Project Car Updates, Sierra Rally Prep - DWA! Podcast Ep. #899

The Driving While Awesome podcast is recorded live to SD card at the Beeline Motor Club in Santa Cruz, California.

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Welcome to Driving Well Awesome. My name is Warren. I'm Lane. And I'm Art. We're here. We're doing it. It's really happening. Thank you for joining us, everyone. We're live. And all. I just saw a bumper sticker on the way here that said tired of traffic. Question mark? More birth control. Oh, okay. Oh, okay. Yeah.

You know, but really, if you think about that, like a lot of the young kids aren't really driving. It's more e-bikes. And I was like, you know, I heard they're also not having sex either. We've been talking to.

Yep.

That's what I heard, dude.

You've been asking kids?

Kids. I talk to a lot of little kids. I'm like, hey, I'm in sex. They're like, dude, I'm nine. I'm like, oh, okay.

You're like, yeah.

Lane likes for the question.

What's your point?

I'm like, well, yeah. I'm like, so are you having sex?

That's my point.

Are you fucking?

Whoa. I gotta go.

Can we get in trouble for this?

I think Lane can.

I'm out.

Dude, there was a, the opposite. I saw, um, I don't know. I think it popped up on my feed like a few weeks ago. I sent it to our boy, Vandalay, because it was the weirdest thing I've ever seen.

It was, it was the opposite. And it was this couple who were saying that we need to populate, you know, that especially if you're an intellectual and you're a well to do family, like it is your duty.

Yeah.

The opposite of idiocracy.

Yeah.

It is the idiocracy.

Yeah.

And, um, it was, and they're like, you know, they're like wearing their, you know, round little Japanese hero Hito looking glasses, but they're very white. They're like from Brooklyn or something, you know, and they're wearing some elaborate guard outfit.

It's amazing.

But it's a, it's legit. It looks like a skit, but then like you start looking and they're like, no, wait a minute. These people are 100% serious.

Like they're just the way they talk and the kids are all climbing all over them. And I think they have like 12 children or something crazy. Like, it's wild.

Don't do that.

Cool though. You know, it's a fun times.

It is cool. Less traffic.

But yeah, e-bike situation in our town is bad news. It's super annoying.

I would imagine Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz, you know, are very probably high on the list.

Yeah.

Like, you know, downtown they pedestrianized like, you know, a lot of that like state street, like, which used to be like the go to spot back in the day.

And like it's sort of like at post COVID, like it's been sort of in recovery mode and they pedestrianize it to try to help, you know, bring people back.

And as you can imagine, now you have a, it's literally a street where people are walking and crossing the street constantly.

And then kids are ripping up and down like at full tilt and literally running into people occasionally killing people.

Like, and so they finally put stop signs where there used to be stop lights and like some kids obey that.

But it's it's they're trying to figure they're looking for solutions.

Because that can be even worse because a lot of times bicyclists will run stop signs.

So then if you're expecting people to stop, then they don't.

But yeah, I guess I was thinking about this after morning motors.

We were, well, before there was some guys getting ready for a ride, which on where we do morning motors is a very popular kind of launching off point for mountain biking and road biking and stuff.

Anyways, there was a group of like eight 50, 60 somethings all with e-bikes with throttles, you know.

So yeah.

And I'm like, well, what's the difference between that and a dirt bike?

Like, I mean, really you're, you're going to rip up a hill at 40.

I mean, you're getting, you're pedaling, you're like, it's pedal assist.

Some pedal assist and the bikes are like more manageable.

Like you can maneuver them easier to go down like a little trail or something.

And they're not loud.

That's that's a huge difference.

They're not loud, but they are very and they're not as fast, right?

But they can still rip up a trail down a hill.

They're as fast, probably.

They're fast enough to cause major injuries to people that they run into.

We're going to get off our old person soapboxer, but the,

but those kids are in the serons and stuff, which are gnarly.

They look like dirt bikes.

They do like 50 just throttle.

Yeah.

Like they just have pedals for show.

That's what, that's what Logan has for motor.

That's it.

Seron.

So we had, we had one, we had one at range and we took like the,

the governor, it has like a little, you just like switch two wires.

It only goes 30 from the factory.

And then you like literally just take these two wires and cross them

and it does 50 like the skyline.

What do you call it?

The boost limiter pill on that.

Yeah, exactly.

It tells you whatever it's having said all this.

I wonder how motivated we would have been to get our first really

crappy car at like not 16.

I can see 18, you know, like where you really like start to

want to be mobile, but like at 15 and you can actually get a

bike that'll go 30 miles with one charge and you can skip around

traffic.

You never go to a gas station.

You never deal with an oil chain.

You can't heel toe downshift.

You can't rip up 152 at three in the morning.

And you can't sleep in it.

You can't smoke bowls with your friends in it.

You can't pass out in it after smoking bowls.

Dude, hot box, hot box, your e-bikes like you would line them up

and then you put a towel over you or like a freaking,

what do you call it?

Sleeping bag.

Although you can't, you can't drive with friends in the car

now until you're like 30 anyways.

So nice.

No, what is it?

It's 18.

It is like 18.

I think it's a solid year.

Well, whatever.

Because I mean, I was breaking the law.

When I got my permit, I had kids and I had like my friends

in the car.

That was the drive with your parents and shit my parents

but that's because in Watsonville, your kids,

your friends are having kids.

That's right.

Kids killing kids just for the juice, you know, all that.

Let's see more birds control less traffic.

Oh, there you go.

We're getting right back.

Right back.

Full circle.

Thanks, man.

Thanks for that callback on that.

That's my pleasure.

My pleasure.

Well, this is another episode here of the Drive On Awesome

podcast.

I guess we could talk about like actual car stuff and

things.

We had a morning motors.

You did.

Which was fantastic.

We, uh, it was also the hottest weekend of the year.

Was it really?

It's been toasty, man.

Oh, you just made that up.

I mean, I heard that, uh, San Francisco had had the

warmest day since October of 2024.

