The Corvette is a sports car made by Chevrolet. It’s designed to be fast and fun to drive, not just a regular car for commuting. People talk about it a lot because it’s built for performance.
Spark plugs help the engine ignite fuel. If there’s oil on the spark plugs, it usually means something is leaking, and the engine may start running poorly.
An engine has multiple cylinders, and “cylinder four” is just one of them. If that cylinder isn’t firing correctly, the car can feel rough or lose power, so mechanics try to figure out what’s wrong with that specific cylinder.
They’re talking about a Mitsubishi van called the Bravo. They thought they might need a whole new engine, which is scary because it can be hard to find replacement parts for some older or less common cars.
They’re talking about the ignition wires that send electricity to the spark plugs. If those wires are bad, the spark can be weak or missing, and the engine won’t run right.
Term
off boost
“Off boost” means the turbo isn’t pushing extra air into the engine. The car can feel different in that situation, and comparing how it drives off-boost versus on-boost helps figure out what’s going wrong.
This means a turbocharged engine with four cylinders. They’re saying it’s working correctly again and the engine is running smoothly instead of missing.
“Running on all four” means all four cylinders are firing and contributing power. If one cylinder is misfiring, the engine may feel rough, lose acceleration, and sometimes trigger diagnostic trouble codes; getting back to “all four” is a sign the fix worked.
The Lotus Elise is a small, lightweight sports car that’s famous for feeling fun and nimble to drive. They’re about to talk about an Elise-related story after mentioning their daughter’s dent.
A rebuilt gearbox is a transmission that’s been taken apart and fixed, then put back together. They’re using it because the original one was making a rattling noise, and they confirmed the problem was inside the gearbox.
Term
seracoded
“Seracoded” sounds like a coding/calibration step performed after installing or updating a component, often to align electronic control modules with the vehicle. In practice, this kind of step is commonly required after certain drivetrain or control-related repairs so the car communicates correctly with its systems.
Callaway is a company that makes performance upgrades for cars. The hosts are saying they officially partnered with Callaway so they can do Callaway-style upgrades as an approved shop.
They’re talking about getting aftermarket companies together to plan what accessories or upgrades could be made for the new truck. It’s basically an early collaboration session.
Slate is the company making the EV truck being discussed. The idea is that they keep the truck’s setup simple—fewer choices and standardized configurations—to help keep the price down.
This means the truck can be ordered with one of two battery setups. Different battery choices usually change range and price, and fewer choices can make the whole vehicle cheaper to build.
“No options” means you can’t pick a bunch of different packages or custom features. The company builds it in a simpler way so it’s easier and cheaper to produce.
“Driving costs out of manufacturing” means redesigning processes and components to reduce expense—often by simplifying parts, reducing labor steps, and standardizing production. The host frames Slate’s approach as a strategy to make an EV truck affordable by attacking cost early in the production system.
“Aftermarket solutions” are parts or software added after a vehicle is sold, typically to improve performance, appearance, capability, or convenience. Here, the discussion is about vendors collaborating to build add-ons for a specific EV truck platform.
Aftermarket parts are upgrades or replacement parts made by other companies, not the car brand itself. If the truck comes with fewer extras, people may add more aftermarket stuff.
Instead of buying the truck through a regular car dealership, the company sells it directly to you. That can also affect how service and warranty help works.
Authorized service centers are repair shops that the manufacturer trusts to fix your car correctly. They’re often the places you go for warranty-covered work.
They’re saying the owner might be allowed to do some warranty repairs themselves and still get reimbursed. Usually, warranty work has to be done by approved shops.
Concept
blacklist
A “blacklist” here means the manufacturer may not let certain people handle warranty repairs. If you use the wrong person, the work might not be covered.
Company
Long Beach design office
They’re saying the company has a design office in Long Beach. That’s where the vehicle is likely designed, even if the factory is elsewhere.
Company
factory in Indiana
The transcript says the factory will be in Indiana, indicating where the trucks will be built. Manufacturing location can affect supply chain, parts availability, and long-term support for service and warranty.
Overlanding gear is stuff you bring to travel farther and more independently, usually for rougher roads or camping. In this segment, they’re saying the prototype was set up for that kind of adventure use.
Rear-wheel drive means the back wheels do the pushing. Some trucks can feel slippery because the back doesn’t always have much weight, but good tires (and extra weight where it matters) can help a lot in snow.
The Ford Maverick is a popular small pickup truck. They mention it to compare how well a compact truck can sell, even when the drivetrain setup isn’t what people expect.
Snow tires are specialized tires designed with softer rubber compounds and deeper tread patterns to maintain grip in cold, snowy, or icy conditions. The transcript frames them as a key solution for making rear-wheel-drive vehicles feel confident in winter weather.
“Narrowing the market appeal” is a product strategy where a manufacturer deliberately limits options or features to target a smaller, more specific buyer group. In this segment, the hosts argue that making the GT3SC manual-only and restricting PDK availability increases polarization and desirability among enthusiasts. It’s essentially a positioning choice: fewer buyers, but more passion.
Weight reduction means making the car lighter. A lighter car usually stops better, turns more easily, and feels quicker because there’s less mass to move around. The hosts say Porsche spent a lot of effort to keep this car light.
Magnesium wheels are lightweight rims that reduce unsprung mass, which can improve responsiveness and ride/handling behavior. Less rotating mass can also help the car accelerate and change direction more crisply. The segment ties magnesium wheels to Porsche’s broader effort to keep the GT3SC extremely light.
Carbon brakes (typically carbon-ceramic) use carbon fiber materials for the brake rotors, offering strong heat resistance and consistent performance under repeated hard use. They’re commonly found on high-end track-oriented cars because they can help with fade resistance. The hosts note they’re standard on this car, reinforcing the track focus.
Carbon panels refer to body components made from carbon fiber composites, which are strong but much lighter than traditional steel or aluminum. Using carbon extensively is a common strategy for reducing curb weight and improving performance and handling. In the segment, carbon panels are presented as part of the GT3SC’s overall weight-reduction approach.
PDK is Porsche’s automatic transmission that uses two clutches to change gears fast. It’s popular because it’s smooth and quick. The hosts say Porsche didn’t offer it here, partly to keep the car lighter and partly to make it more focused for enthusiasts.
Topic
Naming a Porsche convertible as "GT3" vs "SC Cabrio"
They’re arguing about what Porsche should call this convertible. The name matters because it changes what buyers expect the car to be.
“GT3” isn’t just a marketing label—it comes with a racing meaning. The debate here is whether a car that can’t really be raced the same way should still use the GT3 name.
They’re referencing the Porsche 911 GT3 from the “992” generation. They’re talking about how the front of that car looks—specifically the distinctive front openings/duct-like features.
The Boxster is a Porsche sports car with the engine placed in the middle. It’s designed to handle well and feel sporty when you drive. Some versions are even more performance-focused, which is why it comes up in enthusiast talk.
The Porsche Boxster Spyder is a sportier version of the Boxster. They’re saying it looks great from the rear three-quarter angle, more balanced than the car they’re discussing.
Dealer markup is the “extra charge” a dealer adds to the price of a car. Even if the car starts at a certain number, the final price can jump after the dealer adds their markup.
“Sticker” is the price the car is listed for by the manufacturer. If a dealer sells “at sticker,” you’re paying that listed price instead of a higher one.
“Into the 420, 430 range” is shorthand for the out-the-door price—what the buyer actually pays after adding dealer markup and other costs. It matters because MSRP alone can be misleading when markups and fees are involved.
The Ford Mustang GTD is a very high-performance version of the Mustang. They’re talking about how it stacks up by using Nürburgring lap times as proof.
A “production-based class” means the car is based on a normal street car, not a full race-only machine. It helps you understand how fair the comparison is.
This means the car is basically a test version, not the final product you’d buy. Because it’s still being developed, its lap time might not match what a regular customer car will do.
They’re talking about making the car “stick” to the road better using aero parts like wings and spoilers. More downforce helps the car corner faster and feel more stable at speed.
In this podcast context, “Golf” appears to refer to a performance-focused Golf variant discussed in terms of speed and aerodynamic changes versus an earlier GTD setup. The mention of “more arrow” suggests updates to airflow/aerodynamics that help it feel quicker. It’s brought up because the Golf line has multiple performance trims that enthusiasts compare.
Concept
development-spec vs released production car
They’re warning that the fastest test car might not be the exact same car you can buy. So the lap time can be impressive, but it doesn’t always tell you the final customer-car performance.
They’re comparing the Mustang’s time to a very fast Corvette variant called the Corvette ZR1X. The idea is: if the Corvette is usually the quickest, and this Mustang is faster by a noticeable margin, that’s a big deal.
