
Go check it out.
It's crazy.
We have more videos coming in the can as well.
But I really appreciate everyone's patience.
And once I get back to the office,
I will be much, much less stressed, I assure you.
Things have been getting done around here.
Thank you, everybody.
We love you.
See you later.
Bye.
Stop.
About this episode
A lively discussion unfolds as hosts dive into their experiences at Thunder Hill Raceway, covering a range of topics from a lemons race to a road trip in a Lamborghini Tamerario. Zach shares tales from the track, including the challenges of racing an MGB GT with quirky brake issues and the fun of driving a Ranchero. They also compare various performance cars, including the new Audi RS3 and the Porsche GT3, highlighting their unique characteristics and driving dynamics. The camaraderie of racing and the thrill of performance cars are at the heart of this episode.
Original notes
Zack raced some old, loud things at the 24 Hours of Lemons Buttonwillow and tells us about what went right and wrong. Matt is at PCOTY and has spent a lot of time driving some of the best high-performance metal on offer, where he has some new thoughts on the Mustang GTD vs GT3 debate, and is confused by the Audi RS3.
Note: We didn't have enough time for Patron questions so we'll hit those when we return to studio shows next week.
Recorded September 30, 2025
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The Smoking Tire
Zack Klapman, Matt Farah
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