Okay.

So that puts it in line for one of the hotter days.

You know, I'm not going to say we're, you know,

right on the record here.

But anyways, warm, warm day.

Beautiful day.

Thanks for writing a note, dude.

Yeah.

On your, uh, we are servicing the M3 at Beeline Motor Club.

I was going to actually come and talk to you after this,

but I was kind of in a rush, but yeah, it's in the,

in your queue.

Um, oh yeah, yeah.

I know I was in a rush to get up here and I didn't want

to bother you.

Um, the M3 is at Beeline, which I think we'll get

into as well as art's car.

The E30 made it all the way back.

I have so many questions about this.

Yeah, I was hearing there were rumors of an art

appearance at morning motors.

There were rumors.

Someone came up to us.

Yeah, yeah.

That was the plan.

I think Nick, Nick or someone said, uh, is art here.

And I was like, well, no, and I don't know if he was

going to come.

That's right.

Yeah.

It was the classic art move, right?

It was like, you're not sure it might show up.

It may, maybe like a walk up mid, mid meeting.

Yeah.

He told one person didn't tell anyone else.

And then I didn't know if it was like, is he,

is he coming?

Is the car showing up?

Is it being towed?

There was so many.

Yeah.

Is he having entourage with him?

Yeah.

I mean, could I, it could have helicopter onto the pump

track right there, you know, just all the dust kicking

up.

That would have been sick.

Well, Nick say, and he went like, and he even went

like through extra steps to have the car ready for you

at the show.

Oh, I missed that part.

I didn't hear about the GTI.

Yeah.

The 337.

Can we get a nickname for the GTI that it's Florida

spec?

What do we call it?

GTI man.

Florida.

Florida T.

I don't know.

Oh, because it's like the the dragons has, you know,

a little extra juice.

The dragons restrictor plate was reinstalled because

it's rocking California plates at the moment.

I know.

I know that is true.

The dragons restrictor plate was reinstalled.

Yeah.

Let's get into that.

I mean, that's it.

I mean, we can talk about real quick.

I mean, before we get in our motors, we want,

but we, I was originally going to drive it up there

the night before so that I could be at morning

motors and you know the car.

I would show the car there hood up for lanes.

This makes sense.

Yeah.

And so and then I was going to drive back home after

that.

But unfortunately there were some commitments that

came up that kind of hampered my style or to

crap my solo man or it was a lacrosse game and

you know it was like the new dad's getting

together at the new school and like I was

out or nose.

I know what it was.

It was an e-bike polo dude.

But we have to set 25 on those because then he

gets an early.

Yeah.

So yeah, anyways, yeah, that's why he did.

We did talk about the car being prepped.

I was going to go up there regardless obviously,

but ended up being there a day late.

Unfortunately.

And so the car did drop the car off and I

brought back the golf GTI three thirty seven

edition mark for mark for sorry.

Well, everyone would know that Lane.

If it's a three thirty seven,

people don't all know what a three three seven

is all know what a mark for.

Are you kidding me?

If you listen to the show and you don't know

that stop it.

No, just kidding.

No, no, yeah.

So let me ask.

Let me riddle you this.

Yeah.

You have a you have a little hot hatch at

home.

I do.

And I'm surprised you didn't just fly

home.

Was that not an option?

We're not something you thought about.

Well, no, because on the timing of all

that it was going to be messy and so it

seems like more work.

Yeah.

I have come the day before.

Well, you know, you have to go all the way

to San Francisco.

Like, you know, it's you.

Do you really?

There's no Santa because then you have

to go to L.A.

Yeah, then I go.

Yeah, exactly.

It's like dude.

If I did Sanjo, you know, I would

have had to go to Las Vegas or Denver

as my way over a nice little night.

It's only a four hour drive.

Exactly.

It's a four hour drive.

So it was like it all adds up to,

you know, whatever.

So but I didn't realize there's no

Santa's a little hot hatch.

So yeah.

So I drove that thing back and I had

no idea that this car was modified

because it looks like a stock mark

for silver three, three, seven as

they all were and real quick three,

three, seven is a limited edition.

They made 1500 of them slick top

lightweight model.

Recaro interior, which is super cool.

And it has different interior trim as

a brushed aluminum.

They have different, like, you know,

nicer door panels, door cards

as the VW guys say it's got the

BBS shot peen finish wheels.

I think they're 18s.

They look like BBS RC's, but I don't

know what model they are and bigger

breaks.

And I think that's LSD,

no LSD and same power,

but it has a six speed.

So it is geared differently.

And yeah, that's a pretty cool

little package.

It's a cool car as it is, right?

Whatever those.

I think what did that 1.8 T make?

Like, I think it was 180 horsepower

or something.

It wasn't the 25 model.

I don't think.

And so I got into it.

Everything looks normal.

You know, it looks completely stock

inside, except for a boost gauge.

And I was like, is that I don't know.

I was wondering is the boost gauge

part of this three, three, seven

package because it looks really

nice.

It's like integrated beautifully on

the column.

Anyways, beautifully.

So I didn't really get on it

until I was kind of near

Watsonville area back there in

Los Lomas.

And I was like very impressed

because it absolutely rips.

I mean, Nick mentioned that

it's around 300 horsepower.

And it feels every bit of it.

I don't know how much torque.

It feels super torquey and it's

classic.

It's super laggy.

It's like a, he has a hybrid

KO4 in there, a single turbo.

So like it really, really lags

and then just gives you all the

power and it rips all the way

to red line, which is really

nice.

It doesn't drop off because

he's got it breathing really

nice.

And it's got all the

supporting mods, right?

So is it putting down that

power though?

That's my question, dude.

So putting down the hatch.

No, no.

No, Lane, Lane, dude.

So this is the classic thing

that I always talk about.

Like one of the biggest reasons

I hate front wheel drive cars

is torque steer.

And this car dances

all over the fucking place.

It's like, and it's like, it's

kind of fun in a way that,

you know, it's like you have

to man handle it and it's like

trying to pull you out of the

fucking road and it handles

really well.

