WRC means World Rally Championship. It’s the highest level of rally racing, where cars race on special stages that can be rough, slippery, and change a lot from one section to the next.
In rally racing, a stage is a timed part of the route. The car runs that section against the clock, and the times from all the stages determine the overall result.
“Flappy paddles” refers to the paddle shifters used in many modern performance cars and Formula 1 cars, where you change gears by pulling paddles behind the steering wheel. The speaker contrasts that with a rally setup where the driver must manage gear changes differently while also steering through the stage.
The Festival of Speed is a big car event where you can see lots of famous cars and watch them do runs. It’s known for the hill climb, where cars drive up a course and you can see them up close.
Group B was a famous rally racing category from the 1980s. The cars were extremely fast and wild, and they’re now considered legendary—so seeing them at an event is special.
“Quattros” means Audi rally cars that use all-wheel drive. They’re famous from the 1980s rally era, and the speaker is saying those cars were part of the rally stage experience.
“EV” means electric vehicle. Instead of a gas engine, it uses electric motors, which can make it accelerate very quickly.
Term
TCSC
“TCSC” sounds like the car’s traction and stability electronics. If it’s left on, the car helps prevent wheel spin and keeps things under control when you accelerate hard.
Car
Gunter Werks F-26
Gunther Werks’ F-26 is a heavily modified, very high-performance electric Porsche project. In this segment, they’re talking about how its weight and driving aids make it feel less intimidating.
Term
F16
“F16” is brought up as another example in the same naming style. The host is basically saying the numbers follow the fighter-jet theme.
Term
F15
“F15” is another number in the same naming theme. The host is using it to explain how the lineup’s names fit the fighter-jet idea.
Term
Metzger four-liter
This is a reference to a high-performance engine design used in Porsche racing. “Four-liter” just means the engine is built to be about 4.0 liters in size, which helps it make lots of power.
A “money shift” is when you shift into the wrong gear and the engine suddenly revs way too high. It can cause expensive damage, which is why people call it that.
A restomod is an older car that keeps its classic style, but gets modern upgrades underneath. The host is saying the track day was focused on that kind of modified classic.
The Porsche 918 Spyder is a very expensive, high-tech supercar that uses both gas and electric power. Here, the host compares it to another car to see which one feels stronger for its weight.
Active damping means the shocks can change their firmness on the fly. That helps the car stay more controlled over bumps and during hard cornering.
Term
continuously active
“Continuously active” means it’s always adjusting, not just occasionally. In this case, it’s about the suspension working all the time to keep the ride controlled.
The 930 is a classic Porsche 911 turbo from earlier decades. The host is talking about it because it’s tied to the original front-end “slant nose” look.
A “slant nose” is a modified front end for a Porsche 911 that changes the shape of the nose. In this case, the way the headlights sit can make the car fail the UK MOT test.
Term
Euclips
“Euclips” sounds like the little clips that hold parts in place when you take panels off. The host is saying this isn’t just a few clips and the whole front comes off—there’s more work involved.
Negative camber is when the tires lean so the top is closer to the car than the bottom. That helps the tire grip better when you’re turning hard, because the car body rolls and the tire flattens out more.
That “minus three degrees” is how much the tires are tilted inward. It’s a precise alignment setting that affects how well the tires grip when you’re cornering.
Slick tyres are race-style tires with no tread. They grip really well on dry roads, but they’re not great in the rain.
Term
BTTC car
“BTTC” here sounds like a shorthand for a particular racing category or car setup. The point is that the car’s alignment is set up like a race car, not like a normal road car.
Wheelbase is the distance between the front and rear wheels. It helps determine how the car handles—shorter wheelbases often feel more agile when you steer.
They’re comparing wheelbase to a Ford Fiesta to show the car is really short. A shorter wheelbase usually makes a car feel quicker to change direction, but it can also feel more sensitive.
The Ford Ka is a small, everyday Ford city car. The host is using it as a joke comparison to say they were handed the keys and left alone, like it was a normal car.
