Hot Ones - DWA! Podcast Ep. #905

The Driving While Awesome podcast is recorded live to SD card at the Beeline

Motor Club in Santa Cruz, California.

Where am I?

And where are you?

Can you imagine his head?

I can't see his little head.

Egocidal vehiculum.

There's no doubt.

Correts are fast.

What about the people that put in their fingers over the license?

Keiichi Tuchiya.

Those cars have such a cute little face, you know, it's like a little

like a little salamander or something, you know, I'm riding dirty right now.

Off the record.com.

Fight those tickets.

If you don't win, you don't pay.

All you have to do is download the app, snap a photo of your ticket,

answer a few questions, get matched to an experienced lawyer

and you won't pay for the ticket.

Enter code awesome to get a nice discount.

Welcome to Driving While Awesome.

My name is Warren and I'm Art.

Lane is on assignment in Japan on the Roundcat rally.

Roundcat rally, I think is what it's called.

Officially, so we'll be much conversations and talk of that when he returns.

I think that'll probably just be art and I for two weeks here.

But you know, we'll keep it going.

We'll keep the lights on here.

Lane, Lane can relax out there and drive on the left side of the road

in a tiny car with his homies.

I think we're going to man the fort.

We'll man the fort and I have a feeling if you do follow us

or any of the various accounts related to Driving While Awesome,

you will see some content from Japan.

Oh, yeah, that's just that's just a hunch.

I think there might be a few photos taken during this trip.

Maybe, I don't know.

Maybe he's not going to take any pictures, you know.

I doubt that.

I think mine, mine grapes, just holding it in.

I don't know.

It's very rare to see Lane without a camera in hand, actually.

Like just in general, like he's good at documenting all things, right?

And like there's a couple of people that I know that that are like that.

We're that he's just like he's capturing all the content and that's it takes

some commitment, but it's like part of his, his daily experience now, right?

Grab the camera.

I can envision what he rocks from a strap standpoint, though.

Maybe the Gear Voice podcast.

I mean, if you tune in there, he would talk all about that, but

it's a rope of some kind.

We used to have my homie Finch, who's still one of my best friends.

He was an avid photographer all through our 20s and into our 30s,

mainly landscape and models and fashion, stuff like that.

But always had a camera with him, always traveled with a backpack.

He was that guy.

Yeah, really, really into it.

And then it kind of peter off, but with having somebody in the mix during

travel, like, you know, in those times, it's really fun.

There's a lot of photos now, like our trip to Japan, which was like many years

ago now, he was, you know, all over it.

So we have a lot of great photos of that Europe and it was kind of thing.

Yeah, I was looking at our recently because I was looking at photos of our

UK trip because I was trying to find something from that for, you know,

some rad with things and, uh, and both we had both Matt, Husha, Pushey

and Lane taking the ton of photos.

So we have a ton of great photos of us like walking around in London.

And, you know, it feels like a, it feels like ages ago, but yeah, it was an

epic trip.

Um, yeah, I asked, did you have a camera at that on that trip?

I mean, other than your phone, I don't know if I brought mine.

I can't remember.

Yeah, but I do, I did, but you did take a ton of photos on my phone.

Yeah, I bet you didn't because we would have remembered.

We would have remembered our captain snaps.

I just got a, uh, a message from our rally pal, Nicolain, who lives out in Nevada.

And he sent me a picture of our rally route, uh, today, and it is completely

snowy and highways are closed.

Yeah.

So we were there October 4th was when we did that part of the drive and, uh,

it felt like any moment a storm could roll in and it would be winter.

And that's what happened.

So 10 days ago by the, yeah, yeah, 10 days ago.

And, uh, it's now undriveable.

So the three 95 section that we did is just a plowed and snowy and it's totally

fine.

You can drive it, but the, the fun roads we did are closed and I'm sure they'll

reopen, uh, once the snow melts, if there's a break in the weather and, uh,

they'll be okay for a little while longer before they do a permanent closure,

but then at that point it's out, out, so it feels early though, doesn't it?

Uh, yeah, but that will get some, I mean, it'll get snow in the middle

of the summer too, and, uh, it'll just last for a little bit.

And then they, they, you know, open it back up, but eventually it gets to a point

where it will not, uh, thaw out and that is winter closure.

So we really nailed it.

That was super fun.

So rad.

I, uh, I was just looking back at some photos, um, today and just when I see

people posting from the, from the rally in general, um, really great trip.

So hard to nail those dates, man.

It's like you do it a little too early and it's 90 or a hundred.

And you do it a little too late and the roads are closed.

So yeah, it's, it's also ominous when you're driving up there because you see

those gates, right?

Like they can close almost like, you know, all of those roads, like they can be

segmented and they can divert because, you know, they, to bypass passes and shit.

And like you come up on them and yeah, you're like, you know, that just like now

yeah, it could happen any day.

And so yeah, we lucked out, we've been super lucky many times and we've also had

some, you know, unlucky times, but we adapt, right?

It's part of the rally experience.

Just overcome there and you know, just kind of keep moving forward, you know,

got to get her done as they say out in a cable guy land or whatever that guy's

name is. That's right.

That's right. Yeah, man.

So, um, what have you been doing these days?

I mean, any, any tinkering on your, on your, you know, the 36 M three, did you

get your bad bolster sorted?

Like, it's on my list.

I haven't done it.

We've been a little busy with work.

So I'm like, not a ton of free time to start tinkering, but, um, I'm also

looking at my truck because this is not, you know, driving with awesome updates,

but people have trucks, you know, they might want an update here.

2000 Toyota Tundra, I haven't steward edition, TRD, all the things.

After I added the camper shell, which has been gosh, two years, probably, um,

it is a little saggy in the rear, not visually, but over bumps and, and

like transitions the back and kind of flops around a bit.

And the camper shell is heavy.

Um, the springs are old.

So what the move is you add a leaf and you can add a leaf and, and then

really the move is to add a leaf and replace the spring.

So you basically just like get brand new springs and you make them be fear.

And I have Bilstein's on there now, which are not super old, but I think it'd

be just prudent to put new Bilstein's on at the same time.

Yeah.

And that'll kind of square it away.