They mention Jim Farley, who leads Ford. The point is that he publicly talked about aiming the Mustang GTD at a specific rival, so it wasn’t just a casual comparison.
They’re saying Ford wanted the Mustang GTD to compete with the Porsche 911 GT3 RS. The GT3 RS is one of the most track-focused cars Porsche makes, so it’s a tough benchmark.
Concept
"competition pack" strategy
They’re wondering if Ford might be holding back performance and then offering it later as a “competition pack.” That would mean the car gets faster in stages, not all at once.
Concept
sell a GTD at 350K
They’re talking about what price Ford might charge for the Mustang GTD. Price matters because it sets expectations for how “serious” the car should be compared to other track-focused models.
The Mustang GTD is a special, higher-performance Mustang meant to feel more track-capable than the regular lineup. The discussion is about how many people actually bought them versus how Ford plans to keep selling the next batch.
This means the car is still in development, not fully finished like the final customer version. So the results you hear can be from an early build that might change before production.
They’re saying the early lap times were set by the car’s own development team. Later, a top race driver might be brought in to extract even more performance, because they’re experts at maximizing pace.
A “ringer” is basically a top expert driver brought in for their special skill. In this case, they’re talking about someone who’s especially good at driving fast around the Nürburgring.
A drag race is when two cars race in a straight line to see which one accelerates faster. There aren’t corners to worry about, so it’s mostly about getting off the line cleanly and building speed quickly. That’s why it can feel like a “pure speed” test.
“From a dig” means the race starts from a stoplight-style launch. The car has to get moving right away, so tires and traction matter a lot. It’s a tougher test than a rolling race because you can’t rely on already having speed.
Car performance is often compared using how fast it goes from 0 to 60 mph. Drag racing is basically about that kind of acceleration. Even if the exact number isn’t stated here, the conversation is clearly about how quickly these cars build speed.
A “prepped surface” is when the drag strip is treated to make the tires grip better. If the track isn’t prepped, it’s easier to spin the tires and harder to launch cleanly. They’re saying the race was still impressive even without that extra advantage.
Having more power doesn’t automatically make you faster on a track. A car also needs good grip, good aerodynamics, and the ability to brake and corner well.
They’re talking about how the car’s shape helps it stick to the road (aerodynamics) and how it behaves when you turn, brake, and accelerate (handling dynamics). Those things can matter as much as horsepower.
Multimatic is a company that helps develop race/track cars. In this segment, they’re saying Multimatic played a big role in building the Mustang GTD, while Chevrolet is using more of its own people.
“Neue Klasse” is BMW’s “new class” strategy—an umbrella for a new generation of BMW vehicles and technology. The host connects it to BMW’s investment and how it might still include enthusiast-focused sports cars rather than only profit-driven models.
“Brand shapers” are cars that are made to help a brand feel exciting and special. Even if they don’t sell the most, they’re meant to build the brand’s reputation.
The host is asking whether “fun cars” still matter to car companies. Are they still making cars for drivers who care about driving, or only for what makes the most money?
The BMW M1 is a famous old-school BMW sports car. The host is saying BMW might draw inspiration from that kind of car to make newer models more exciting for enthusiasts.
“Neue Klasse” is BMW’s plan for a new set of cars they want to introduce. The podcast is talking about it because it’s part of BMW’s future strategy. It’s not a single car you can buy today—it’s a direction for upcoming models.
The BMW i8 was BMW’s flashy, futuristic hybrid sports car. The host is using it as a visual reference for what a new BMW sports car might look like, and saying it wasn’t a big sales hit.
The BMW i8 is a sports car that uses a hybrid system, meaning it can run using electricity and also uses a gasoline engine. The podcast mentions it because it wasn’t a big sales success. It’s often discussed as an example of BMW experimenting with a new kind of design and powertrain.
The BMW 507 is an old, rare BMW sports/grand touring car from the 1950s. The host is bringing it up to remind listeners that BMW has made truly special cars in the past.
The Z8 is a BMW roadster, and Alpina is a tuner that makes special versions of certain BMWs. When people mention the Alpina Z8, they mean a more exclusive, enthusiast-oriented version of that roadster. It’s brought up because it’s considered a top example of the Z-car idea.
The BMW Z8 is a classic BMW roadster that’s considered one of the best Z cars. The host is using it as an example of the kind of special sports car BMW should keep building.
The BMW Z1 is a BMW roadster with a really unusual feature: its doors retract into the car. The host is pointing to it as an example of BMW taking chances on fun sports-car ideas.
The BMW Z4 is a small two-seat sports car/roadster. The hosts are basically saying they like how it looks, even if they don’t like some other BMW styling choices.
The BMW iX is BMW’s electric SUV. The speaker is basically saying they find the design ugly and it stands out in a bad way.
Concept
electric SUV styling trends
They’re talking about how many electric SUVs are starting to look similar—big shapes, bold lights, and recognizable front-end designs. The host thinks some of these design ideas are getting overused and not improving.
The BMW XM is a big, high-performance BMW SUV that uses a hybrid system. The host mentions it as part of BMW’s attempts to challenge other luxury SUVs.
The Range Rover is a big luxury SUV made by Land Rover. It’s built to be comfortable on regular roads and capable on rough terrain too. People mention it because it’s one of the brand’s main, high-end models.
BMW has a distinctive grille shape on the front of many cars, often called the “kidney grills.” The speakers are talking about how it looks on newer electric BMWs, especially when it’s lit up.
“Angel eyes” refers to BMW’s distinctive ring-shaped headlight design, popularized in the late 1990s and widely recognized as a BMW styling cue. The host uses it as a reference point to argue that the illuminated look can be cool when done right, but others are “milking” the concept.
The BMW 3 Series is a popular BMW sedan that many people use as a daily car. The host is saying they drive one now, even though they don’t like some of the newer BMW designs.
They’re talking about cars that aren’t “pretty” in a normal way, but you still love them. Sometimes the design is weird or controversial, yet it still looks cool once you notice the details.
This is the Honda Civic Type R, generation FK8 (2017–2021). It’s a fast, track-focused version of the Civic, and it has a loud, aggressive look that some people love and some people think is too much.
The Porsche Cayman is a mid-engine sports car platform. Here, the speaker compares their car’s feel to a “four cylinder Cayman” (the 2.5-liter), using it as a reference point for steering/precision and how eager the car feels when driven hard.
Front-wheel drive means the front tires do the work of both turning and moving the car. Even though it’s not rear-wheel drive, some modern FWD performance cars can still feel exciting when you drive them aggressively.
They’re talking about how good the manual transmission feels to use. A “spectacular” shifter usually means it’s easy to grab the right gear and it feels crisp and satisfying.
Term
stanced on the color
“Stanced” is car-slang for lowering a car to make it look more aggressive. The speaker is saying their car looked especially cool because of the color and wheel setup.
Workmeister is a brand that makes aftermarket wheels. The speaker is pointing out that the wheel design helped make the car look especially “rad” in person.
The Alfa Romeo SZ is a rare Italian sports coupe from the late ’80s/early ’90s. It’s famous for its weird, angular design and for using Alfa’s well-regarded V6 engine. People often compare it to other Zagato-bodied cars from the same era.
Platform sharing means two cars are built on similar “bones,” even if they look different. The hosts are saying the Alfa and Lancia share some underlying parts, but the bodies/styles are distinct.
CAD-designed means the car’s shape was worked out using computer software before it was built. The hosts are saying this Alfa Romeo was ahead of its time in using computers to design the body.
Zagato is a famous Italian company that makes the special bodies for some rare sports cars. The idea here is that Alfa came up with the design, and Zagato built the finished car.
A Busso V6 is an Alfa Romeo V6 engine that enthusiasts really love for how it sounds. The hosts are basically saying it has a special, memorable exhaust note that makes the car feel more exciting.
Term
three squared headlights
They’re pointing out a specific look on the front of the car: the headlights are arranged in a very angular, squared-off way. It’s part of what makes the Alfa Romeo SZ look so unusual and memorable.
The Subaru SVX is an older Subaru coupe that was meant to look different from everything else. People talk about it because it had a very unique design and a more upscale, sporty vibe for its time.
The Subaru Brat is an older Subaru that’s kind of like a small pickup truck. It’s known for being unusual compared to typical cars. The podcast mentions it because it’s a distinctive model that some people like to talk about.
The Lotus Europa is a small, lightweight sports car with the engine behind the driver. Because it’s light and simple, it feels very quick and fun to drive, and the steering/handling is a big part of why people love it.