Second gear is a lower gear that usually gives you quicker acceleration. The host is saying the car felt strong whether they used second or fifth gear.
Fifth gear is a higher gear, usually used when you’re going faster. The host is saying the car still had plenty of pull even in that higher gear when leaving the corners.
Full throttle means you’re giving the engine its maximum power request. The host is saying they could press hard on the accelerator even while turning.
This refers to a Porsche 911 GT3 from the 996 era. The host is saying the car’s gearbox is based on that Porsche’s transmission design, but it’s been rebuilt to handle more power than the original.
A gearbox is what changes the gears in the car so the engine can stay in the right power range. Here, the host is talking about how the gearbox has been modified to make shifting smoother and better at handling more power.
Linkages are the parts that connect the gear shifter to the gearbox. If they’re changed or adjusted, the shifter can feel more accurate and smoother when you change gears.
This is a Porsche Boxster from the 986 generation. The host is saying their own Boxster’s gearbox feels similar to the one used in the 996-era Porsche, so they recognize the shift characteristics.
The Honda Civic Type R is a performance version of the Civic known for being fun and easy to drive hard. The host is using it as a reference for how smooth and precise the shifting feels.
A mid-engine car has the engine closer to the middle of the car. That usually makes the car feel more balanced and predictable in corners, which is why the host says it drives more like that than a rear-engine car.
Run-off is the safety area next to the racing line. If you go off track, more run-off gives you more space to slow down safely.
Term
snap over, steer
“Snap over, steer” describes a handling behavior where the car suddenly rotates or changes direction mid-corner, and the driver must actively steer to catch it. It’s often used to describe a car that can feel abrupt when you’re pushing near the limit.
“Widowmaker” is a nickname for a car that’s scary to drive fast because it can get out of shape quickly. It’s basically a warning that the car is unforgiving if you push too hard.
“Metzger 4-liter” is a nickname for a Porsche 4.0-liter engine design. The point here is that it revs up fast, so it’s easier to do smooth downshifts using small throttle blips.
Heel-and-toe is a downshifting trick. You brake and “tap” the gas at the same time so the engine speed matches the new gear, making the shift smoother.
A noise monitor is a device that measures how loud cars are. The host is saying the car was loud enough that it set off the local system that tracks noise.
Comfort mode is a driving setting that makes the car feel smoother and less stiff. It usually softens the suspension and makes the car easier to live with on normal roads.
The Porsche 911 Turbo S (992 generation) is a very high-end, turbocharged 911. The host is saying that even in its comfort setting, it still feels a bit stiff compared with the other car they’re discussing.
Floor-hinged pedals are pedals mounted on hinges at the floor rather than suspended from above. That mounting choice changes pedal leverage, travel feel, and how the pedal returns under load.
A “gear crunch” is the unpleasant grinding feeling when you try to shift and the transmission doesn’t line up correctly. It usually means the shift wasn’t aligned or timed perfectly.
Gunther Works is a company that builds very customized Porsche restomods. The key idea here is that they replace so much of the original car that it feels like a brand-new build.
Singer is a company that takes classic Porsche 911s and rebuilds them with modern upgrades. They’re known for making the cars feel and look special in a very deliberate way.
Fluid dynamics is basically the science of how air moves. Car designers use it to shape the body so the airflow helps the car grip the road instead of fighting it.
Front lift is when the car’s front feels like it’s being pushed upward by airflow. If you reduce it, the front tires stay more planted for better control.
A rear wing is the spoiler-like part on the back that helps push the rear tires down for grip. If the front is too strong, the rear wing may need changes to keep the car balanced.
Term
balance it out
“Balance it out” here means making sure the front and back of the car generate the right amount of grip from airflow. If one end is too strong, the car can feel weird, so they tweak the aero to fix it.
An S-duct is a special air channel built into the car’s body. It helps the car “push down” onto the road at high speed by shaping how air flows around it.