The only problem is it might be a little rough, which I don't love the idea of,

but at this point it's not compliant enough to be super capable.

Like on a lot of roads that I drive all the time.

So the truck is definitely more on pavement, as we all know.

Um, but I want the ability to go on snow and stuff like that, dirt roads.

When I, when I want, so, um, I've got to do that.

So I have a place central coast four wheel drive in Santa Cruz.

That's going to do it.

Um, haven't scheduled it or anything.

And then, uh, the other thing is that the tires are old KO twos, which if you

know, those are pretty like aggressive tread pattern and way overkill for what I

do, um, there's some new options that are like way more road biased, yet still

snow rated.

So that's where I'm going.

Um, you have good rich trail terrains.

I think that's what they're called is like top of the list.

There's a few others.

Michelin makes a tire, um, Falcon makes a decent one too.

The wild peak, very familiar with the wild peak.

That's a popular wild, just a little, I want it to be a very like mild tread pattern.

I don't want this like, uh, turtle shell.

Yeah.

I mean, especially the shoulders and sideburner gets super over detailed and

aggressive, right?

And, uh, it's like, just to put on a show and, uh, yeah, so they make one now

that's above the KO two.

I think it's KO four.

I can't remember, but it's like, you know, cavilar sidewalls and just meant

for, right, heavy, heavy, they're heavy, they're loud.

I mean, they're, they'll still last a long time.

You know, I have a buddy who runs like KO twos and the one above it that they

get 30,000 miles out of them, which is awesome, but it's just so overkill for

what I'm doing.

So, well, that's also an opportunity as you're describing, like if you stiff

enough the leaf springs, but if you get a softer, like more compliant tire,

then that'll sort of balance out too.

It'll help, but yeah, that's what I'm hoping for.

I got, there was a video that, uh, our buddy Drew sent me and it's a, I think

it was a Ford Bronco, uh, like OJ style, but it had like the full trophy truck

suspension setup, but like from the outside, it just looks like kind of a

lifted Bronco, but like it probably has a $50,000 suspension package.

And the thing's going over like some lumpy, like just kind of gravel road and

it's just perfectly smooth, you know, like suspension, soaking up every little

piece of it.

It looks like they're just like comfortable in there.

I'm like, I want, I want my truck to do that.

But of course we're talking about like repositioning the, the mounting points

and, uh, fiberglass, this and plexiglass, that and just like, there's a lot of

tricks and stuff that make it look like, uh,

I'm sure there's a middle ground, but you're still spending at least, you know,

six, seven grand for like a solid setup, right?

Um, yeah, I was, when we were on the rally, uh, we came up, I was writing

passenger with Rubin and his Evo nine M R and we roll, uh, kind of came up on, um,

a Jeep and it was lifted and it had, I want to say rancho shocks.

And he was saying, he was just saying, I like, uh, I think one of the cars

that he bought came with them at one of the trucks.

And he was like, he immediately swapped them out because he said they were

actually not good, but I always thought they were not good.

And my old days, like old shop days and, um, I just turned my nose up to them,

but then I noticed that Chevy and their like off-road performance packages,

their new Silverados comes with a rancho suspension, which maybe that's just

a brand has a couple or is it?

Yeah, who knows yet, but he was just talking about like his experience was

bad and he replaced his setup with, I think it was, um, like King or the King

setup, you know, whatever it was, but Kings are really good and he has, I

don't know what he has on a sports mobile.

Maybe that's what it was.

It was because he's got a sport, a sports mobile that he takes on these epic

trips, like he drove it all the way down to Panama, like just on this crazy

surf trip and then left it there, flew to Europe, went back to his other house

and then flew back to Panama and drove it back up and did like the reverse.

Wow.

Um, yeah, that's, that's the dream for sure.

I mean, yeah, if you're retired and in your late 40s, that's the move, right?

Um, yeah, into surf and don't mind being a dirt bag a little bit.

Like that's, yeah, that's great.

I love seeing that.

Um, well, we got some questions.

Some questions.

Yeah, let's do it.

I have, yeah, I'll have a mini project car update that I'll throw in at the end here.

Oh, okay.

Well, yeah, let's do that.

I have one too.

Um, all right.

Um, oh, uh, Sean.

Sh, Shandup default.

Why is that so hard to read?

Sean do photography, uh, is the podcast for patrons only?

No, it is available anywhere you get your podcasts.

Come on down.

We do also have some patron only podcasts, but this one you're listening to

is free for all auto obscure garage says thanks again for a killer rally boys.

I now have the motivation to build my galant VR for into a rally focused machine.

Are you guys eyeing any different cars for future rallies?

Well, you know, art here is just sitting on the precipice of a, of a whole world

of rallies in, in this E 30.

Yeah.

Well, I mean the other, the E 30 is like his VR four.

Is he describing?

It's, it's a purpose built car specifically for what we do.

And, um, and we're still, uh, iterating, right?

We're still sort of like improving it and building this car.

I think we're pretty close finally, um, you know, and as things break, as things,

you know, or as, as I kind of like drive it, I find things that I want to change

or, um, sort of tailor to the experience.

And, uh, you know, actually maybe this will be my, my update's not heavy.

I can say, you know, we had that oil cooler line failure.

I completely deleted the entire oil cooler system.

Uh, this is something that, uh, 325 is is any 30 M threes have.

And I think, you know, when B line saw that, Oh, there's an oil cooler set up.

It was plumbed up to the case series, but you know, a lot of people kind of like

chimed in and DM me and, and I spoke with the K power guys too.

And they're like, yeah, we don't run an oil cooler on any of our cars.

And, uh, it is a something that a lot of the forced induction guys need.

And that makes sense.

And also like, if you're going to be doing some heavy duty, like

legitimate racing, uh, you know, then that's, and especially hot weather stuff.

Yeah.

Uh, but it's a nice to have for, even for our rallies, if we do a summer rally,

but it's, it's not essential.

So, um, you know, one less thing to break.

So I went ahead and just rubbed it all.

And I have one little detail that I wanted to throw out there because I was

just going to do mobile one oil and, and that's fine for me.

And, uh, also, uh, the oil filter, uh, going back to this Honda philosophy.

Um, this is a Riley auto parts.