A mid-engine car puts the engine near the middle of the car instead of the front. That usually makes the car feel more balanced and easier to steer when you’re driving hard.
The head gasket is a thin seal inside the engine that keeps coolant and oil where they belong. If it fails, the engine can overheat and you may see lots of smoke because coolant is leaking into the cylinders.
The host is talking about Saab ending production after GM stopped supporting the brand. When a brand shuts down, it can be harder to keep cars running because parts and expertise become less available.
The Saab 900 is an older car made by Saab. People like it because it has a unique, unusual look compared to many other cars. The podcast brings it up because it’s considered a cool, memorable model.
They’re talking about how most new cars people see now are SUVs or crossovers. The idea is that automakers have moved away from traditional car shapes, so the roads feel more and more the same.
The Murano is a midsize SUV made by Nissan. It’s meant for normal daily driving with a comfortable ride, not for racing. The podcast mentions it while talking about different SUV choices.
They mention the Ford F-150 because it’s one of the most common trucks. The idea is that the Cybertruck looks different from the usual truck you see everywhere.
They mean the general shape of the car—like how most new SUVs look pretty similar. Their point is that when everyone copies the same basic design, it gets less interesting.
This phrase means manuals are slowly going away. Even though some enthusiasts want them, most buyers and automakers are moving toward automatics because they’re easier to use and often better for fuel economy and regulations.
Company
Tony Roma
They mention Tony Roma as a key person involved with Corvette engineering. The point is that he’s the one who provided the “why” behind the decision to not include a manual.
Take rate just means “how many people actually bought the option.” If only a small percentage choose manuals, the company may decide it’s not worth keeping manuals available.
A “buyer demographic shift” means the typical customer profile changes between model generations—age, income, and preferences. The hosts argue that the C8’s mid-engine appeal may have broadened the audience compared with the C7, affecting whether a manual would sell.
Mid-engine means the engine sits more in the middle of the car instead of the front. That can improve balance and handling, and it’s part of why the C8 Corvette feels and markets differently than older Corvettes.
Paddle shifters let you change gears with buttons on the steering wheel. The hosts are arguing that these cars tend to be quicker around a track because the shifts are fast and consistent.
A manual gearbox means you choose the gears yourself using a clutch and shifter. The hosts are saying it costs a lot to engineer and get approved for sale, and if not many people buy manuals, it becomes hard to justify.
Homologation is the paperwork/testing step needed to make sure a car (or a specific version) is legal to sell in a country. The hosts are saying that adding a manual option means extra cost to get it approved for the U.S.
They’re talking about Chevrolet Corvettes from the C6 and C7 eras and how most of them are sold with automatic transmissions. The point is that a lot of buyers don’t want to deal with a manual.
They’re talking about a Corvette Grand Sport that has a seven-speed manual. The point is that the manual version is harder to find than the automatic, so fewer people end up buying it.
Company
motor one
They mention “Motor One” as a group that looked at past sales data to figure out how many people actually bought manual cars. It’s used to support the argument with evidence.
Company
Tremac
They bring up Tremac as a company that can fit a manual transmission. The point is that if you want a stick shift, there may be conversion options even when new cars don’t offer them.
The Tesla Cybertruck is an electric pickup truck. The hosts are joking that there probably aren’t many people who are into a very specific “crossover” of interests.
LIVE
Hey, everybody. Welcome back. We're excited to dive in today. But before we get started, of
course, Tim Harris is out again. But the good news, he has agreed to stay involved by sending
us weekly updates from Puerto Rico. We missed him. He's given us weekly updates. And my
buddy, Shenu here, he's got the scoop on what Tim's up to.
Yeah, so we're calling this little segment Dispatches from Puerto Rico by Tim Harris.
Welcome to Full Throttle Talk, the podcast where horsepower meets conversation from
supercars to classic legends, high-revving tech to motorsport mayhem. We covered all,
straight from the driver's seat, whether you're a gearhead or racer, or just love the
thrill of the open road, you're in the right place. Buckle up, hit the gas, and let's go
full throttle into today's episode. Right, so his latest Dispatch, and I'm just going to read it,
okay? It's straight from Tim. Wardrobe is dialed, white new balances and gene shorts fully deployed.
Corvette readiness is at an all-time high here. Blair's microphone readiness, well,
that remains in development. End of quote. Oh, man. Well, listen, whether it's Tim or AI,
we're happy to get any update from Puerto Rico that we can. So, Tim, thanks for, by proxy, being
here. We're excited to dive into this. Well, look, man, he got his uniform sorted, right? So
that's good. You know, we kind of know what his priorities are, and that's all good.
Yeah, he's going to get the last laugh when he shows up with the ZR1X and we're all like
drooling over this thing. So that's what we're pushing for anyways. And
we missed him, but we're happy to get a Dispatch from Tim via the AI search tool. So,
anyways, jumping right into this week's podcast, we want to start, as always, with what we did in
cars this week. Shanu, you always have more interesting stuff than I do, so I'm going to
go ahead and be brief with the two things I want to highlight. I mentioned sometimes,
or last week, the perils that come from buying cars side unseen, especially obscure Japanese vans.
The good news is, well, so my mechanic came down and he pulled me out to the garage. He's like,
dude, I've got bad news. One of these spark plugs, you've got oil all over this thing,
or you've got buildup on top of it. I'm worried about cylinder four. I thought, oh,
crap, where do you get a new engine for a Mitsubishi Bravo? So anyways, fortunately,
so I was a little panicked. He does the spark plugs. He does the wires. And I got lucky and that
actually solved the problem, at least for the time being. And the only way, I mean,
you could tell right away that off boost, the car was driving a little better.
Right. But as you see in the picture I posted, the only way for me to really test whether this
thing was running properly was to call my brother and say, dude, bring your van over here. It's
time to do another drag race because he had beaten me once before and he shouldn't have. So
I'm happy to report. I whooped my brother in the drag race. So the four cylinder turbo is
back. I'm running on all four and we had a good laugh. So is it true your 13 year old twins were
also sprinting next to you guys and out running the vans? Any truth to that story? We couldn't
take the embarrassment of watching my boys and truly off the line. Before I get into boost,
you're probably not that far off. We've got 50 yards on you at that point.
Right. Anyways, that was fun. I'm really glad that the van is up and running and I can now
start enjoying the thing. As you know, cars are all, well, they're about a lot of things,
but part of it for me is just entertainment. And so for all of those out there listening,
and our audience has grown a little bit and we appreciate that. But for those who are listening,
thinking this is the dumbest car I've ever seen, why would he be talking about this?
The spirit is more about cars are meant to be entertaining and fun. And that's what this
car represents to me, making memories with the family, having a laugh with your brother drag
racing in the middle of a fairly busy suburb of Salt Lake City. And we wait for the right
opportunity to stop in a two lane road and windows down. We yell and we go. So
nice. Anyways, the other was I had a really fun spirit of drive in the, the Elise.
Nice. My daughter had a, she had a dent. Well, it was, it was not the spirit of drive that you
might be thinking when you think of Lotus Elise. Now I already described that driving from
Southern California to Salt Lake in this car is not fun. That's like not the use case.
But what I did discover, I was late to watch my daughter dance about 40 minutes from here.
And I haven't swapped the seats back yet. I'm like giving this some more time to like,
to work through. So I said, I got to take the, the Lotus 40 minutes. That's a great
chance each way to kind of vet the seat comfort. Sure. And when you were running late
and you're on the freeway and it's like a fairly busy day, what a fun freaking car to
bob and weave on the freeway in. So it was like, slice and dice, slice and dice, baby.
Nice. It's such a small, you know, car that just goes exactly where you want it to go.
You can slip into all the smallest, you know, openings. It's just perfect, isn't it?
Yeah. Well, and you've got the sound system, the way you built that sound system,
like, man, you get this, you get the music. It was a beautiful morning. I, you know, the top's
off. And I, I mean, I was forced to really hustle. And my gosh, I got down there in enough
time and big smile on my face. I never thought. So that was the correct way to drive the
Elise on the freeway and have a total blast. So I found a new use case for the car. It helps to be
under the gun a little press for time. Nice. What about you? You did some interesting stuff,
per usual. Yeah, man. So a couple of fun things this past week. Well, quick one,
the 996 build, we were putting in a rebuilt gearbox into the thing because the original
one was making a lot of rattling. And so anyhow, when I get back to the off,
I'll get a chance to drive that. You took me for a little spin in that car. And it was the same
kind of rattle noise that we had then. So what did it end up being? Did you know for sure?