It's got a huge rear sway bar

on it and like, you know,

the suspension is all fresh.

It's got conies on it and

it drives great.

But if you're coming around

turn like I was over there in

Elkhorn, you know, and

you're not only is the rear

like wanting to rotate as soon

as you lift off the rear is

really light.

You go back on it and instead

of ripping into the turn that

you want, like now the car's

trying to go off the fucking

road, right?

So yeah, and it has a lot of

power.

So it's like dancing around

everywhere.

And I actually asked Nick,

I'm like, what's the diff

situation?

He's like at stock.

I'm like, yeah, NLST in

you know, would plant it and

help eliminate it, pull it

through the terms.

Exactly.

So but it's a lot of fun.

It sounds really good to

I don't know what his intake

and exhaust setup is, but it's

all cuss.

It's all not custom, but it's

modified and it sounds almost

like a five cylinder.

It's got like a little howl

to it.

It's really nice.

But yeah, I was really

impressed and it's

way, way faster than I

expected, you know, especially

getting into a car that you

expect a certain thing.

And it's like, I think it

was acceleration wise.

It's it was as fast as my

skyline for sure.

You know, I think it's

no power to wait here.

I mean, those are yeah, that's

a very capable car.

Yeah, I drove it several years

ago from I drove it like

down 84 from Alice's

and I was very, very

impressed with it.

I was like, damn this thing.

Yeah, same thing.

Like this thing is very fast.

Very capable.

I've been, I was toying

around with getting a four door

GTI for a while there and I

probably still should, but

I'm just too lazy and just

drive my truck everywhere.

But that was because

Andrew sat in the back, you

know, and it was like a pain

in the ass to get him in and

out of a back seat kind of

situation with his friends

or whatever.

Now it's he's pretty much

front seat guy.

Very excited about it, by the

way.

Oh, yeah.

I'm three right in the

front seat.

It's been pretty fun.

But that would be an option

now as a two door GTI.

Oh, yeah.

It's having technical

difficulties.

Yeah, so there's a lot of

options with that, you know,

the last of those, the golf

R's like chef Malone had.

Oh, yeah.

That is mark five five

style, which are kind of cool

looking.

And it's like, or do you have

a mark five or mark six?

He had a mark six, huh?

Six, six.

Yeah.

Yeah, but they made the two

door.

They made the two door and

it's sort of like what a

GTI should be.

Yeah.

And we always poo poo the

four door, you know, when

they were kind of introduced

or like it's not a real

GTI.

But in practical use, it's

so nice.

Yeah.

Everyone that has a mark

six or seven.

Seven loves it.

But they like worked the

looks out where they look

pretty good with a four

door, a four door too.

Absolutely.

Where I think mark threes

looked kind of goofy as

four doors.

It was something about that

that like rear of the

butt of it was to like

not it was too organic

where now they've kind of

squared it off and you

have that like the door

shut line is better.

The hatch shut line.

So yeah, they figured it

out.

But I don't know if I

can hear us.

Um, why would that be

why would that be?

Anyhow, we'll let them work

on.

You should log off and log

back in.

Maybe power on and off.

Hey, art, turn it off

and then turn it on again.

Um, anyhow, so we can talk

about morning motor as well.

Art is refiguring his

configuring morning

motors.

It happened.

It did happen.

We had a really good

good hang.

Um, we had, uh, a little

pre-hang at cat and cloud.

Of course, our friends at

cat and cloud, which was

great.

Um, I met up with, uh, Pete

and Pete, Peter B, Peter C.

No drew sadly drew your

missed.

Um, but he had obligations

and, uh, that was a nice

hang and then into morning

motors.

Like I said before, very

warm day.

So it meant for the

warmest ever warmest ever

of all time.

Yeah.

And, uh, everyone was out

in good spirits.

So full house.

Uh, and then some good

variety of cars.

Dude, it was like, I

thought it was a great

variety of cars.

It was very eclectic.

It was.

And, you know, sometimes

you get overwhelmed with

certain groups of cars,

modern stuff, et cetera.

And, uh, it kind of had

a little bit of everything,

some familiar faces,

some people we haven't

seen in a while.

And then, uh, B line

stepped it up.

They got a new tent,

which I'm sure you were

responsible.

I was responsible for that.

Yeah.

Oh, art.

Art's back.

Art's back, folks.

Hey, he's just jumping in it.

We're, uh, we're talking

morning motors.

So you can just, you know,

collect your thoughts.

Don't feel rushed.

You know, you want to add

anything.

Please do.

Um, anyways, B line

stepped it up newer, uh,

new tent, new, uh,

space, as they say.

Um, yeah.

Great space.

Great show.

Great times.

Uh, what was your

highlight?

Did you have, did you

look at cars at all?

Or you just kind of

talked to folks because that's

what you end up kind of

a lot of standing around

talking to folks.

I did look at a car that I

should buy.

Oh, that thing is really cool.

I mean, I've already known

about it and I've meant to

like go look at it before

this, but, um,

a buddy Mitch brought a 6.9

Mercedes W 116S class in

brown metallic over

beige, uh, velour

cloth.

It's a Euro spec 6.9.

1980.

Yep.

The last of them.

Um, so it's a,

yeah, it's a car that he's,

he's a dealer and he's,

you know, ultimately going

to sell it.

Uh, it is not perfect,

which I like.

It has a lot of like paint.

It's like perfectly

imperfect.

And I would probably fix

like there's a dent on the

rear quarter, uh,

like in the,

in a corner and you'd

want to have that

professionally fixed.

Like it needs,

it would need to be

fixed and painted.

And I would probably have

that done because the car

is nice enough.

And I think that's okay

because the paint is,

it's been repainted ones for

sure.

And it has some like

little blemishes here and

there.

Yeah, you're right.

That, that's the one thing,

but it's got it's on the

interior.

It's hairy dude.

Yeah.