This isn't even Napa or, you know, car quest, just a Riley down the hill.

I just saw what they had.

They had a special on mobile one.

So I bought like, I got a really good deal on, on 10 courts.

I got two of those things.

Uh, they have the OEM Honda oil filter on the shelf.

Oh, how sick is that?

It's nice.

I, I will buy it packs online for my cars.

So I have a pack of Denso oil filters for the truck and then Mazda OEM for

Sarah's car, CX 50.

And I just keep them on the shelf and then I bring those to said oil change

place and I hand those to them.

Uh, there's a place in town that's, it is a drive through oil place, but

they use good oil and they've been there for 35 years and they have like the

same crew, one of which the guys I went to high school with.

So, um, I totally trust them and it's cheap, but the filter, I think is one

of those pieces that they, I know for a fact that they get the cheapest generic

filters they can and you know, for most cars, it's probably fine, but why

not spend the extra of five bucks or whatever and, uh, use the real deal.

So that's great.

Yeah.

I mean, and that's just a, you know, a Riley and I, I was actually looking

at their selection and they have Mopar, they have a bunch of other stuff too.

So they do some OEM stuff on site and I know the OEMs contract stuff out,

but especially Honda, they have pretty high standards for all their stuff.

You know, so, um, I did even some further research that we don't have to get

into Bob is the oil guy is a phenomenal resource.

I'm sure you guys all know it, um, but yeah.

So deleted that fresh oil change, which is a total bummer because, you

know, uh, the guys at beeline had put, uh, Idemitsu, which is a really rad

Japanese oil that's like high performance and it's like JDM.

It's just, it's just a brand JDM, JDM.

Okay.

So yeah, they're, they're mining it from the, from the oil fields of Japan.

Yeah.

It's, it's freshly, you know, refined in, in a, in a soybean batter with that's

right.

And like a woman in a kimono serves it to each mechanic, filter it through bamboo,

uh, filters or something.

Absolutely.

And then they match up Shiba Inu.

They do like a little matcha, uh, they, you know, they fluff it up a little bit.

I don't know.

They do some wasabi in there just to spice things up more power, ginger.

Uh, so yeah, that all blew away in that accident and that ish.

Don't feel bad, don't feel bad.

But then, you know, so well, and, uh, well, Brad Penn oil, right?

We had all the, the, the fucking zinc and all kinds of, I had an oil cocktail in

there and, uh, I triple checked everything cause I was like sketched out, right?

I turned the car off right away and it was, you know, I was concerned a little

bit still, even though there was no weird noises or anything.

Um, but yeah, like zero metallic particles anywhere.

Like, you know, I, did you open the filter?

I opened the filter and I shined like, you know, I shined to have an

LED light all around it, zero metal particles anywhere.

And, um, and the oil looked really, really clean.

Obviously it was brand new, but it was a crazy mixture.

And, um, and so I know you hate doing this, but I took my, uh, my jug to O'Reilly.

And, um, and so when he dumped it out, he, you know, he takes it out in the back

wherever they do the recycling thing and, uh, he brought it back over and he's

like, what the hell was in there?

He's like, was that water?

And I said, no, it was, it was a, it was a high sink, high zinc Porsche oil

that's tinted that color because it's like a greenish blue.

And so it tinted all of the oil, that color.

Um, but yeah, that was a funny thing.

So, uh, one other detail that I'll throw in there that is unrelated to the oil

piece, uh, rally specific mod.

And you know, we had talked about you, uh, donating the, um, uh, the

emperor form of the m tech, sorry, steering wheel to the cause.

Oh yeah.

Yeah.

So I'm running no power steering.

It's a condor speed shop, uh, power steering delete block, uh, which is

like this really cool little vented thing that works out great.

And, um, bigger steering wheel, no power steering.

Perfect.

Like, uh, you know, yeah.

So I forgot to mention it on the update.

We had too much to cover there, but, um, driving around town, uh, parallel

parking, sure a little bit more oomph, you know, it's old school style with the

right alignment, the good, good tires.

It's great.

Yeah.

It's a, it's, it's perfect.

I have zero interest in adding power steering now.

Like it's actually like exactly how I wanted it.

So I'm very happy with the outcome.

Uh, so that's killer.

That's again, Z three steering rack.

That's the 1.9 liter one 2.7 lock to lock condor speech up, uh, delete set

up with, um, the 385 millimeter sport steering wheel.

That's great.

It feels like the car is really coming along.

I think the next rally is your rally.

Um, yeah, there's a few little tweaks, but we're, we're almost there.

Um, I have no idea where we're going to add a resonator to get rid of some

of this noise.

Um, it's, it, there really isn't a lot of room anymore.

Like there isn't enough straight sections.

So I feel like, um, you know, I love the B line boys.

They've done, you know, a tremendous amount of work on this car.

And, uh, you know, I feel like this may be the time for me to take it to, uh,

uh, a muffler shop or an ex, a real lit, like a super legitimate exhaust shop.

Yeah.

That's, and that's all they do.

Right.

And be like, what can you, how can we work this out?

And I think I'm fine with the muffler.

I'm fine with the cat, but how do we figure out this, uh, or the solve for

this resonator situation?

Because I think that's all it needs now.

Um, and you know, I, I, I talked to a few people in town here.

I want like obviously super high quality work.

I mean, and I want high quality wells as a stainless steel.

And I want to respect the work that B line put into the exhaust, but I also

feel like it's not necessary for me to have the car all the way up there.

And you know, just for, to install the resonators.

So, um, especially now that, um, oh, one other update, shit.

We're getting deep into updates now, but, um, might as well.

We don't have a ton of questions.

Um, so I had mentioned that, you know, that they were unable to figure out the,

or not, they were able to figure it out.

Sorry.

They were unable to fix the high idle issue that I had.

And so, um, and we narrowed it down to a shitty throttle body.

Like, you know, we looked at all the tolerances, like it was really bad, right?

The casting sucks.

Like the fucking throttle plate does barely fits in there.

It's just, everything's bad.

Uh, so I reached out to K power because originally when I talked to them, they

had told me that, you know, I should just go with the, um, uh, the skunk two one,

which is the aftermarket one.