I mean, it was coming from the gearbox. So we just pulled the gearbox and we've got a new one
going in. I mean, literally, they just got it in this morning and the exhaust system was
going in it. We had it seracoded. And so I should be driving that car this weekend for
sure. But the real big news honestly is and I basically, we talked about it kind of last week
as well, but we finally signed the deal with Callaway to become an authorized performance center.
So I went out to Connecticut and had a chance to see their headquarters and what an awesome place.
What an amazing history that company Callaway have done just
nearly 50 years of amazing improvements to cars. And so yeah, it's really,
that was a lot of fun. Went up to Connecticut. I was in Boston, drove down to Connecticut.
And then yeah, had a chance to meet with those guys at the beginning of this week actually.
But the other thing that was actually kind of interesting and it's not sports car related,
but it's still car related. So hopefully the audience here will find this interesting. But
I participated in a bit of a focus group for aftermarket vendors and companies
with that company Slate. So, so we're talking about small truck EV trucks. Is that the
Yeah, so it looks like it's small, but it's actually a bit bigger than you realize.
Okay. Yeah. And so Slate are building a truck basically with two battery configurations
and no options. So their whole approach to this whole EV space is quite, quite interesting.
You know, they're driving all the cost out of the manufacturing and really out of the system to
try to be able to deliver a truck for a really, really affordable price. And you know,
manufacturing is where I started. I think a lot of you guys know the Pontiac Fiero assembly is
where I actually started in the automotive industry way back when. And so, you know,
manufacturing and automotive manufacturing is kind of near and dear to me. And
the approach that these guys are taking is really a game changer. You know,
I don't think it's going to work for everyone, but here's certainly one way to drive costs out of it.
So this little focus group, they got a bunch of vendors together who want to work with them
to develop, you know, aftermarket solutions for the truck. And so it was kind of fascinating
to sit there. We had a sign in NDA and this and that, but I was going to say, yeah, but it
was cool to see, you know, a couple of the trucks there and meet a bunch of different vendors
and talk, you know, about various things that can be done. So we had a little brainstorming
session at back at our shop, you know, I think we came up with out of 25 different products that
that we could potentially develop for the car. So anyhow, it's, it's supposed to be releasing the
price for that thing later in June, but they're they're saying, you know, under 30 grand.
Wow. And yeah, that's why they need guys like you to say, Hey, this car's coming with this
truck's coming with nothing. So go ahead and get all your aftermarket parts. If you want
this thing optioned or any additional capabilities, which many probably will.
Exactly. And you know, they're selling it direct to consumer. So the whole, there's
so many things that they're doing fundamentally different. There's no, you know, dealerships.
So service are going to name some authorized service centers, but they're also going to
allow the owner of the truck to service their own car. So they have this thing Slate
University where you can really log in and see, you know, get all the technical
information you need to fix your car. And to the point where they're even suggesting that the
owner of the vehicle will be able to do warranty work that they'll get paid by Slate to complete.
I mean, that's never been done before. Has it?
No, never. Yeah. Not that I'm aware of. I mean, it's pretty innovative. And, you know,
when you don't have a dealership network, what a great solution. What a great way to go.
So yeah, I'm super interested.
If I buy one of these trucks, you know, will you please not wrap me out on the phone
call we had about swapping my lotus seats? Like, no, don't let this guy do any warranty work on
that truck. Anybody but him. That's right. You'll be on the blacklist. Blair is on the blacklist.
Okay. Yeah. No, no, no for Blair. They may have no clue what they're getting themselves into.
People like me saying, oh, sweet, let's tear into this thing and let's get after it.
That's how'd you get involved with these guys? Are they based down there?
Yes. No, they're not. I mean, they have a design office in Long Beach,
but their main office I think is in Troy, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit, but the factory is going to
be in Indiana. They bought some old print press factory and building out the trucks there,
which I think production is supposed to start by the end of the year.
So yeah, it was very, very interesting. At that meeting, met several people,
people that I knew obviously, and again, people with one degree of separation from other friends
of mine in the industry. So it was really cool. And then they had a prototype and you got to see it?
Yeah. You know, they had two of them really. Talk about that.
Yeah. One was all outfitted with, you know, some aftermarket kind of
overlanding type of gear on it. You know, it's a rear wheel drive only.
The range is two versions. I want to say 150 miles and maybe 230 mile range.
So they're not super long range or anything, but I think the people that are after
realistically that range should do the trick. So anyhow, very interesting.
I think about the Ford Maverick and what a huge seller that thing has been.
Absolutely. And rear wheel drive might sound a little bit scary, especially in a pickup truck,
because there's no weight typically over a truck, the truck bed, the rear.
But I imagine with snow tires, for those of us who live in cold climates,
in fact, just freaking snowed yesterday. But I imagine with the battery pack,
they probably can weigh that back in down just fine. So you get a set of good tires in there.
Exactly. I imagine you can get away with it and probably be very fun.
Oh, absolutely, man. And think of all the great donuts you'll be able to do with that,
well, they're cool looking little trucks. That's cool. You got to see the prototype and
can't wait to get mine and start my warranty work.
So moving into automotive news, the big one that was just announced.
We teed it up a little bit last week. We showed the spy shots on our video feed.
The new 911 GT3 SC, which is the name. And I'll let you give your impressions of this.
So now we didn't know anything about it other than, hey, it's a GT3 with the roof chopped off.
But now it's been officially launched. And we can share our meaningless opinions on
good or bad, what we think. So I'm going to let you start.
So I watched the official Porsche video with Chris Harris. And there was another gentleman,
Jean-Pierre or something like that. Anyways, they met at the secret location and the car
shows up and they drove it and met the chief engineer on the GT program, Andy, blah, blah,
blah. And of course they met at this really modern, cool house.
And, you know, he's, you know, brewing up a cup of espresso. I mean, man, they got lifestyle,
like wound up tight. You know, it's just people aren't going to be, you know, all in the mood,
all the lifestyle side of it, right? But, you know, the car sounds wonderful.
Those two guys were raving about the car. You know, it's manual gearbox.
Manual only, which is cool. I see that's that came as a surprise to me.
That came as a maximum surprise to me. I would not have called that out. You know, that surprised me
fully. But I think that's great. I think it's really smart for them to do things like this to help
narrow the market appeal and make it even more polarizing to amp up the desirability of the
car. Look, I think the name is a little bit strange, but, you know, we can debate that later.
But performance wise, you know, they're talking about it's 1500 kilograms, you know, it's lighter
than a standard Cabrio. So they spent a lot of effort lightening this car. I mean, that's music
to my ears. You know that, right? I mean, the magnesium wheel, forged magnesium wheels and, you
know, the defenders are carbon brakes are standard. You got carbon panels everywhere,
right? That's right. That's right. I think that's part of why they didn't
let you option with the PDK is what Proininger said is this was all part of the way to contain the
weight and absolutely GT3 manual take rates are pretty high. Yeah. So that's that's pretty cool.
I think that they kind of stayed, you know, they stayed focused with this car and and they
emphasized trying to keep the weight down, which, you know, you got to admire them for that
because if it was just strictly a money grab, then the PDK is 100 percent would have been
available, right? And so I think they've narrowed the appeal of this car to a smaller group of people.
And I love that they did that. They kind of, in my mind, I mean, look, they didn't need to redeem
themselves in my eyes. I was never against this idea. I don't know that I would have called it
a GT3 though, but you know, why not let it just call it SC Cabrio or something. Yeah. So what's
your issue with GT3 SC? You know, look, GT3 is still kind of a is a racing class. And you're not
going to go out there and race this Cabrio, right? So I think the ultimate race car is still going
to be a hard top, you know, from Porsche anyways. And so I think, you know, they could have got
the same bang out of calling this thing an ST Cabrio or something along those lines. But
that's fine. Look, it's no big deal. They're going to sell everyone they make. You know,
there'll be, you know, people lined up. I think I already saw some, you know,
something in one of my feeds about someone selling a production slot already for,
you know, of course, inquire for the price type thing. Well, I've got some information
from multiple sources of what dealers are, you know, saying about the pricing on these.
And I'm with you. I was totally planning to buy one until they called it GT3 SC. And then
like, how could I possibly, you know, get square with that? This is feel like it would be so
embarrassed driving around with that car. No, I mean, I agree with a lot of this. I said on
the show last week that, you know, I have strong feelings about a GT3 and what it should be and
what it shouldn't. But if I put those aside and just think about, would I like to rip one of these
things around town on a back road? And frankly, even on a track day, I think for 99% of drivers,
this thing would be plenty capable and, you know, willing on a racetrack and you're not
going to fight with the car at all. I imagine it's awesome. I think my bigger gripe in watching this
stuff that came out this week on this car, it's like from some angles, I think this looks good.