It's on chrome centros

and then it has a,

it has like the cheesy

80s wood steering wheel

from like,

it's a sport line wheel

from like the Mercedes

aftermarket magazine.

Yeah.

That would go immediately.

But, uh,

in a way it's like

endearing.

Yeah.

Just not right for the

car.

It was added later,

but the scary cars,

period,

they,

they're like

total money pits

and they can be really

gnarly,

but this one looks like

it's been,

you know,

kept going and,

and good show.

Yeah.

I don't think it's just

been rotting away.

So yeah,

there's a conversation to

be had for sure.

I think it doesn't

fit my like

roadster dreams,

but it's another car

that I've looked at

for a long time.

So,

and it's a euro.

So it's got the good

bumpers.

More.

More euro.

More legit.

And it has more power

because it's a euro.

Definitely.

That's a,

that's the most powerful motor.

Like that was the best car

that Mercedes could build

in 1980.

It wasn't,

it wasn't the fastest car

in the world.

I think it was.

Yeah.

Certainly the most powerful.

I think it's like,

what is it?

350 horse.

It's crazy.

Yeah.

Sick.

I saw it.

Warren showed it to me.

I think he had just

received the pictures

and we're up in Seattle.

And I was 100%

buying it.

I didn't know that you hadn't

checked it out.

Did you get,

did he throw a number at you

yet or are you still

need to talk to me?

I know what he bought it for.

And,

but you know,

his thing is like,

well,

if I just throw on this

auction site,

well,

not even bring a trailer,

but like this other like

dealer auction,

like he could just be done

with it and it's gone

and make some money.

Like that's how,

usually how he does it.

You know,

he's selling 200 cars a

year.

So it's like,

just move along.

But I could talk to him.

Like the type to just throw

the keys and be like,

I check it out.

So we could like,

I don't know,

experience it,

see if it's a fit one cool

feature,

which I forgot about

and I have seen this

before.

I think they might have done

it 126 is too,

but power rear bench,

the whole bench slides

forward.

Oh shit.

And the back

angles down a little

bit.

Silent power operation.

Is that hydraulic?

I don't know.

That sketch because

you know how like a lot

of the locks and stuff

are hydraulic, right?

Just little diaphragms

that they have been

I think in the 116,

they're air.

Oh, it's air.

And it's got a control box

in the engine bay that

builds pressure.

But yeah,

that's a good question.

Like I don't know what

operates that.

It's probably silent.

Yeah.

Just such a weird feature

like talk about.

Yeah.

I didn't know you had like,

I didn't know he had,

you had talked to him

about or anything.

I know your friends

with Mitch.

But he was showing me

the car.

And I was like,

dude, this is what

Warren should get.

I was like,

fuck his truck.

I'm like, yeah,

like he has these things.

That's just my daily driver.

Yeah.

Dude, I'm like,

he hasn't drive like far.

Like this would be such

a rad little like great.

I know I need to like

talk to my Katadi because

he owned one for a while

and and rehabbed one.

And I think that'd be

a good reality check

because all I know about

them is that they're,

you know, not,

not quite 600

Mercedes Pullman style

of needs.

Those are those are

hydraulic window operation

hydraulic like locks

and really sketchy.

And then on top of all

the other stuff,

the trim and, you know,

rust and all that stuff.

I mean, the good thing about

this car does look like

it's just been someone,

it was someone's like car

and they really kept it nice.

Like it's a nice driver.

It's got an interesting

story.

As opposed to like car

that's just been sitting

for years and rotting out.

Like everything looked

pretty not good on it.

Totally.

That interior looked,

it looked like it was

in a garage and just

so clean.

Interior looks great.

So killer on those.

It's a really cool little

tiny, perfect dashboard.

It's the classic low sill.

You know,

you sit up a little high.

It's got a lot of presence.

It's not too big.

Yeah.

It's a, it's a great car.

So stay tuned.

Well,

stay tuned to the driving awesome

podcast.

It's also a good place

to park money.

And I feel like if,

if you do still want,

you know,

to go after that our 107

later,

this is a car that could be

traded towards that or,

you know,

it can sell and buy.

Like,

I think you'll do well there

with the 107s.

Yeah, they're,

they're great,

but I feel like they're,

they're everywhere.

Like they're way more common.

This is actually like a pretty

rare car.

I agree.

And I have a notification

on bring a trailer for all

the 107s being listed.

There's a lot.

It's like three a week

or something that get posted

and sometimes more.

So a lot of those are like

really low mileage,

like collector grade examples

and that's fine.

But what I'm looking for

is way more rare.

It's like,

you know,

twice a month,

there'll be one.

That's what I'm kind of

looking for.

That we don't have a.

Leno's law.

Oh yeah.

Now it's going to affect

any values or change anything.

It's completely dead,

completely dead as far as I know.

I don't even think it's like.

Well,

I watched the YouTube video about it.

Apparently it's not dead,

dead,

but it's like sitting in purgatory

forever where laws just go to die

and like whether or not it gets

pulled back out is the question.

Right.

Like,

but as of right now,

it's not going anywhere.

Yeah.

I mean,

I had no hopes to be honest,

but it was,

it was one of those like where you,

you buy a lottery ticket

and you're like, well,

maybe I didn't have hopes,

but pretty much.

I had no hopes,

but then it had a little steam.

And I was like,

maybe,

but I never really,

I never thought it was going to happen.

You were steaming,

but you weren't dreaming.

I was not.

I was dreaming,

but I wasn't steaming.

Yeah.

I hear you.

Yeah.

So anyways,

perfect car by the way,

a 1980 Mercedes to have that

Leno La Paz.

Yeah.

Up through 85,

like all of a sudden it's 6.9.

1986.

Just a rat's nest of air.

Exactly.

And stuff.

Yeah.

And yeah,

big exhaust catalytic converters

and whatnot.

Yeah.

At least it's cats.

I know.

Yeah.

That car is super cool though.

That was definitely a standout.

So what about you?

Did you just talk to people?

I saw you taking pictures.

I took some photos,

but that was definitely a standout, dude.