And, uh, they talked me out of that, uh, because they now source from the same

place. So actually they're now there, they're, they're getting their

throttle bodies from the same place that skunk two does, uh, which is a smart

move, right? For them.

And, um, and so Chris over there was awesome on the phone.

He was really helpful and he handpicked one for me.

He's like, dude, I'm going to find you the best one we have.

Super ripe to, I mean, like, yeah, he, he, he like was like an avocado.

You know, he was kind of feeling them all or like the Mackinac peaches.

Like it's only one week a year.

That's right.

You got to get that auto buddy.

But I mean, yeah, we were already out of that week.

So, you know, it just, he had to go with the avocado approach.

So, um, he felt it.

He looked at the color.

This one was like just dark enough, but not spotted.

And then also, um, there's like a little, um, adapter for the TPS sensor

that is also a machined billet piece that has to, the tolerance has to have

to be perfect.

And he said some of those like they have people call in with this issue

and they just have a machine them down.

He found me like the best one they have preassembled it for me, sent it to me.

Uh, and I installed that last night.

So I haven't started the car yet because remember that polished aluminum intake

tube, uh, I'm going to, I have wrinkle black wrinkle coat finish paint

that I'm going to do on that as well as the, I think it maybe, maybe just go

red S 2000 valve cover, uh, I'll just all of it.

No.

Yeah.

So I'm going to do the same on the valve cover.

Yeah.

So I have a, the VHT stuff, you know, it's like that, that's great.

So it'll clean up the engine bay cause that this car is, I know there was,

there were some question marks, uh, but it is going to be displayed at the

Reddastine booth at Radwood.

So Cal, and I want the engine bay to look a little nicer.

So, no, I like it.

Uh, maybe you get some better zip ties situation too.

Um, and, and the, so, um, yeah, so the question from auto obscure garage was

about, he's getting his Galant VR four back into rally, uh, shape, which I love.

The car is awesome and we never see those cars.

So please bring it on a rally.

Um, I keep eyeing these old Mercedes and I, I, it's not for a rally specifically.

I would like to have a car, like if I could get a Euro SL that is rally worthy,

at least could, you know, hang with like Davis's S eight or similar, that would

be great, but I don't know if that's realistic.

So for now, the M three is it.

I don't have any other like shortlist items.

The stuff I do think about though is not classic appropriate.

It'd be like a little bit newer.

So, you know, the Honda or I'm sorry, the, uh, Mazda clubs, uh, the Miata clubs,

and then, uh, even S 2000s and stuff like those seem really cool for a rally.

They seem so easy and fun, but, um, I'm not making any moves that way.

So, and it sounds like art isn't either.

No, I mean, well, there, there will be a Z three, uh, coupe replacement

eventually, but it's not right now.

The focus is all on just dialing in the E 30 and enjoying that.

No need, no need to do anything else.

Um, I also have another update for, uh, the rally goers and, and followers

of Dusty snowman, he brought his Audi RS three on the rally, uh, which was fine.

He had no issues with it, of course, issues like, yeah, no problems.

Um, but he realized like right after the rally, he's like, that's just not a car

that I want to keep owning.

So he shipped it to Carvana yesterday.

It is he got a good offer, huh?

Yeah, they, they gave him a really good offer and, um, I think it was going

to have some needs soon, which is totally par for the course of the car like that.

Um, and he didn't love it.

So it was a great, um, but I think he's going to focus on something

a little bit more analog.

Yeah.

He found that pretty boring then probably, right?

It's just, yeah, he always calls it like a, you know, a Jetta in disguise.

And, um, I drove it.

He let me borrow it when we were staying up there with him and, um, it's a great

car, but I could see on a rally, you're just kind of like one hand, you know,

never having to really think about it, um, that kind of thing.

So, and, uh, yeah, and then you get into like maintenance on that.

It's just like one of the most complex cars you could probably get involved with.

I mean, turbo, all wheel drive, tight, uh, engine bay, uh, expensive brakes, uh,

all the things like just gets crazy.

So anyhow, that was just another side.

John Rye says, if you were going full singer and re-bodying your

personal rally machine, what would be your material of choice?

Stainless steel, carbon fiber, aluminum fiberglass.

So he's, he said stainless steel pictured, which is the DeLorean on the, uh,

post, um, that would be insane.

What do you, what comes to mind here?

Are you going, you're going carbon?

Hell yeah.

Yeah.

I know it's hard to, hard to argue with that.

Like if you could just get the perfect carbon tub of an E 30, like how rad is that?

Yeah, that's, I mean, I'm just thinking of that one guy, son of Cobra.

I think it is right.

He does the full, uh, carbon fiber, 2002s.

Like that's, that's kind of what comes to mind there.

Um, yeah, and I would, but I see the thing is that I'm the type that would

want the carbon fiber, but I would, I would paint it.

I don't want the exposed carbon fiber same.

I know and that's, that's kind of like a little bit of a shame and I appreciate

a hand, uh, huge hand shaped, hand formed, hand hewned, uh, aluminum.

And I think that might be, that might be where I'd go.

I just think it's so pure and, uh, super legera style.

Yeah.

I mean, the thing with, uh, with that is, you know, um, like I feel like you can

go thinner, thinner aluminum and all that, right?

Cause that's like how they did those, those GTAs, right?

The alpha or male GTAs were like a super thin gauge aluminum and like even

the M three lightweight had aluminum doors, aluminum bonnet, right?

All the stuff.

Yes.

So it's like taking that to the next iteration, but it's like how much of

a difference in weight savings is it really versus like a carbon or something else?

I don't, I don't know.

It's a genuine question.

Right.

So if I'm going to go all out stiffness and we know that stiffness

carbons better and then you get into corrosion and those types of things.

Fatigue, like carbon again, um, safety carbon.

So yeah, I mean, it's hard to argue with carbon.

I just feel like for the spirit of our cars, you 36 and E 30 aluminum, maybe

a better choice.

Like it just feels more correct and definitely for a 2002, like I would be

so weird to have a carbon 2002.

I mean, it's cool.

I think it's cool.

Yeah, I appreciate what I was going to get at those.

I would want like, I would paint the exterior, but I would go at 40 style where

it's like super thin and you can see the weave through the paint, right?