An F-duct is a race-car trick that uses air ducts to change how the rear wing works. The goal is usually to make the car faster by reducing drag at the right times.
Term
reduce lift
Lift is the opposite of downforce—it’s the air effect that can make the car feel less planted. Reducing lift helps the tires stay more firmly on the road when you’re going fast.
Cut-lift means the car is designed to stop the air from lifting it up. When the car isn’t “floating,” it tends to feel more planted and predictable at speed.
Gunther Werks is a company that takes cars—especially Porsches—and builds them into more extreme, highly engineered versions. The point here is that the engineering details make the car more interesting than the styling alone.
“Style-over-substance” means the car looks impressive, but the engineering doesn’t seem to back it up. The host is saying they thought that before hearing the engineering details.
Double-wishbone suspension is a type of front or rear suspension with two arms that guide the wheel’s movement. It’s designed to keep the tire planted for better handling.
“Formula One mirrors” refers to the distinctive mirror shape used in F1, designed to meet aerodynamic and visibility requirements. In this case, the host compares the car’s mirrors to that style because they’re shaped to work as aero parts.
An aero piece is a part designed to affect how air flows around the car. In this case, the mirrors aren’t only for looking—they’re shaped to help the car’s aerodynamics.
3D printing makes parts by building them up in layers. It lets engineers create unusual shapes—like these mirrors—more easily than some traditional manufacturing methods.
The host is saying the outside mirror shape is redesigned for aerodynamics, but the parts that control mirror adjustment come from the original Porsche 911 (993).
GTE is a type of endurance racing category. The host is comparing the mirror design to what you might see on those race cars because it’s shaped to work with airflow.
The Renault 5 Turbo 3E is a new electric car that’s meant to feel like a throwback to the old Renault 5 Turbo. People are arguing about the “Turbo” name because it’s an EV, not a traditional turbocharged gas car.
The Renault 5 E-Tech Electric is a small car that runs on electricity instead of petrol. It keeps the Renault 5 name and look, but with modern electric technology. The podcast is connecting it to the wider Renault 5 lineup and what’s next.
A combustion engine is the type of engine that burns fuel to make power. Electric cars make power differently, so they don’t have the same engine setup.
The “5 E-Tech Electric” is an electric version of the Renault 5. It’s meant to be a modern small electric car while still linking back to the older Renault 5 story. The podcast is explaining that connection to earlier Renault 5 models.
Term
2 to 1 length to width ratio
This is a simple measurement comparison: the car’s length compared to its width. Saying it’s “2 to 1” means it’s twice as long as it is wide, which affects how the car looks and feels in shape.
The Renault Clio with five doors is a small everyday hatchback. The extra doors make it easier to get in and out of the back seats. The podcast is talking about how its shape and proportions feel compared to other Clio versions.
The Renault Clio V6 is an unusual Clio variant that’s famous for having a V6 engine. Here, they’re just using it as a comparison for how the new car’s shape looks.
The Yangwang U9 is a high-end electric car. The hosts are talking about its appearance and whether it looks good to them. It’s being mentioned in a comparison of design styles.
An all-aluminium chassis means the car’s main frame is made mostly from aluminum. Aluminum can make the car lighter and feel more solid, which helps performance and control.
A homologation special is a special car a manufacturer makes so it can race in a certain series. The rules require a version to be available for the public, so the road car ends up with race-inspired engineering.
“Rear-wheel drive only” means the car sends all of its drive power to the rear wheels, with no front-wheel drive. That affects traction and handling balance, especially during hard acceleration.
Term
electric motors integrated into the actual wheels
They’re using motors built into the wheels themselves, instead of a motor driving the wheels through a drivetrain. That can help with packaging and how power reaches the road.
“Inboard” means the motor is mounted closer to the middle of the car, not out near the wheel hub. The idea is that it can help the car’s weight balance.