That was like,

yeah,

there's a lot of stuff I saw.

There was a nice Porsche speedster.

Dude, there was two.

I know.

Two real speedsters.

A white one.

Really nice.

Great alphas.

There was a cool synchro vanagin double cab.

Yeah.

There was that dude

that always does those crazy builds.

He had that Volkswagen bus

with the Subaru engine

with a little turbo on it.

And it was dropped to the floor.

Dropped to the ground.

Yeah.

I think it was on air.

Yeah.

Well,

it was not going in and out of the driveway.

I mean, if it was,

he wasn't using it.

But he's the one

that also has that like crazy T-bird.

He has a caddy.

He has like,

he does these crazy builds.

Reuben was there in his dialed Evo,

which I don't know,

Evo 75 or whatever they're called.

Evo 75?

It's an Evo 9.

Can we just come up with a new name?

Once he gets to like,

what are we going to do?

Evo 12.

I mean, they're done.

It only went to 10.

It's coming back.

Yeah.

Now they're like a hatchback.

Now they're like a,

I mean, now they're like an SUV or something.

That's perfect.

He said it's very dialed.

Dude,

Evo 9s are super rad.

It's like that and a five are my favorite.

Those are really good.

What about the nine?

What about the 10?

Come on.

What about the eight?

Seven.

Yeah.

Four.

Four is,

I do not like,

they have that really weird soft front end

with like the curvy headlights.

It's like,

and like the five is like aggressive,

really sharp,

clean.

Which was the mirage,

the five or the four?

I mean,

technically they,

they're all based on.

I mean, it's the same thing,

but the one that you're talking about.

Yeah,

the four is what we got as the mirage here.

Like we got the front end looks the same.

And which one is the Tommy Mackinen?

Six and a half.

It's I think it's a sorry in the half.

Yeah,

six point five.

Yeah,

I like those.

Those are sick.

Yeah,

I'm a fan.

They're different.

Like it has like the really big fog lights and the six is

like smaller.

Like it's got like a the details.

Yes.

Or Pia style.

Or Kia.

Exactly.

I was like,

I'm looking at the photos and.

Yeah,

I'm saying that I finally I'm getting a good look at the

steering wheel and I agree with Warren like no,

no endearing kid.

Take that.

Yeah,

I mean,

I would say no.

I mean,

I would change it first thing.

I'm just saying it was definitely one of those things.

God,

it's like a 1984.

I have this car.

I'm going to replace it.

It was like the coolest thing,

but that was in auto motion magazine.

Yep.

That was in the auto motion catalog for Mercedes.

That's supposed to be in a 300 CE.

Yeah.

Like lowered with Ram.

Yeah.

A VIP style or whatever.

Yeah.

That ain't for a six point nine.

You could display it on the bench seat,

you know,

just like in a case.

I'm just kidding.

Yes.

Yeah.

The six point nine would look like if you're going to do

something like that.

Yeah.

Or even like if they made a big AMG wheel,

I had a little patina to it.

Yeah.

That'd be cool.

Or spoke whatever.

Yeah.

There was,

I don't know.

I'm trying to,

there was,

I mean,

there was just a bunch of cool.

Like it was just very like a lot of the lineups you saw

were very like,

very interesting.

Right.

There was like a hot rod and then it was next to a

like a Volkswagen Jetta next to a,

whatever,

a Porsche nine,

nine,

11, you know,

something like that.

So it was a good turnout.

Oh yeah.

356 guys like to stick together, dude.

Yeah.

And the Alpha guys.

Alpha guys.

Yeah.

As well.

Dude,

how have you not mentioned that your favorite car was

there as Z eight?

Oh yeah.

Z eight was there next to a Viper.

Pretty good pairing.

Quite a few people asked me about the Z eight,

which was random.

Pretty good pair.

Yeah.

Top down.

Lane's a notoriously a fan.

Right.

Yeah.

Yep.

I love it.

I think that it's like often compared to like,

it's often like.

Thought of,

you know,

it's like a German Viper type car.

So it's kind of an interesting pairing.

I think they cruise together too.

It was like kids,

Andrew kids Viper.

He was a young guy on the Z eight.

It was not a typical demo for that car.

It was,

it was unusual.

Yeah.

It was good.

And then we received a gift.

Oh my God.

Oh, and you got one too, dude.

And I wish you,

I would have known you were coming.

I would have left it for you.

Yeah.

So Amelia and Jay,

our friends from rallies and just life itself,

made an appearance at morning motors.

They came all the way down from the East Bay.

Banned in their children.

I don't know if they survived,

but that's not important here.

And Amelia said,

I have a gift for you.

And I was like, oh cool.

And so we walked over to her car

and out comes a board game.

And I don't know anything about a car board game.

Well, it's a guess who the classic guess who board game with all the faces

customized to driving while awesome community members.

Whoa.

No way.

And there's like one of these games.

So each game has two, two of the boards.

So you'd play with the flippie Lynn face to face.

And she made three sets, one for each of us.

That's awesome.

And like how many pictures it was like,

I mean, it's probably like 30, 40 photos per board,

but more than that,

because it's like different pictures of each person.

Right.

And she said that it took her an insane amount of time

stocking everyone online.

Not just us.

It's pictures of Peter B and Drew and you know,

all of the homies,

even some infamous people that we run across.

Yeah.

Like what's his name?

Stories.

I travel.

I travel guy, but no, it's not him.

It's like, well, it says I travel

and it's like a random picture of a dude.

Right.

That's so cool, man.

It's pretty unbelievable.

I know Amelia.

If you're listening, you're amazing.

Thank you.

Yeah.

And Jay had nothing to do with it.

So he just sat there and smile and nodded.

I'm sure he's like, are you going to make dinner

or work on the guess your game?

And she's like, well, you know my choice.

She's like, you make dinner bitch.

Yeah, exactly.

Wow.

And we had a little after hang at a humble sea

and then lunch at the barbecue spot.

It was just a great little hang.