Like, so if you get up close to it, you can see the weave in the, in the paint,

but the engine bay or the sills, I would leave exposed and it would be a dry

carbon, right?

Not all, you know, gross, like glossy resin, but like I can see the engine

bay being a dry carbon looking really cool and same with the sills and like

sort of you get like these little subtle exposed areas, but like the body, I

would definitely paint and just, but I would still go thin so that you can see

it, see the weave through the paint.

Yeah, that's, that would be so wild.

Um, Bobby Reed with the car says if DWA were to be on hot ones, who would

fare the best tolerance, huh?

I have pretty high tolerance to heat.

I, I, I'm a, I'm a bit of a heat seeker.

I mean, me too, but I feel like Lane is like, he fucking gouses his shit.

Like, I think he does, but like, but is it mild stuff?

Yeah.

I don't know if he's going straight, like super spicy.

He's going like definitely salsa, uh, you know, burrito salsa, but when it

comes to like this type of stuff where it's like habanero, ghost pepper,

insanity, I don't know if he gets into that.

I don't know.

I can't recall, but I love chicken wings.

I'm going to say that.

Um, I love the show too.

I think he's that guy's an amazing interview.

What a great idea, man.

It's such a cool concept.

Just the fact that it took off and people want to do it is insane.

Yeah.

Well, yeah, I don't know, man.

I mean, I think we both have a pretty high tolerance.

I don't know which one's higher.

Like we would literally have to sit down and try it out.

I mean, I'll tell you that I am not a fan of like a Scotch bonnet, which I've

tried and that'll fuck me up.

And I have zero interest in adding that to my food, which some people do.

Are you going?

So let me ask you this.

You go to your talkery of choice.

By the way, what is your talkery of choice right now or in town?

Yeah, it's La Unica, La Unica in Santa Bob.

Yeah, I sense a bunch of people that were driving through here a while ago with them.

I think it was Paul from auto kennel and a bunch of his homies.

And yeah, several people have sent that way.

It's it's, I think I've mentioned it before.

It's it's a it's a he's this is where it gets a little weird because it's super

authentic, but it but it's also like a little bit innovative and creative

because the guy, the guy that created the menu, he is a chef from Mexico City,

like a legitimate chef.

He worked at multiple Michelin star restaurants in Mexico City.

And so he was hired by the group that owns Los Agaves here in town, which

I'm sure you're familiar with.

They're they're they're kind of like a staple here in town, but he was brought

in to help them revamp a bunch of their properties.

And so it's like super high quality ingredients and you have your basics,

right? Like you can go straight up a story and go straight aside, but then

there's also like real like a super creative menu on top of that, where

there's like traditional stuff and then some modern sort of fusion-y shit.

So like it's not a it's not your like hole in the wall, greasy tortilla place,

but it's like super high quality.

If you want the hole in the wall, greasy tortilla place, my favorite place in

town, that's old school, simple.

The bar has three salsas, cilantro, lime, and onion.

That is called Los Bipellis and that's on Milpas and that is by far my

favorite handmade tortillas in-house every day.

Check that place.

Okay. I appreciate that. Are you done?

I'm done.

What I was going to ask you is when you go to that place, do you get the

spiciest salsa, the habanero?

No, green, the habanero orange pink shit.

I do not.

Okay. I do. I will do it.

Interesting. Yeah, because I want to do also is I mix the two.

I mix the chipotle one with the habanero and I get a little cocktail.

I always go green salsa because I'm going more for flavor and like I feel like

if I just go to the other one, it's like it overpowers the rest of the ingredients

for me.

Like I think you would not be great on hot ones.

Yeah. Well, I mean, it's there's tolerance versus enjoyment.

That's what I'm getting at, right?

Like I can handle the spicy salsa.

It's just I'm trying to like, I want to taste the meat.

I want to taste all the other stuff.

I know for sure.

I don't go too spicy.

I'll be clear about that.

I think I will say this much.

I think you're you're more confident than I am.

So I think by default, I would default to you because I'm just based on

like how excruciating it looks.

I think you might fare better than I will and I do like milk.

I do not like always have.

I know.

So I think, you know, I might have moved up there in the rankings,

but it doesn't mean there's not an underdog story here folks.

The automotive omnivore says as nearly all cars have gotten so

much quicker than they were 20 years ago, has the measure of maybe

too quick for a newly licensed driver also moved zero to 60 in the

five second range or quicker was rare in our high school parking lots,

but a but a hand me down electric car might be that quick today.

Dude, for sure.

It's it's insane.

Yeah, I do totally agree with this.

I think also certain cars like I mean any really high performance

cars should come with some level of scrutiny to the driver like a

Tesla plaid.

I don't think you should just be able to get in that car and drive it.

I think you have to have some like autocross slash.

I don't know.

I don't know what it is.

And I used to feel this way about Ferraris too.

It's like you should have to know how to drive them a little bit.

I mean the thing with this little bit.

Well, there's also something.

I mean, I don't disagree with what you're saying, but I feel like

there's also a something that's come into play here that we didn't have,

which is there's a lot of adaptive and sort of safety features that

like will keep people in lanes that will stop you if you're going to hit

an object that like are constantly monitoring like the environment.

So like a Tesla plaid, if you give it to a kid and they go apeshit like

it's going to it's going to stop the car will stop or it's going to

deviate from an impact versus like just getting into a performance car.

Like I mean, you know, so well, but that they do.

I mean, I have I mean, we've been in these cars all the time.

Like that shit is so intrusive unless you know how to turn it off.

So yeah, but I think it's still possible to be.

Oh yeah, it is, but I feel like you have a lot of safety in place.

So there's a safety net, whereas like it's it's not the same.

It's not par for par.

Like if you were to just get in in a in a 993 turbo and hand the keys to

someone versus like a modern, you know, EV that's super fast.

Like 993 turbo, you know, is going to go very, very fast and it's not going

to, you know, it's it's not going to avoid an impact.

It's not going to stop for you all that stuff, right?

So yes, I'm not disagreeing with the question here, but I feel like

that is that is true.

No doubt cars are way faster now, but they're also much safer.

So it's like a little bit.