A blowout is when a tire suddenly pops or fails and loses air fast. It’s the kind of flat that can be dangerous because the car can start pulling or wobbling.
Term
take the wheel off
“Taking the wheel off” means removing the tire and wheel from the car. It’s what you do when you need to change a tire or get to parts behind the wheel.
The hub is the part in the middle of the wheel area that the wheel bolts to. If a car has a motor mounted near the wheel, that motor may be connected to the hub too—so removing the wheel can be different than on a normal car.
LIVE
Welcome back to the Gassing Station, the podcast that heads into the Piston Heads forums like my co-host, Sam Sheehan and I have headed back to our usual studio.
Sam, we're back.
We're back and it's not a billion degrees in here.
Yes, that's one thing and the other thing is there's no mystery squeaks.
No.
So I received a direct message on Instagram this week.
Thank you for, I won't mention the name just because they didn't say if they wanted to be mentioned or not.
From a listener, so thanks for getting in touch saying that they enjoyed our session at Goodwood.
But they were like, there was a squeak in that studio where they were like, I don't know if that's coming from the speakers or my car or my knee.
And it was very much from our Bentley pop-up studio that we were in.
So there was a desk in there had a very slight squeak.
Right.
And I realized that as I was leaning against it, it was making that squeak.
And I was really hoping it wouldn't get picked out up by our microphone.
It did.
And if I tried to get the high-pitched squeak out, our voices, yeah, I was like, no, it's just.
You've got to stick with the squeaks.
So I apologize for the squeak through all of that.
We sometimes get them on these chairs as well.
And sometimes I squeak in the background.
I think they've put some WD-40 on these actually because they're not as bad as they usually are.
Yeah, other lubricants are available.
Yeah.
Yeah, absolutely.
But have you recovered from Goodwood?
Because my goodness, it was a sweaty one.
It was a very, very hot one.
And I was knackered after it.
You did two days, I only did one.
But I had to then go off and teach your cousin's wedding, which was amazing.
Great fun.
And then there was this thing called the World Cup.
So it was a back-to-back-to-back-to-back thing.
I only watched it on TV, by the way, not at the actual.
Yeah, because apparently there is ball kicking going on at the moment.
Some ball kicking, yeah.
But it's been very, very exhausting.
And then coming back to London and getting a good night's sleep,
I thought, I'll be refreshed.
But it really knocks it out of you.
You did two days of Goodwood as well.
It was an intense two days.
I also, I realized on the second day I was complaining a bit to people,
and I'm trying to stop myself from doing that now,
because we are so unbelievably lucky that we get to go there
and we get to talk to the manufacturers and talk to cool people.
And so I kind of wanted to bring one great thing that I did on the Friday,
is I had a, I did this last year as well.
I had a passenger ride in Toyota's Rally 1 car.
So cool.
So jealous.
And this time, last year I went up the hill with Elfin Evans,
and we went around the Rally stage and created this really great little story about
going into his kind of background a bit,
because he's quite a closed book, Elfin.
And what I really like about him is he's,
he is, or Rally people in general,
they are just there to be rally drivers.
There's no ego around it whatsoever.
He is a, it feels like he's just born and bred Rally.
And so it was really great to discover his story a little bit
and get to know him a bit better.
This year, I was buddied up with Yari Matty Latvila,
WRC legend, maybe one of the best rally drivers to not win a title.
He won 18 rallies, I believe.
But the problem is, is that he was partnered up with Sebo Gia
during the BW years.
And you, and then during the Toyota years,
and you just have no chance whatsoever against him.
And I feel like that's kind of where Elfin's going a bit.
Being buddied up with Elfin, with OGA,
and it's just like, you're up against one of the all time greats.
It's really hard.
But he's such a character.
And I sat there on the start line in this super sweaty Rally 1 car.
And it's, the great thing is, this is the last year of him.
They're not the next year, completely new rules set, different cars.
Will they be quicker or slower?
Oh my gosh, this could be the peak.