It was a good, good day for sure.

It was warm.

It was a nice day too.

Oh, and I got another gift too.

Rob Saldessie.

Rob Saldessie gave me a, um, this little like,

it's this little framed like tiny dude, like,

like five by seven framed in glass,

like a, like a real frame of a portion,

nine, 11 profile.

And it's all made out of like watch parts.

Oh, right.

It's like the face of a watch for like the rules.

Yeah.

Like the hands of the watch to make like the lines

of the car.

It's small.

Yeah.

It's really tiny.

That's a good gift for Lane.

That's it.

And I don't know where he said he got it from like a custom,

like one of it, you know, he installs like blinds and shades

and stuff.

Yeah.

And he got it from someone and he's had it forever to give

to me.

Oh, no way.

So it was like an art piece that was someone had like

that.

Yeah.

Yeah, exactly.

That's awesome.

It's super cool.

Very neat.

I wonder, yeah, if it's like buying a special artist

or just some tweaker.

It's Barrett Jackson 1974.

Exactly.

It was right next to the Navajo blankets and the patio

boats.

The knife guy.

It is cool though.

It's like small and almost like classy in a way.

It's cool.

It is classy.

Yeah.

I like it.

I mean, it's cool.

It's very cool.

What else is going on?

All right.

So you're my car up there.

Is it what do you see?

What do you see if you look over that wall there?

Is it on a lift?

Is it under?

Oh, hell no.

It's outside.

Oh, just collecting dust.

No, it's like collecting dust.

It's just chilling.

It's right in front of this.

It's ready to go.

Yesterday I saw it in front of like the main place.

And then today it's cool.

Yeah, they're on it.

Yeah.

I spoke with Reese yesterday and he was kind of going

through the checklist of stuff and they had it

on the lift already once.

So yeah, they're basically going through the motions

and you all repeat it for those who haven't heard.

But so we're quieting it down.

They're doing some exhaust work.

They're having the throttle position sensor recalibrated

because it's screwed up right now.

It thinks that 4% open is zero and that's where it starts.

So you have nothing and then you have, you know,

where the throttle is actually physically open

and then it thinks that zero,

which makes for a really jerky driving experience.

At least, you know,

not when you're in steady state on the freeway,

but just to get around town.

Very fun time by the way in traffic.

I was just going to ask you how did that work out?

It sucked.

Yeah, dude.

So the worst, dude, that must be,

were you just letting your clutch out?

So what I do is I go,

I blip the throttle with the clutch in and then I let out

right a little bit beyond the 4% and then I feather it.

Like it's the whole thing.

The best part of the entire trip was going up Salinas Road

that up to the stop sign and there was like,

I'm not kidding.

12 cars in line, dude.

And I was all fucking big.

Those are the times you're like,

I don't know if I can do this.

I'm going to pass everyone on the shoulder

and just be the most illegal dude ever.

I considered it.

I actually thought of doing that and going down the hill

and coming back around because it was not good.

And I will admit, so for the future owner of this vehicle,

because you know this is my forever car

that I'll eventually sell.

I did smell some clutch.

It's a newer clutch.

That's a service item.

But yeah.

So yeah, we're going back to the...

So we are the throttle position sensor.

We talked about this before, but is that it like went out of spec

because it was fine before or how does that?

Yeah.

So it went out of spec because I disassembled the throttle body

to fix an issue with the throttle plate.

So this is a throttle body that was made by K-Power Industries

specifically for these swaps

because the orientation is different than like the

front-wheel drive setup.

So anyways, it's a known issue now that you have to dremel

around the throttle plate a little bit on the throttle body

and actually the throttle plate itself,

you have to machine a little tiny bit like sand

like half of a millimeter off all the way around

because it was binding on the throttle body itself.

And so anyways, I did all of that

and so I had to take it all apart.

And then when I put it back together,

I recalibrated the TPS with the resistance necessary

and all of that.

But the issue is that now it's out of spec with the Hawn data

because it's running a piggyback system.

Like it's kind of like a standalone.

And so it needs to be recalibrated to where zero is

because it doesn't know where that is.

So that's what needs to be done.

There is a process.

It's not very difficult.

Like it's just, you literally, you close the throttle plate,

you tell the, you're on the software,

you tell it, this is what closed is,

you go open throttle all the way, you save that.

This is what open is and you upload the file to the ECU

and then it knows.

So that's what needs to be done.

And they have the software there to do it.

So there's that.

And I'm getting the front end alignment double checked again

because when I was under it,

oh, I did something the other day.

When I was under it,

I saw that one of the nuts on the,

on the tie rods was actually not, you know,

they did all the paint markings on all of the suspension pieces

and it was off by about like a quarter inch.

So I don't know what happened there.

So I want them to double check that.

And then I bled my steering rack because they had,

they had left a little bit of fluid in it

to like sort of lubricate it

because it has a power steering delete setup.

And I was reading how you want like nothing in there

because like it doesn't like, you know,

the power steering fluid wasn't was lubricating the rack.

That was for, you know, to build pressure to actually assist.

So you leave like, you know, a tiny amount of fluid in there

and I bled it, I put it all back together

and it's so nice dude.

It's perfect.

And this is with a 350.

So like the 350 millimeter steering wheel,

which is, you know, a little small.

I think I'm going to go to like a 370 or 375.

And my guy right there.

And then right there.

Now I also fix the driving around a tight parking lot

or parallel parking because that's where it sucks.

But driving around and like ripping around the hills,

it was, it was perfect.

So it was like pressurized before and making it too.

Exactly.

So it was, I was fighting it.

And so I noticed the reason that I actually was convinced

that this was the issue is because when you went like

beyond 90 degrees of turn,

it would build a ton of resistance.

And it was actually back.

Exactly.

It was like putting in and I was like forcing through that.

You know.

Yeah.

But yeah.

I'm happy because I don't have to deal with the power steering system.

I was looking at the electric one and it's like,

it's very expensive.