And I don't, you know, and my mind goes to electric cars obviously

because they are so crazy and he does mention that as well.

But I think there's plenty of options that aren't electric cars and like

your e-golf, what's zero to 60 on an e-golf?

It's not six seconds.

No, it's like high seven seven.

Yeah.

Seven.

Yeah.

And that's a great option.

I mean, it's basically electric GTI ish and not super fast.

Um, there's definitely a lot of electric cars that aren't crazy

accelerators, but they are still very capable and Lane's been talking

about giving his Polestar to his 16 year old daughter someday.

I don't know if that's still in the works or whatever, but that's a

super fast car.

I mean, I think that's four seconds and very capable and I don't

know if it has all the nannies.

I can't remember, but, um,

it has all the nannies.

And it is.

And the one thing about it though, that's super impressive is that

when it comes to traction, it is not intrusive at all.

Whereas like, you know, a lot of cars would be right.

Like, yeah, this thing, I think the auto would just like disappear.

Yeah.

I think I mentioned before, like I drove that car in the rain

multiple times and I pushed it very hard and I was incredibly impressed

and, um, but that's also the same idea, right?

It's like it's, it's also keeping you safe in that way.

Like even if you drive it really fast in a, in a damp environment

or even really wet environment, where it was like downpour and I was

trying to get it sideways and it just would not.

And I don't know how to, I don't think you can turn anything off

because it just, it has so much computing power that it's like

constantly monitoring slip and like it could, and it distributes

power to all four wheels.

Like in a way that's, it's just unbelievable.

Um, but also it's, it's, it's also person specific, right?

Like, do you think she's going to be hauling ass out there and

like do an acceleration run?

No, probably not.

But I, and I will also say that there's a benefit to having power

and getting out of situations, merging, um, overtaking, things

like that, like that you need to have power and it's a safety feature.

Um, you know, in our day, uh, someone like Lane's daughter would

probably drive a Toyota Corolla with, you know, 80 horsepower

and, uh, automatic transmission, um, wind down windows and that

would be like kind of a nice car.

It'd be like, oh dang, she has a Toyota.

Like that's nice.

Well, especially if it's new, right?

Like waiting, none of us had new cars as kids.

No, no, no.

Yeah.

New is like even crazier.

And then I, here I am in a $500, no, like $300 Mazda 66 with the

worst, worse wheels of all time and hey, they're pretty rad actually.

Pretty rad these days.

Um, 1985, I don't want to brag, but, uh, yeah, the choices have

become pretty crazy, but I will say that there's always used options

and, um, I would, I would definitely, uh, skew my decision towards reliability

and, um, like just, uh, a cheaper option.

So I don't know what his budget is, but I wouldn't go like brand new

for a kid anyways.

So I mean, yeah, I would go.

Yeah.

There's, there's reliability and safety, right?

Safety is paramount and then safety is like pretty hard to avoid nowadays

with a 15 year old car.

I mean, they're pretty dang safe.

Yeah.

So there's that.

And then also like, I think you can, you can, what's the word I'm looking

for?

Like you want to be accommodating, but at the same time, like, um, you

know, I want it to make sense for them as a practical tool, right?

It's not, you know, if they want to be like, oh, I want to get like, uh, I'm

just starting to think of something ridiculous that doesn't make any

sense as a high school student.

You know, like, well, my little sister, she wanted to get a Wrangler

when she was, you know, 10, 12, she was talking about her first car

and I'm just like, no, you're not, you're not getting a Wrangler.

They're the worst, basically the worst car you could own.

Safety, uh, yeah.

Performance, um, all the things like just really, really bad.

So that didn't happen.

She got a Malibu Barbie Honda Civic.

Excellent manual transmission for the removable doors.

Yes.

Can't steal those.

Yeah.

Um, I think, yeah, I don't know if we've answered his question.

I think you made me did a little bit more.

Whereas like it used to be, you know, zero to 60 in 10 seconds.

Now you're, uh, you know, that would have been fine.

Now you're moving it down to seven is what you're saying.

That's probably as fast as you want to get your kid.

I don't, yeah.

I think eGolf, eGolf is probably as fast as you really would want.

Um, I don't think it's, for me, it's not really as much of a factor.

I feel like it's just, cause it's just more of like what you described

initially.

Like I think that I really want to focus early on on making sure

my kid can drive well and I'm putting them into some like driving

school and, and getting that going so that they are responsible and

can drive and do make smart decisions.

Uh, that's, uh, where I'm at with that.

I agree.

Here, here.

Uh, that's it for questions.

Um, I did have one other update from the rally on the E 36 M three.

Uh, one quart of oil was what it consumed.

Well done.

That's good.

Thousand thousand miles ish.

Uh, I didn't check.

I didn't open the hood until I got home and it was just a little, uh,

less than one court, but topped it off.

All right.

Well, that's confidence.

Yeah.

Cause I mean, I always check it every time I add gas when I'm on a rally,

but you, um, I think you have experience from last time and it was the same

thing.

Yeah.

Exactly.

So it's all, all good.

Um, and then I might have found what is rattling the exhaust.

I have this weird heat shield.

That's still a thing buzz, which has been present since I bought the car

and it's been a pain in the ass.

There's this insulation that runs, um, on the body side of the transmission

tunnel.

So it's just above the headers and such.

And it's kind of that crinkly reflective, uh, aluminum or whatever it is.

Um, and it's like in multiple pieces and one of the pieces is sort of sagging

a little bit.

So I need to figure out if that, it may not be the reason, but it definitely

isn't, shouldn't be like that.

And I don't quite know how to get it re secured.

I think it was adhesive from the factory.

So I don't know.

I have to, I don't need to look at it and do some research, but that's, uh,

that's a little update.

So stay tuned future episodes.

Uh, yeah.

Well, it's, you know, the bumpier the roads, the more shit shakes apart.

Um, and also just old, well, but it just exacerbates it.

I mean, what, one thing that I noticed and I, and I think I'm about to mention

this to you is like the mark for a GTI, the 337 that I had as a loner.

The interior is so rattly and squeaky.

And I, and I, and I feel like it's, it has a lot to do with him using it

for rallies and like, you know, of course those cars in particular, um, you

know, like coming, you know, going into the early 2000s, like those glues

and stuff are all, you know, like things changed, especially in Germany, right?