And I like the nostrils. I like what they've done to the front end on the 992 GT3s and I'm
okay with that. But I think it was Chris Harris and some of the B roll footage of him
driving on back roads or whatever, and it was like a drone shop from above. And I just thought
it just looked like a giant like brick with no roof on it. I mean, and you know, you've called
the 911 a frog and you and I both like 911s and there's something classic about the roof line
shape and whatever. And yes, with the roof up the 991 and 992, they've done a better job at
kind of keeping that, but I've got a picture of it behind me. And there's just something,
not only the bulb is back in that just to me and I think we may not agree on this, this particular
issue, but it's not as simple as that when I was just watching it from above. I'm like,
No, I'm with you. I'm with you on that the rear three quarter is not very complimentary.
It looks like a hump, you know, like a humpback whale or something. You know,
it just doesn't quite look as svelte as we'd like. Yeah. I mean, you look at a Boxster Spyder,
the Spyder RS or those are great. Frankly, a standard Boxster from the rear three quarter,
it's spectacular. And right. And but there was something more to it, you know, with respect to
just the sheer size of these things. Watching this aerial shot, you know, up in them on a
twisty road was like, gosh, it just, I don't know. I'm super mixed. Cars are always,
well, not always a lot of times better in person when you see them, but it's a reminder.
Almost always. Yeah. Yeah. This thing just with the footage that I saw, the pictures,
it can look a little bit massive and blobby to me. And and you get that blob, but then you
get the real angular front fender and the nostrils in front, which I normally like.
I'm like all reserve judgment until I see one. I'm sure it'll be fantastic to drive.
I think opening the roof on a GT3 has to be a thrill. So it's and what we have heard now,
you know, there's some guy in Puerto Rico that we know who used to be a part of this show
who who's got who's who's gotten some information about dealer pricing.
And I've heard and then I've got some buddies here who have also inquired and are thinking
about doing it. So I've heard from three different dealers like accounts on what they're
thinking. Now, this thing is pretty expensive as we, you know, very predictably, we can imagine.
I think 270 K or whatever is what it starts at. So you're like, by the time you actually spec,
one of these are probably three 25, three 30 something in that ballpark before dealer markup.
So I heard what one sales guy at a dealer told my buddy, Hey, well, if you trade your GT3,
we'll sell this to you at sticker. Now, I think that's far fetched. I think this is
the sales guy speaking out of turn really early on and they didn't have their list started yet.
But then another dealer contacted that same buddy of mine who has bought a car from them
out of the state. And he said they're looking at $100,000 markup, ADM on these things.
And then Tim procured some information as well. And apparently they're
they're throwing around the $60,000 ADM markup on these things, which frankly,
I think that sounds probably most reasonable. I don't know how they're going to get,
you know, $100,000 over sticker on these things. So you're going to be into the 420, 430 range.
I guess that's another gripe that I've got is I just don't think these cars are that,
you know, that interesting, but they're spectacular to drive. But for 400k, we've
talked about this. It's, man, there are a lot of other things you can consider. And
but if I can get by that past the naming convention, I'll go ahead and pick one up.
And, you know, I'll speak to it. So you've got a very speaking, a very special,
cool cars that also are extremely expensive. We can talk about whether or not they're worth
the premium. You got to pay to buy one of these, but tell us about that Mustang GTD.
Yeah, sir. I've got that pictured behind me right now. Ford and Porsche both released some
Nürburgring numbers that they nailed. And everyone's going fast, really, really fast,
right? And let's let's let's start with the GT3RS, Mantae, you know, racing kit,
kitted car. And, you know, it's running in what they consider this production based class.
And they put down a six minute 45 second lap. So, of course, they got their pro in the car,
Dirk Mühler, no, sorry, it wasn't Dirk Mühler. That was the GTD. Sorry.
But I'm sure that Porsche has got, you know, whoever their hell their ace driver is.
Oh, yeah, for sure. And now the Mantae racing kit, I think you can get through Porsche now.
They used to be like a wholly owned or a separate entity that after market tuning in parts. But now,
now you can go through Porsche for this kind of like a Callaway situation for Corvette.
Yes. And I think that's why they are classified in what's considered the production based
vehicles. Okay. Because this Mustang GTD competition, on the other hand, which, you know,
we've been seeing some rumors that it was going really fast. They they released a time of six
minutes, 40 seconds with Dirk Mühler driving. But they are in what's considered a pre production
slash prototype class. Okay. So this is not even a released car, right? It is this competition
version. They amped up the power. They lightened the car. They added more arrow versus the previous
GTD. So that is smoking fast. But this is not even a car that has been released yet. So,
you know, it's certainly a way for them to go out there and test and put down a number.
And, you know, most people hear a number and they don't really understand what class a car
is actually running in. And so they just hear this number that seems exceptionally fast.
So I kind of dug into that a little bit. I'm like, okay, so what's the story here?
You know, I had heard that the car, yes, is not it's it's it's a it's a further developed
version of the GTD, which in fact is what they've, you know, now, you know, showing that it is.
But, you know, as I was looking into this, you know, this is significantly faster. The
ZR1X, when they went out and set those times last year, like the ZR1X, which is the fastest
Corvette time was six minute 49 seconds, right? So this GTD, you know, spanked it by nine seconds.
I mean, that's pretty significant. Yeah. Let me ask you this, Jim Farley's eraser,
the CEO of Ford, right? He cares a lot about this stuff. He made no bones about the fact
that they were going after the GT3 RS with this Mustang GTD. Right. But then I remember with the
ZR1 and the, you know, it felt like their initial Nurburgring lap time fell a little short.
I know lead times are a long time to get variants of cars or whatever, but
is there any way this is kind of a, oh, we didn't go around as fast. We thought we were
going to go, let's soup this thing up and call it a competition pack because like, is there any way?
Or do you think this was always the plan to sell a GTD at 350K? And then shortly thereafter,
release of more high performing variant of that car, which seems, it seems a little painful
to the guys who bought them to me. And now they're like, oh, we've got a comp version. Do
you think that was always the plan? You know, my guess, okay. And I don't know this, you know,
for sure is that they didn't sell out the GTDs. And you do know that you said,
I don't know that. I don't know that. Okay. But, but I, what I do know is they are accepting
orders for GTDs for this year and next year. So, you know, they didn't sell out all the
allocation of those cars. So, you know, look, buying a $350,000, selling a $350,000 Mustang,
that's a big ask. Okay. It's still a Mustang. It's a badass Mustang. It's absolutely a wonderful,
amazing sports car, but they didn't sell them out. So my guess is that this is their way to
infuse some more excitement, you know, into that, you know, into that car and get more
people on board to, to buy this next, you know, batch of them that they've got to complete. So.
Yeah. But you know, the,
640 is really fast to beat the GT3 RS. Oh man, that's crazy fast, right? Yeah. I mean,
for reference, wasn't the 4GT track only variant that we talked about a couple episodes ago,
like 619, 620? Yeah. Yeah. Extremely fast, right? Well, the ZR1X at 649 was also classified
in a pre-production prototype class, which was interesting to me. And I say, as I dug into that,
I was like, what was the case? Well, they hadn't quite released the car. So you run in that, in
that classification, if everything isn't 100% finalized for production. So, and then the
other thing that was kind of interesting to me, you know, is that they were running their
development drivers, okay? Their internal engineers were the ones laying down the
lap times. And I said this back then, you know, I think they're, they're leaving a bit of time,
you know, in their hip pocket, you know, for, to see what other people are going to do,
like the Porsches and obviously the Mustangs or Multimatics of the world. And so, now,
you know, they're probably just waiting and they, they'll go hire a ringer, you know,
go get a ring specialist, you know, full on racer and throw him in the car. And my guess
is they peel another four to six seconds, maybe, maybe more, you know, out of the ZR1X. I mean,
they're going to need to find more to really wallop the GTD competition.
Well, the thought that I'm having is the ZR1X is incredibly fast. That's been established.
I always feel like kind of a, I don't know how to feel about these drag race videos,
I should say, on YouTube, but, you know, it's one of those guilty pleasures. It's like a, you know,
a manual lightweight car enthusiast, you know? You know, Blair, a lot of this country just,
the people are into drag racing because there's not a turn to save your life, you know?
Well, yeah. And I'm like, but I see a compelling drag race. I got to look too. I got to
watch and see what happens. So the Hamilton collection, I don't know if you know these
guys, but it's, young dude has got a bunch of money and insane car collection. He put on his
YouTube channel a ZR1X drag race against this guy's own Koenigsegg. I think it's a Yesco,
you know? He just got it. And this guy is famous for having some public spats with
Christian von Koenigsegg on social media because he's got, he's got multiple Koenigseggs
and they keep breaking or something. And he's been disappointed by this. So,
but first of all, he said, listen, this Koenigsegg is so fast and they get a ZR1X
and they line him up and the ZR1 vet literally just spanked this Koenigsegg.