You know, so I mean,

bare minimum I was looking at, you know,

with the labor and everything about 3,500 bucks to get it dialed.

So, so that's nice.

That can go into something else.

But yeah.

So just like little stuff like that.

And, and yeah, I'm going to,

I did confirm that the motor mounts are poly.

The transmissions are rubber.

So we're going to change the polyurethane mounts to rubber

because it is buzzy as hell.

And then it should be good dude.

That's a, that's a nice list.

And I'm excited.

I'm glad you got it up here.

I was obviously noting the timeline here is getting much shorter.

We're one month out on this year rally.

And it's going to sneak up on us because you also need to like,

I don't know, get up to the car and drive it around.

Make sure it's good.

There's just, it takes time.

Yeah.

And this is, you know,

when I have the car now I have the, the GTI.

So I'll just drive straight there if need be, you know,

and that way like I'm not flying and then having to do a

whole thing and they're not driving it out to me.

So yeah, I'm excited.

It's a, it's, it's almost there.

And I also like as we were walking through some of these things,

like we checked off things that, you know, like,

Oh, the transmission mounts don't need to replace.

That's a bonus.

Less work now.

No power steering work.

That's less work.

So it's, it'll be a lot easier to get it out the door.

So that's great.

That's good.

I mean, it sounds like already that power steering thing.

That's a nice one.

Yeah.

It's perfect.

I like to drive it too.

I mean, I had to drive it on our last rally because it was

obviously in like still test and tune mode, but yeah.

So it'll be, it'll be great.

It would have been nice to have that AB comparison.

I mean, you could probably drive it right now.

Oh, like before the,

Yeah.

Get a little AB.

Yeah.

Get a little shitty.

Well, wait till the throttle.

Yeah.

Once they get the throttle position stuff fixed.

Yeah.

You should,

into the exhaust is a stock,

drive it with the current stocks or not stock,

but with the current exhaust,

it's insane, dude.

Well, I was,

I was behind you for a minute on the last rally.

And I was like,

Oh my God.

I did drop off my car as well today.

So the M three is getting AC service.

The air conditioning is no longer cold,

which is a bummer and very needed in my opinion.

So I'll put some dye in there and recharge it and see what

happens.

It could be fine and last for another couple of years

or it might have a leak.

I don't know.

Probably needs everything.

Compressor.

Yeah.

Probably time.

And it's original and the 95s have a unique compressor system.

So exactly.

Hoses.

The hoses are backordered.

So yeah.

So that's the main thing.

Yearly oil change because it hasn't had one for a year.

And then a couple of other little tiny things,

but that's the main,

main deal, AC service and get the oil changed and give it a

once over because I do not have a lift at my house.

So getting eyes on things and just making sure it's all good

with the cars.

Great.

Yeah.

I have no issues with it.

I don't drive it enough.

You've been on any drives lately?

No.

Zero.

I took Andrew to lunch up to a summit store.

This is like, I don't know during his summer break.

And that's like the most drive I've done with it.

Yeah.

Other than like little morning motors or like,

you know,

here and back West Cliff stuff, you know,

but no, it's neglected, neglected.

I think we have a drive scheduled for possibly Thursday

morning.

Are you going to be on that?

Yeah.

With,

with Mark and his,

he's so happy with this target,

which is,

he's so stoked on it,

which was great to hear.

And then I'm going to try to make that fricking 6 30 start.

Jesus Christ, dude.

I'll see if I can hold that.

I mean,

then you can still work.

I know.

It's kind of nice to do that kind of stuff.

Work that day.

You just can't drop off kids.

So that's like the hard part.

Yep.

Yeah.

My car,

I still need to get B line.

I mean,

I could do it myself too, I guess,

but I'm going to have B line slap pads on it.

They already had ordered the pads and have them.

And then they already changed the oil,

but I need also my car has a little bit of like an issue.

I don't know what it is.

It's like,

at like 5,000 RPM,

it has a little bit of like a,

like a flat spot.

Interesting.

Five to six.

When did this start?

Always.

No,

like on couple of drives ago,

like a month,

you know,

a month ago or something like that.

Huh.

It might only be when it's kind of warm.

Um,

but yeah,

I definitely noticed it.

I feel like it's like,

when it's warm and it's like,

you really,

you feel it the most in like,

it's not when you're like steady state,

just driving the car,

but it's like first,

second year pools.

That's like a timing thing or something or ignition

or just like a,

yeah,

I don't know.

I have no idea, dude.

I mean,

it could just be a,

it could just be the plugs are fouled up or something like that.

It just needs new,

like new heads or,

or just a,

yeah,

a new bottom end or something.

I don't know.

Is it a crankshaft related?

Maybe just,

yeah,

maybe just a crankshaft.

Let's throw one at it.

See if that works.

No,

I mean,

yeah,

it just has that little,

I guess it's like a,

it's not wanting to like,

zing all the way there.

It has a little,

it's like,

you know,

and then it kind of goes,

but it's like slow to climb that last thousand RPM.

So,

yeah,

it could be,

I mean,

a million things, right?

I've been injectors been refreshed.

I want to say we,

no,

I don't think so.

I think it'd be injectors,

but yeah,

interesting.

Is it annoying enough to have to like deal with it?

It's not that annoying.

Yeah.

Like the car is still fast

and it's like,

totally fine,

but you can feel it,

but I just feel it.

Yeah,

it's like it's annoying.

My Vanagon does something similar

where it's like under,

right off the line,

there's like an initial amount of power

and then it like dips

for just a slight second

and then it like comes back.

Uh-huh.

And it's sort of always done,

it's done it for a long time

and it hasn't changed.

So I'm kind of just living with it.

Yeah.

I wouldn't even know really where,

it could be vacuum.

Yeah.

I mean, vacuum create like does that a lot.

Could, but you usually get worse.

Maybe.

I don't know.

Yeah.

And mine gets,

mine feels,

I think it's worse when it's hot.

So could be,

that makes me think maybe vacuum,

but I don't know.

Interesting.