Like things were more biodegradable and like all that.

So like as you drive them on these, you know, rally roads, like you do shake

and rattle stuff apart and, um, um, it definitely made me a little self

conscious about it, but the E 30, at least they're so simple and they're

a little, they're a little more robust and used toxic chemicals and glues.

And a little, so that was before they went to a biodegradable everything

and less, less stuff to squeak to.

I mean, it's like, they're so, they're so basic.

And these are those interiors.

Um, my 30 or my 36 is really not very rattly, except for the seat is squeaky.

Oh yeah.

I don't know quite what to do about it.

I mean, it's all plastic and leather that can squeak against each other.

Well, ask Johnny, the guy that builds those seats.

I mean, here we go.

I will, I'll, I'll see what, if he has any input there, I mean, maybe

just taking it out and like lubricating all the points I can see underneath

it and just pray.

Well, yeah.

I mean, I think like, well, someone like him, where he literally disassembles

the seats, he'll know where the, what, what could potentially be going on

internally.

I know you've seen them, you know, naked as well, but cause they do have,

they do have some cables and shock, like a little hydraulic damper stuff

in there, recall them.

Um, yeah.

Yeah.

I mean, um, my seat's fantastic.

So I remind everyone very happy with my seats.

That's great.

Um, that's great.

Yeah.

I'm looking forward to getting that fixed.

That's one of those eyesores.

The other thing I'm going to do is the door sill seal, um, which I, for some

reason, when I looked it up initially, it was like $400 and specific to the,

whoops, um, specific to the M three and all this stuff.

I'm like, this doesn't seem right.

And then I looked up a coupe, like just recently and they're not that

expensive.

So I'm definitely going to do that because that's one of those things

I see every time I get in and out of the car where your feet go across the

sill, that, that part of the seal that like door seal is ripped and it's

just so annoying.

Dude, you know what I kind of miss and this is reminding me of it is going

to the junkyard and like just, just going up and down the rows and just

finding little gems, like this type of stuff, right?

If there's some E 36 is out there, like you find like someone's daily

driver, like grandma spec, like three 25 I and like, I bet that seals in

perfect condition.

You just pop that off, but I know.

And like I need a cassette or I'm sorry, a CD changer cassette that goes

into the changer in the trunk and I've tried to buy them on eBay, but

sellers are terrible.

Um, and I bet you there's one just sitting in a junkyard, like nobody

needs those row 52.

Check it out, man.

I know.

And I just want, I just want like, uh, six CDs or whatever the number

is, uh, of just music that I can fall back on if I run, I don't have

service cause I use Apple music, which is a fucking huge pain in the ass.

And even if you download the, your playlists, it doesn't necessarily

download at your phone.

This is something I'll get into offline, but it's a very frustrating thing.

Um, so then I'll get into a point in the rally where I have nothing.

It's just radio or zero.

Um, and the other thing is the speakers in the M three need love.

They're all tattered.

So radio gaga radio gaga.

Um, well, I think you're ready for some trivia.

Dang, we're ready for it.

Huh?

Let's do it.

Uh, recently there was a story that came out that said the, uh, average

price for a new car in the U S has surpassed $50,000 for the first time in

history, uh, $50,080 is now the average new car price.

According to Kelly blue book, that's pretty fun, right?

Isn't that fun?

It's not great for everybody.

It's awesome.

Um, my question to you is, what is the least expensive new car in the U S

today?

All right.

So the mirage is no longer, right?

Correct.

And that was the reigning champion, but they have been discontinued.

I believe.

I bet you could still find one.

Right.

2024.

There's a lady in town who has one in like this really trippy, like metallic

fuchsia color and she's like one of these old ladies that absolutely had a

new bug, you know, the new bugs with the flower in it and all that.

Yeah.

She's got like, you know, all the chachis like from the mirror and all this

and, but, um, and she wears like big glasses.

I see her in downtown.

Like she has like, she's that yeah, like just a character, um, but, um, is the

Nissan Versa still a thing?

That is it.

Yes.

The 2025 Nissan Versa, which I will say looks way better than previous

iterations.

So there's a new, there's a new version.

Bad.

Yeah.

Well, I don't know.

Versa version.

Um, it's not bad.

It doesn't look bad.

Uh, and the price is, uh, we're starting by the price, starting price of an

Nissan Versa, the cheapest.

It's like 20 ish or something.

18 3 30.

Wow.

But that's base base, right?

Automat, uh, automatic is an extra cost.

They do still offer a manual.

So manual base versus 18 3 30.

And then the next cheapest car is the Hyundai venue, which is 21 five.

I don't even know what that is.

How dare you?

First of all, how dare you?

Uh, Chevy tracks.

We all love it.

Good tracks these days.

21 eight.

Uh, Kia Soul.

Rest in peace is no longer going to be offered after this year.

21 eight as well.

Uh, Sentra, Kia K four.

Uh, what else on the list here?

Elantra and then a Corolla Toyota Corolla, cheapest Corolla 23 five.

So, uh, $5,000 more than a Versa.

And I think the Versa comes with a number of safety and all this stuff.

I mean, I don't know.

It's 20 25, but I've definitely sat in one of the more recent ones and like,

yeah, I mean it's, it shows everywhere in the interior.

I'll tell you that much.

I got like just I was the one that I was in most recently.

I'm pretty sure it was a Versa.

I don't think it was a Sentra.

It was in Detroit Uber driver and I was looking at the, at the, the fabric on

the seats looks incredibly cheap and thin and all that, but also like the

stitching around the headrest was crooked.

It was like, it was like, it like almost like it was like wavy, you know,

just like it's just everything is so cheap and there's a zero like detail

on the door.

It's just one slab of plastic with like no trim around that door handle,

you know, and like I can see where ultimately, you know, it cut all the

costs, but Apple Carpley, which is pretty sweet.

I know.

And you know, it's going to last 200,000 miles and has some safety.

Definitely.

Yeah.

For first, I think it's a great first car, right?

Is it for a kid?

Like, you know, it's going to get thrashed and it's got plenty of power.

It's so efficient.

Um, all that stuff, you know, who cares?