And he said, okay, now I'm bringing my ringer, which he also owns a Remak,
and so he brings that thing out and literally the ZR1X ran from a dig like nose to nose,
you know, with this Remak, and so we've established at this point, the ZR1X is an
unbelievably fast car. A couple hundred grand, right? I mean, that's the 250k and they're
like, they know, I think they actually released the prices, right? It's under 200 grand is
it starts at under 200. Well, yeah. So like these guys were freaking out. They're like,
nothing gets close to this Remak Navara and the ZR1X just beat it. Now, again, these guys are
professional drag racers. They were not prep surfaces. They're just highlighting how insanely
fast the ZR1X is. So when I have that image in my mind and I look at these Nürburgring
lap times of the GTD, I happen to be kind of a Mustang fan. So when I see these cars,
there's something about it, even though it looks wonky and is huge and is like,
I think it's pretty cool to see that they are running faster than that ZR1X, which is
just insane. It goes into, you could talk forever and maybe get into another episode of
why speed or power doesn't always equate to speed on a racetrack. Arrow and dynamics and
all of that have a lot to do with that. That's why these GT3s at 500 horse keep up with these 1200
horsepower Corvettes, which is unbelievable from an engineering standpoint. But anyways, that's
incredibly impressive from the GTD competition. I assume it's going to be a street legal car
that they're going to sell. Who knows? I mean, here's the other little dirty secret, okay?
Mustang and that GTD is quite a bit developed by this company, Multimatic. And when you look at
the team photo of the guys at the Nürburgring, you'll see Multimatic logos on those jackets. So
they did quite a bit like Dirk Mueller, I believe is one of their kind of their drivers.
So they're known quite well for that. Whereas Chevy, I believe is using all internal Chevy people.
So a little bit different. But listen, I'm excited to see these brands slugging it out,
trying to be the king of the hill here at the ring. And so for me, it's just fun to see that.
And I think it's good because I think we are a peak sports car right now, as I've said before.
And I don't know that it's going to get much better than this. But I think these are all
kind of signs in my mind that we're at peak sports car. Well, I guess it depends on how you
define better than this. So you and I have lots of different opinions on what makes a sports car
good. But I still find this fascinating. I would still like to drive some of these cars
even, you know, but I have a hard time seeing myself ever really aspiring to own one.
But moving along, I just want to touch on BMW just briefly, a brand that's near and dear to my heart.
So they're about to launch the next generation of vehicles. Now, I am the first to say,
and I own a modern three series. But my gosh, I think they've continued to jack up and get
wrong the style styling of their cars and the design, both internal and extra and external.
I tried to get my wife to buy a BMW X seven and she was like,
she did not like the interior of that car is just over styled. And like, so anyways,
and I tend to agree. So they're coming out with their new lineup of cars that's they're
making a big deal out of it. It's coming called the Neue Klasse, which in translated from
German just means the new class. So what I find interesting, a couple of things. Apparently they've
invested $10 billion in the Neue Klasse, the new class models of cars here. But they've gone on
record now saying that they have not abandoned the sports car or the cars that they're calling
brand shapers. And one of my favorite topics to discuss and we've hit on it a few times is
to what extent do enthusiasts cars still matter today? And, you know, and sometimes we get very
cynical saying they don't care about us drivers anymore. They don't care about sports cars,
they're not they're all in financial turmoil. So they're just going after the cars that
are making money. BMW is clearly in that camp. But supposedly their strategy is once they get
some of the Neue Klasse of cars launched, they are absolutely going back to the well of brand
shapers and re resurrecting ideas such as the old M1 and going to make cars that are, you know,
more enthusiast focused and really drive that brand image, which, you know, I've just put up
a rendering of what that potentially could look like based on like an i8, which didn't sell well
at all. But, you know, BMW, and I want your take on this, when I think of their lineage, and I'm
sure I'm going to leave some cars out, but I can't go back to the 507, whatever. I mean,
incredible cars, but a little before my area of knowledge. But when I think of their sports
cars, I think of the M1, I think of the the Z, well, there's the Z series of cars that the Z3s,
the Z4s, and the Z8s. Z8 was was absolutely pinnacle Z car. Z1 too, with the retractable doors. Yes,
yes, that's but that was cool. That one was cool. But you know, I'm none of those cars really
exist. I think they're discontinuing the Z4 now. And I just really, really, really wish BMW would
continue on with the sports cars. And, you know, apparently they're going to make some effort with
this thing. Now, you know, what's it going to be? Probably some big, heavy, overly complex, you
know, electric hybrid something. But yeah, I mean, it's still on the roadmap for them.
Yeah, I mean, I'm with you. I have not been too crazy about their styling. I actually like the Z4.
I think that car has ended looking pretty well, pretty good. The M1 is absolutely one of my favorites.
You know, I can hope that this new class or new class, you know, is going to be
delivering some pretty cool cars. I got my fingers crossed. I've always rooted for the brand.
Yeah, interestingly enough, you know, even with this, you know, horrible styling,
they're outselling Mercedes and Audi. You know, so they're doing unbelievably well.
Yeah, it just it's incredible to me, you know, that cars that look so ridiculous, you know,
sell so well, you know, but I think I said this before, there's no accounting for good
taste. And so, you know, they they have managed to ride the coattails of their
reputation for a long time. And I think, you know, their ultimate driving machine slogan
still resonates after all these years. And I think it's helped. I think it's really helped them,
even, you know, the styling is still it's questionable, but people in their minds are
still thinking that it's the sportiest option. Yeah. And, you know, the cachet that comes
from that I think has helped them tremendously. I was driving this morning and I see up
ahead. Have you seen the I think it's called the BMW IX or something? It's like the hideous.
So I just want to gouge my eyes out every time I see one of these new X cars. It looks ridiculous.
Well, speaking of the 507, like they come up with this really angular, funky looking SUV thing,
not the not the XM, the big one that tried to, you know, fight the Range Rovers and whatever,
but like this smaller size electric. And then they put these really tall vertical,
like a 507, like kidney grills on this thing. And I just think that are lit up. If you've seen
the ones that are lit up now, I'm like, Jesus, you know, the angel eyes from the late 90s, that
was cool. Okay. And everyone's just trying to milk that concept. And they keep getting,
make apes getting worse. You know, it's just like, Oh my God. Yeah. I know. I root for them to get
better in that department. I drive a modern three series for my daily. And, you know,
I'm not all that into the car, but it's, it's decent to drive relative to what else is out
there. And so, you know, the noia class of the, the renderings you see, I think it's
given us all hope that at least in the styling department, they're going to improve a little
bit. So we're going to move on to this or that. And here's the chance for us to maybe be
a little controversial, maybe ruffle some feathers. I intend to a little bit, frankly.
So, you know, we've come up with this idea that we want to share the two or three cars that are
ugly, but we love them. So don't you dare call that clown shoe behind you ugly because
you know, I've owned one of those things. So take it away. That is my first choice, man, as ugly,
but beautiful, right? It's, oh, I just remembered one that I wanted to put up there. I forgot. But
anyways, that's fine. This car, the M coupe, you know, this Z three M coupe,
look, it is not going to win any beauty contest, man. That's just it. It's not going to
happen. Those wheels though, whoo. Those pretty damn sweet. The road stars. Yeah. Oh, love those
wheels, man. But you know, the shooting break style of car, I know you and I love the style
of car. And so to me, that was my number one choice of modern cars for sure that, you know,
in my opinion are ugly, but I absolutely adore them. You know, the, should I go through all
three of mine or you want to go? Let me jump over. Yeah, you throw one up. You throw one up.
Well, so I've owned an M coupe. I know a lot of people think they're hideous. I had a lot. What I
had mine, a lot of guys have rolled down the window and they'd be like, what is that thing?
You know, they had no clue what that car even was. People forget about it. And
anyways, but what I will say is, even though I love them, there are certain angles that
I'm like, that car actually looks kind of bad. You know, there are angles like from behind with
the big wide hips and the flares that's like, that is the coolest looking car ever. But this angle
that you have up there. Exactly. I hate this angle. Yeah. What is happening in front of that car?
But I do love the car. So. Oh my God. Yeah, this one. Oh, the car that I have put up here
is the FK8 Civic Type R. Now this is like the Shredder 2017 2021. Somebody went absolutely nuts
with the, you know, the design language on this car. Totally. And so this is funny too,
because I bought one of these. And in fact, I daily this car. I mean, not that exact one,
but it was the same shade of blue. And my wife refused. I've owned a lot of cars.