Well,

you know one thing's for sure,

we're not going to figure it out

on this podcast.

That's for damn sure.

I tell you what,

Dougie,

we got to cut this one a little short

because Art and I both have a call.

Are you going to join that one?

Yep.

Yeah.

Maybe this one.

Yeah.

Art, are you coming to work or what?

You working?

I wouldn't say I'm missing it, Bob.

Yeah.

I wouldn't say I'm missing it.

I've heard it a lot lately, dude.

That's my favorite.

Oh, it's coming back.

Yeah.

It's my favorite.

You've been missing work a lot, Bob.

We got a couple of questions

on the Instagram.

If you guys don't mind.

Yeah, let's go.

If you don't mind,

I'm going to just check that out.

LFG.

Literally a couple.

Let's do it.

Andrew 4G 63 says, what's worse?

Warm toilet seat or cold toilet seat?

I love a warm toilet seat.

When it's your own.

Not in a.

I think he's implying not your own.

Oh, because I have a heated toilet seat at home.

So I like it.

Okay.

Let's say at work.

It was heated at work.

My last job.

Let's say at a normal work.

That's disgusting.

Cold is better.

Yeah.

Cold across the board.

I don't want that.

That's I don't want that intimacy with anybody.

I agree.

I'm unless it's to a leap.

But then if it's to a leap up before me, then I'm down.

That's true.

I will lick the toilet seat.

Oh, just kidding.

That's a joke.

That's not a joke.

I'm like, no, it's not.

62 Roadster says.

Sorry.

I have this vision of Warren like unscrewing the toilet.

Oh my God.

Yeah.

This is my toilet seat now.

Take the whole toilet.

What are you talking about?

This is her boom boom room.

Oh yeah.

The boom boom room.

62 Roadster says any read out on how much of the route next

month has been affected by recent storm activity around

Sonora.

Oh, stop.

None to my knowledge.

I don't think there's been there's been some storm

activity.

Some monsoonal rains.

In fact, it was raining in the central valley yesterday or Sunday.

But no, and we're still a month out.

There's a lot of cleanup that happens and things of that nature.

I wouldn't be too worried about it.

That's all I can tell you.

Trivia.

Let's go.

I think so.

Do do do do do do.

All right.

Got some stats for you here.

There's been a lot of talk of AI using a lot of or producing

a lot of emissions.

Just overall.

Oh yeah.

Searches.

Yeah.

It uses water.

It uses a lot of power.

A lot of power.

And there's been a lot made of that, right?

So I have a list of the digital activities for typical

American per year.

What is the number one digital consumption of power or

creation of emissions?

What do you think it is that people are doing?

So like not on their phone?

You mean like something very specific?

Like what what they're doing that's driving that?

What?

Yes.

It's got to be porn.

Personal.

That's very personal digital activity.

No, it's at second place.

Second is number two is Internet use slash computer.

Okay.

That's a 28.5 CO2s emitted per CO2 kilograms.

Hmm.

Yeah.

And so wait, so is it AI?

Is it AI chat?

JPT type shit like requests is AI is 0.1.

Internet use for someone is 28.5.

AI use is 0.1 CO2 emissions or equivalent.

So AI, this is saying is not a big deal.

Yeah.

Very small.

Yeah.

I think per use it probably is.

Oh, I got it.

Is it a Bitcoin mining?

Crypto.

Ah, crypto.

No, that's not a.

Damn it.

That's not on the list.

Sorry.

But I think that is very intensive.

Come on.

This is like, I figured I thought you guys are going to nail this right away.

What do you mean?

What else is there?

YouTube consumption.

I don't know.

That's that's that's the computer too.

That's that's what I'm saying.

What else is there?

Digital activities for the typical American.

Oh, TV.

They watch TV.

TV folks.

Still, huh?

104.5.

The list like the graph is off the charts for television.

All right.

Cool.

AI 0.1.

So TV 104.5.

AI shit.

It's all bullshit, dude.

All this hype.

So it's TV viewing number one.

Internet use slash computer.

Second third digital storage.

So all of our drives and clouds and whatnot.

Video streaming computer.

So I guess that is the YouTube equivalent of things.

Then all the rest of it's like apps and app use and

surprise that's as low compared to TV.

Because TV is off the charts because like I think still all

the boomer generation TV on all the time.

I have an idea.

Make a restaurant that says kill your television.

Oh, yeah.

That's a new one.

I like it.

I also wanted to say I have some other trivia in the

how much you books consume.

That's right.

How many trees?

How much how many how much do you have to produce those pages?

That's right.

Inc.

Coming out of free.

Yeah.

I mean, well, I was.

I think I told Warren about three books.

Don't make themselves do Toyota.

Mr. Toyota.

Not Toyota, but Toyota.

Akio said that he has proof that a hybrid car

is to make a hybrid car.

This from scratch is takes a third of the amount of pollution

and also impact to the environment that an electric car has.

So I mean, I make sense.

It's probably third the size of the battery.

Well, well, it's also, but I mean, even with the internal

combustion side and with everything associated with all

that, right?

So like, I saw that they're they're essentially doubling

down on hybrid tech and rationalizing it because of

that.

Yeah.

And I've always tended to agree with this.

It's interesting to hear that way more usable.

This is like, this is like, this is a super serious thing too,

because they had like zero emissions plants.

Zero emissions plants for the last like 20 years,

I would say.

Yeah.

So a very efficient hybrid could be a good option.

Just news.

That's a real headline.

Yeah.

I guess it's like, it's all environmental impact, right?

Like what it would like the way that it was the case was

being made, which is interesting.

Yeah.

Absolutely.

All right.

That's podcast.

Thank you for joining us.

We will see you next time.

Okay.

Bye.

Project Car Updates, Sierra Rally Prep - DWA! Podcast Ep. #899

Hyundai Santa Cruz

BMW M3

BMW E30

Volkswagen Gti

Volkswagen Bus

Volkswagen Jetta

Porsche 356

Volkswagen Vanagon

Toyota Mr Toyota

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