Yeah.

I would have been elated to have a new versa or a Corolla even nicer.

Fancy guy.

Well, we rented that Toyota car, a Corolla cross in Georgia.

This is like two years ago and that thing sucked.

It was really noisy and this, the CVT was terrible.

Um, the interior was super bare bones and it is rental car specs.

So there's like no carpets or, you know, like, yeah, dude, yeah, I'm just

thinking of like, you know, like the, like the quote unquote rich kids in

high school, like, you know, and, and, um, there were two that stand out for me.

Well, three in particular that like had the coolest cars and they were

definitely they had the wealthiest parents.

Uh, one, uh, she won, you know, remember in the yearbook, you would have like

the nicest car or whatever like they would vote like who had the nicest high

school and, um, this girl, uh, Natalie had a brand new Toyota forerunner,

which is pretty legit leather interior, very fancy.

Um, and then, um, this other dude Joel had a sick black on black

brand new, um, uh, Honda prelude, which I thought was the coolest.

I was like, shit, like that is so sick.

And then that is sick.

And then you had yourself, um, son of a prominent doctor or sorry, daughter

of a prominent doctor in town.

We went to school together here in Santa Barbara originally.

Uh, she had a convertible, uh, E 36 BMW and it was, I think it was

like a three 23 or something.

I might, or maybe a three 20.

I don't know.

It was, this was the name is yourself.

Um, is that what I said?

You said, and we have yourself.

So I said, yeah, no, it's like by self.

I think we went to school here in Santa Barbara originally, like, like,

but yourself, like yourself, but you also went to school here in town.

So we also post high school, I came to Santa Barbara for school and we,

we, um, and I partied with her early on, uh, but we didn't stay friends.

Um, she was definitely a very into the sorority scene and all that jazz was in

my world, but, um, I will not name her, um, and super sweet girl though

initially, and, um, she was notably, like, as I said, she was the daughter

of a prominent doctor in town, but she was also super nice.

And I remember like, she was part of the popular girl, girl crowd.

And you would think rich girl E 36.

You know, she's probably going to be shitty.

Yeah.

She was actually super nice.

She was really cool.

That's great.

Speaking of Santa Barbara, there was a girl that lived on Del Playa, uh,

freshman, I think she was from Texas.

Very quite attractive lady.

Um, she came to school in a pewter on gray SL 600 R 129, which at the time was

like a new car.

Yeah.

So she came to Santa Barbara in a V 12 Roadster, uh, and parked in an area that

is the craziest party zone, like literally people puking off decks, walking

on the car.

It's like, yeah, like all of it.

Yeah.

Just it's a worst case.

Yeah.

Well, yeah, I thousands of people in college things get crazy because you have

a lot of the exchange students too.

Who were like, there was a Korean kid who had a brand new E 55.

Uh, and that was his, his drive, you know, his daily note, you know, now I mean,

I know things have really stepped it up, especially like, or people have

stepped it up like in Silicon Valley.

I remember, you know, when Matt worked at the McLaren dealership, like a lot

of like, you know, Chinese exchange students who would come, um, who were

at Stanford or wherever, um, they would come in for a McLaren and they

didn't even know how to start it.

Like they didn't know how to like do anything and it was just like, you know,

they have to keep up with the, uh, I don't want to be racist, not, not the Jones,

but something else and, um, the Joneses and, uh, and it was that, that was their

go to, they would just try to get the most expensive super car because

you know, it's a status symbol and it didn't matter what it was.

It just had to be very expensive.

And you definitely see that still with like the AMG stuff and

and BMWs and that whole world is certainly, um, yeah.

A lot of status for the youth, the youths.

Yeah.

And meanwhile I had a, you know, uh, at the time, let's see, I had a 2002 that

I bought off of my coworker for like 3000 bucks, I think, and it was all the

money, you know, well, that's a cool car.

I mean, I had a, I had a prelude and 85 prelude, um, with, uh, uh, roof bars

and, uh, that thing was okay.

And then I had my GTI, which was just a full on race car for the streets.

Um, but you neither were a great choices.

Prelude was a little bit better because Lisa was like, got okay mileage and

sort of like tiny inside though for tearing people and all that shit.

Oh, totally.

And like moving, you know, I moved several times down there and

then had to drive stuff back to Santa Cruz, four and a half hours or

whatever in, in the prelude.

Like so stupid.

GTI was better, but yeah, that's why I was like, think, you know, just a two

wheel drive Tacoma with a camper shell for your first car as a kid, like

it's so rad whenever you see like kids in high school driving that kind of

truck, I'm like, oh, you're so smart.

Cause in college, especially if you go local, you can carry everything.

You can camp out of it.

You can do all this fun stuff and also you can't carry a bunch of people,

which in high school, like all my friends that had big cars were always

driving had to like drive us around.

Oh, I see what you mean.

Like you don't want to be that.

It was your kid to be that person.

You just jump in.

It's right.

And like, it was kind of a popularity thing though.

Cause then you are the life of the party cause everyone wants to like jump

in your car.

In fact, this guy, Josh had a box truck.

It was like their family was into dirt bikes.

So they'd go dirt biking and they had this box truck and the truck had

this cool extra cab that had like a U shaped couch in the back of it.

So he could literally carry, you know, 10 people in that thing plus anyone

who wanted to ride in the box to disco night at the boardwalk was welcome.

Dang.

So dangerous.

Dude, yeah, I mean, I, I did that.

I remember, um, I must have been maybe like 12 or 13 and a friend of ours

was moving a neighbor and the dad let us like walk or stand in the back

as he drove around the neighborhood and we would ask him this like to break,

you know, cause you've basically just fly, you know, you fly forward

and you have your hands ready at the ready, but you're like, it's gnarly

like Jamiroquai style where you're sliding across the floor and you slam

into the front on the roof.

You're on the roof.

So dude, it is intense.

Yeah, I'm not, not, not a smart thing to do for sure.

Good times.

All right.

That's a podcast.

Thanks for joining us.

All right.

We'll see you next time later.

Okay.

Bye.

Hot Ones - DWA! Podcast Ep. #905

About this episode

Request an Explanation

Want to learn more?

Help improve this episode

More from Driving While Awesome