I owned a lot of cars, some of which she respected and liked a little, many of which she has not.
This car, to tell you a quick little story, I went to, she was across the neighborhood
and it was a decent day, but she was kind of getting tired. And she's like, hey,
can you come pick me up? Well, I show up. I mean, I had owned this car for months.
I show up in my Civic Type R and she's like, she was just not feeling it that day. She's like,
I seriously have to get in this thing. And my wife's kind of a snob, but she's a very lovely
person. And you know, it's like, but they are, they're kind of hideous. So why do I like them?
That's get back to the crux. It's not necessarily because I think they look great.
These cars are so good to drive. And I agree. From a modern car standpoint, it's,
and even when I bought it, I kind of bought it plugging my nose thinking,
oh man, am I really doing this? And but you get in the car, you drive them. And it's,
my buddy at the time, you know, had a four cylinder Cayman, like the 2.5 liter. And I'm
like, no, this is like the hatchback version of that car, you know, from a precision standpoint,
from, you know, a willingness and an eager, and you can go beat on these things. Front wheel drive,
it is very willing to be pushed hard. The shifter spectacular man. So I don't love it
like the M coupe. I kind of like the look at while I from some angles think it's the
coolest car out there. What's your wife think of the M coupe? She like the clown shoe?
It's funny. She came around and I had some buddies that were like,
you're seriously going to buy one of those. But when you see it in person and I had mine
stanced on the color, was it? No, it was, it was black and it was black with workmeister
five spoke wheels on it. And it was, it was so I'll put a picture up sometime. It was so rad
and had such presence. And so, you know, she could kind of appreciate it, but not her
thing. This civic type bar she never warmed up to in the slightest. And, you know, I only
here we go. I only like it not because I love the way it looks, but the way it drove.
My next car is a car that I actually think is ugly and I get how people can say that.
But I think it looks so cool. Have you seen one in person? I have not. Have you? I have. Yeah.
This is so this is the Alfa Romeo SZ, which is a little sport, two door sport coupe from 1989
to 1991 as Z standing for Sprint Segato. So tell me about it in person.
You know, it looks good. It was very, I would say avant garde for its era.
Yeah, it was very forward, you know, in its styling. And there was a sister vehicle. Okay.
There was a bit of platform sharing. Lancia had a version of this thing called the hyena.
Styling was different enough, you know, but also like this kind of controversial. I liked it.
Actually, I think I probably like the hyena more than I like this. But
yeah, that's a good that's a good choice, man. That car definitely looked pretty whacked out for
its time. Yeah, very angular, very wedge shaped. And apparently this is like one of the first cars
that was designed primarily from like computer generated CAD designs. Was it? Okay. By Alpha
Romeo, but then Zagato, which is a coach builder that many of these these Italian
manufacturers used, they're the ones who actually built the car. Sure. Even though
Alpha designed it. Now, what one of my bucket list to do is is to drive a car with a busso v6 in it,
which this car had. But by all accounts, the busso v6 is one of like the best sounding,
you know, induction engine engines out there. So super cool design. This is one of those that
I think it looks funky, but I love it. It's kind of car I would love to own and have people turn
their noses up to and anyway, so the Alpha male SE look, look at the the three squared headlights
on this car next to the Alpha triangle. It's just those phone dial wheels. Very, very cool.
So I just put a picture of the Lancia hyena behind me. Wow. Okay. Same, same era, you know,
platform sharing. You know, look at the greenhouse. It's kind of you can see the similarities there.
I have never heard of a Lancia hyena. Yeah, it kind of looks like one. Yeah, it really does.
I like that one better because I felt the design was a little more cohesive, but
you know, the the the Alpha was taking a bit more risk and looking a little more avant-garde there.
And yeah, there was a Subaru in a similar the similar era. What was that called?
SVX, but something like that. Well, we could talk about Subaru Bratz. I almost I almost put that
on my list. But all right. So listen, I get to go next. And so I'm going to put up the car.
I love these things. In fact, we were first put in this list. I thought about the clown shoe and
I thought about the Europa. Yes, the Lotus Europa, you know, like the front looks great, but what
in the hell happened when they got to the back of the car? Right? It's like all party up front,
you get to the back. It's like, oh my God, what is this? You know, which do you know,
you're the Lotus guy, what is back there? Did they did they increase like the the storage
behind the motor? I think they just gave up. I don't know what the hell happened there.
Okay. I mean, it's obviously a mid-engine car. Okay. And it's a great car. We restored one a few
years ago and it's so much fun to drive the way that you're oh, it really is, man. It's super
lightweight. You know, the way the car the car shifts, it's just it's wonderful. It's a fun,
fun driving driving car. You know, for an old car, it's it's remarkably good. But
man, the styling. Oof. What were they thinking? What were they thinking? Yeah. Well, there's
there's a part of me that thinks it's a cool little car. And you know, we've been talking about
this with your new association with Callaway. We like we might be in an arms race to get a
C seven air wagon, you know, a shooting break. I got some information I'm going to send to
you, man. I picked up some info and I was in Connecticut, you know, on Monday. So
all right, listen, let's get to your next. What's your next pick? But that's what this car,
the Europa reminds me of a little bit. It's almost like a little bit of a
tall back and super funny. No, I'm going to save mine for last. Do you have your
okay? Yeah. I got another one. I got another one. I want to, I want to piss a few people off
before we call it. Okay. Got it. Got it. So the sob 900 was my next choice. I had a sob
99, which predated this one. And I got to tell you, man, I love sobs, but they are, the styling
is so quirky that, you know, they just look so crazy. You know, I had one, you know, in the
final days of my college undergrad that is a 99. Yeah. And I either had blown the head gasket
or cracked the block, but every time you'd see she knew driving down the road, you'd see this
big white cloud of smoke, you know, I had to carry a gallon of water with me everywhere I went. So
anyways, I love the practicality of these things. I love the car. I really, really enjoyed my sob
and certainly lamented that when GM shut them down. So that, that is funny. And when I'm,
I think they're rad looking. I always have, I had an aunt that was like a diehard sob
person. She just always get the next sob. The 900s are super cool. Yeah. They are funky looking.
This, this is a great time to mention before I really hack some people off here
in probably including you, Shenu. Oh, no, no, no, I want to give you a heads up on this.
But this is a great time to read a review that we got from one of our listeners who
and so we want feedback, but he said the cars talked about on this podcast are not on many guys
radar. Try some different ones next time. So you're pulling out a sob, sob 900.
Lotus, you're right. I've got an output SC. So listen, everybody off. Yeah. If you're dying to
hear for certain cars, we welcome feedback. Hit us up. Full throttle talk on Instagram.
Subscribe to the newsletter. You know, let us have it, but I'm going to go with my last choice.
Let's see it. Let's see it. If you want, you want a car that's on people's radars,
good or bad, the most polarizing car of my lifetime. And I will tell you why I like it.
It's the cyber. Oh, my God. That's ugly. So here. Why do you like it? Okay. Hear me out.
What is what is the trend? What has the trend been that all car people lament that that
auto manufacturers have gone to an every other car you see on the road is shape like it's
it's the, uh, the, uh, SUV, it's the, what's the small SUV called crossover crossover crossover.
Exactly. Yeah. Every other car is a crossover. Next time you go drive, just look at all the
rap fours and the Subaru ascends and the Murano and all the bullcrap Audi Q fours and BMW X
threes. That's all you see mix in some minivans, mix in, and then you see the cyber truck and I'm
like, for all of the hate these things get. And what I find so fascinating is, yeah, I mean, so much
of the, the, the hip thing to do is just the bash on this car, partly because it came out when
Elon Musk was a very polarizing figure who was getting involved in politics. So I get it,
but what I love about this truck is it is so different from anything you see on the road. So
I, I find it fascinating when all of these people just sit there and gripe and gripe and gripe about
crossover after crossover after SUV. And then the cyber truck comes out. Oh, that thing is so ugly.
That thing is, and guess what? I agree. We're putting up three cars here that are kind of
ugly. Will I be buying a cyber truck? No, I'm not the, the target audience for this. But every
time I see one now that we've had a year or two, a couple of years to digest what the hell we're
looking at with that thing. It's like, yes, it's an ugly car, but what that, but guess what? It's
not another F 150, which is all we see, or another RAV four, or another Q five, I'm like,
or a McCon. So yes, I'm glad they exist. I like them from that standpoint, but
yes, they are ugly. Well, then, then you'll probably like what I just put up, you know,
behind my screen. Okay, which is a garbage dumpster gray one up against the wall. It actually
is how it looks. So listen, man, I am, I do not love that truck. Okay. Everything about the styling,
I do, I detest. It is ridiculous looking. You know, I can't, I'm not with you brother,
but I am 100% against you on that one. Oh my God. There was a reason that I didn't give you
any heads up. I'm glad you didn't because I knew we weren't going to overlap.
And again, my justification for this, not that I need any, but as I'm sick of all cars looking the
same way out on the road, everybody's going to this form factor that couldn't be more boring.
And then he's freaking cyber truck drive down the road. And it's like, okay, there's something
different. And I, I appreciate that something different is out there, even though I don't think
I'll be buying one and it looks exactly like the garbage dumpster you just put up. So that's pretty
good. Excellent. Excellent. Well, is it time to move on to segment five? It is. So we got a
question from Litch B. And this was related to a very nice or enjoyable to read newsletter
article that you had written for full throttle talk. And it was titled the quiet death of the
manual transmission. And in that you saw, and the question came from richby said, in that you
cited Tony Roma, who was the president of chief engineer, I think chief engineer, chief
engineer. Yeah. Oh yeah. He was, he was on Jay Leno's ZR one X video, right? Wasn't that
the guy? That was Mark Royce. That was Mark Royce. Yeah. I think he's president of GM.
And Tony Roma is like the chief, you know, Corvette engineer. Got you. Well, he had shared the
statistic and the justification behind why the C seven or why the C eight doesn't have a manual.
So Tony said, or rich said that he's shared that. And that was the justification for no
manual and a C eight with the C eight shifting the buyer demographic is the data from the C
seven Corvette. All that relevant. I mean, this is something that you and I kind of
disagreed with. And I have made very clear, I am so bummed and annoyed that they have not
put a manual in that Corvette. And I think the market is so ripe for it. And, you know,
you agreed with Tony Roma in that look at the take rate of the C seven Corvettes across the
board. It was not good. And so I think rich brings up an incredible point here. And I had to
start doing a little bit of homework to find out whether or not that is actually true. It seems
so anecdotally as the guys that I see driving Corvette C eight, at least according to what I
could dig up, you know, in my research is that the demographic for the C eight Corvette
to substantiate riches claim is significantly different from the CVET C seven Corvette
successfully shifting to a younger, wealthier and more diverse owner base. So it says the C eight
with its mid-engine design attracts more millennials ages 28 to 43 and generation X 44 to 59 buyers
with 90% of zero six orders coming from the 40 year old age group. So my question to you
Shenu, because I'm, I like where Rich is headed with this question is,
is Tony Roma, was that a cop out when he says, Hey, nobody wanted a manual and a C seven? Well,
how is that relevant? Because we're talking about two drastically different cars with two
fairly different demographic buyer pools. Yeah. I mean, I think that's a fair point. Okay.
The, the, the, there has been a shift. I don't think it's a huge shift. Okay. I see a ton of
Corvette guys at the spring at spring mountain taking the Corvette school. And I definitely
see younger guys, but I still see plenty of older guys. And I'm talking about 50, 60, 70 year
old guys that I would have seen at the C seven school. So there is a shift. So I think
there is some truth to that. But I think the, the bigger issue, okay, that really truly exists
is to continue to go faster and faster and faster. The, the, you know, to set the faster
lap times, whether it's at the Nurburgring or at your local, you know, race track,
the pallet shift cars are just faster. And that's the cold hard reality that they're
up against. And, you know, a manual gearbox, you know, the cost to, to develop that and get it
homologated in the U S is it's expensive. And if you're not going to sell that many of them,
you know, it's, it's going to be a difficult proposition. You know, look, I would love to
see in the next generation C nine where they have, you know, a model that is just extreme
lap time, you know, chaser to get the fast, fastest lap times. And then kind of, you know,
then another version that's more about the driving experience, one that's focused towards
people that want to be a part of the action, you know, feeling things, you know, shifting things.
So, you know, that's just probably a wild and crazy dream. And I don't know that that's
going to happen here. But no, I mean, I think there is some truth to the fact that
there is a different demographic. Well, there's an assumption made by rich and his question
that younger demographics are going to care about manuals more than a C seven would just because
the demographic shifts. Yes. Does that even matter? Does does a younger demographic think
differently about a manual transmission? But I will, I will say that they're probably less
interested almost. I would, you know, they're they're not as used to it as the older
generation. But can't we blame you old, old timers for the death of the manual transmission?
Aren't you guys at fault? Because I will say now I'm talking to the king of, you know, lotus here.
But I get that. So, you know, it's tongue in cheek when I lump you into that group. But
you go look for, and I have, I have shop for C sevens, grand sports before,
go look at how many freaking Corvettes of C six, C seven are automatic. And we all know
that the bulk of these buyers are old dudes who just sit them in their garage, come out to cars
and coffee or the car show, get their folding chair out in front of their C six, a base car
that has 9000 miles on it. And it's a 2010 and or if, if that it's probably older than that
and less miles. And so on one hand, I think the real world evidence or what I'm observing is,
yes, they stopped buying manuals. So to Tony Romo's point, I think he's probably right because
it's harder to find seven speed grand sports C sevens than it is the stinking automatic,
which I have zero interest in in that car. And it's frustrating that more people didn't option
them. So then you look at, and we're going to talk about motor one, they surveyed and dug out,
you know, kind of the sales histories of all the modern manual cars to see what the take
rates were. They're really freaking high now. And as evidenced by this 911 GT three SC coming out
in manual only, I talked about the Civic type R, which is manual only, which they're still
selling in the more modern and better style generation, by the way. Right. Yeah. The new one,
I actually kind of, I like it. I like it a lot. I've got stories about that car too. But it's
so like, but what I, so I do think it matters because maybe there's just this urgent
around, you know, like, Hey, these manuals are going away. And that's why the take rates
have been kind of high. But so I think rich is on to something. I think that people do care about
it more and more than they did. Maybe it's because they think they're going away. And if everyone
started making them again, we'd all be like, Oh, okay, I'll buy the auto because it's easier
and it's faster to your point. So I like where his head's at. I desperately think the C9 needs
a manual transmission. And lastly for you, Mr. Callaway, I talked to a buddy who's driven
everything. And I mean everything. And he loves Corvettes. When I told him about you and your
affiliation with Callaway now, he said, listen, tell him that Tremac has fitted an manual gearbox
to the C8. If GM's not going to do it, Callaway should work with Tremac to figure out how to
put one in there as one of their packages. Now that, that was his, his advice for you
to pass on to the guys in Connecticut. Well, I will definitely duly noted and we'll pass that
information. Well, that was that was the whole point of our podcast. See if you can,
you know, ruffle some feathers in the Corvette world for those of us who are clamoring for a
manual. But anyways, we've come up against it here. I've had a good time talking about this.
I imagine I've made all the the Cybertruck Lotus crossover enthusiasts really happy on this podcast,
of which there are probably zero, but this was fun. Absolutely. All right, Blair. So until next week,
sounds good. We'll talk to you soon. Talk to you then, brother. Okay, see you. Bye-bye.
About this episode
Tim Harris pops in via “dispatches from Puerto Rico,” then the hosts trade shop stories: a Mitsubishi Bravo van gets back on all cylinders after spark-plug/wire work, and a Lotus Elise becomes a surprisingly fun freeway tool while a 996 build awaits a new gearbox. Big news follows with the signing of Callaway as an authorized performance center and a focus-group look at Slate’s low-cost direct-to-consumer EV truck. Porsche launches the manual-only 911 GT3 SC, sparking debate over the name, looks, and possible ADM markups. They also break down Ford’s Mustang GTD Nürburgring pace and the “quiet death” argument for manuals—ending with a spirited case for a future Corvette manual.
This week on Full Throttle Talk, we break down one of the biggest weeks in automotive news.
Porsche has officially unveiled the GT3SC, raising questions about what defines a true GT3. At the same time, Ford’s Mustang GTD is putting down blistering Nürburgring lap times, outperforming expectations and shaking up the performance hierarchy.
We also explore a deeper question: are we living in the peak era of performance cars—or watching the beginning of the end?
In this episode:
Porsche GT3SC: Brilliant or unnecessary?
Mustang GTD vs Corvette ZR1X: What really matters—power or engineering?
BMW’s next generation strategy and the future of enthusiast cars
The uncomfortable truth about manual transmissions disappearing
“Ugly but lovable” cars that still win enthusiasts over
Plus, we answer a listener question about whether the shift away from manuals is driven by data—or a misunderstanding of today’s buyers.
If you care about driving, this episode is for you.