This is peak WRC, I would think.
And so I sat in it and from last year, I remember thinking,
this is a really intense and incredibly wonderful,
yet unpleasant experience.
Because it's so violent and so fast.
And you just have, you can't comprehend how these drivers can.
And during the stage, I'm like, how is,
your brain can't react fast enough to what's coming in front of you.
And they're not just like, because Formula One drivers impressive,
but to me, everything's there.
These guys are like that, they're all over the shop.
There's no flappy paddles.
It's all, you've got to take your hand off the wheel.
So Yari Matty is driving the stage with one hand,
while changing gear with another.
And so he's really just doing it one hand at the whole time.
But it's that initial launch of just,
your whole brain's just trying to catch up with you.
Your eyes almost hurt.
Because there's so much information coming at you,
that you, nothing can keep up.
It was fascinating.
It was such an incredible experience.
And I recommend, if you go to the Festival of Speed next year,
I think most people don't go up to the rally stage,
do the rally stage.
Because it's quiet and they really go for it.
It's such an incredible experience.
And there's a good mix of cars, aren't there?
I mean, I didn't go this year to the rally stage,
but I did the year before, and they were, you know,
the Group B cars, they were these clack,
they were proper historic as Quattros, obviously.
So many, it's such a diverse mix of cars,
as diverse as what you get on the proper hill climb.
But like you said, you can get right up to the action.
Oh, 100%.
Yeah.
And so, yeah, it was a really great way to finish off the Friday.
Before we get onto some of the stuff we've driven
slash passenger in at Goodwood,
so we can cap off what was an amazing weekend,
the Gassing Station now has its own YouTube channel.
So what we've done is, if you want to stick around
for the very beautifully shot long form editorial review style
videos that we do, that's where that's going to be
on the regular piston heads account.
And if you just want to follow the Gassing Station podcast,
then we have that now.
So if you go to the Gassing Station,
type that into YouTube, you'll get our channel.
I'm sharing it also on the main account as well.
So if you just go into the main piston heads account,
you'll see it there too.
And you can follow us there.
So we'd absolutely love it if you could subscribe.
We've had loads of views so far,
but we just need the subscribers.
So you know that that's where the future
of the Gassing Station podcast is.
Helps feed the algorithm.
Leave a comment, likes, you know, whatever.
Yeah, about to say.
And it's all helpful.
That is, like, if you want to kind of engage with us,
you know, drop some comments down there.
We'll definitely wade in,
because we've not got anything else to do.
No, exactly.
I'll turn notifications on if I can.
Yeah.
Can I do that?
Yeah, probably.
I'm not logged into your account, but I'll figure it out.
Anyway, back on topic.
We've been to the Goodwood Motor Circuit to do some stuff.
Water track.
You have actually been driving it
in something called a Gunter Verks.
Yes, which is actually run by an American guy in California.
But yes.
So it's pronounced Gunther Werks.
Gunther Werks.
Because they love it.
Yeah.
I don't know, you know, Germans, feel free to comment.
Is it Gunter?
Or do people also pronounce it Gunther in Germany as well?
I don't know.
Actually, I said it about nine different ways
through my visit, which is typically me lately.
I was on a geely stuff not long ago.
I was like, geely, geely, geely.
Oh, I don't know.
Anyway, it's pretty cool.
It's run by this awesome guy called Peter Naam,
who actually is a self-confessed,
or certainly was a self-confessed BMW man,
but then has fallen in love with Porsches in his adult life,
probably because he just drove one and went,
this is quite good.
But the car on circuit.
So I want to give a bit of context.
Just the week before, so just before the actual festival of speed,
I drove the 1600 horsepower Denzer R, whatever it's called.
Is it Denzer Z?
Sorry, Denzer Z.
That was it.
Denzer Z racing.
I've lost track so much.
But this is, for context, this is, wait, who owns Denzer?
BYD.
BYD, right.
Okay, so one of the major Chinese players.
And they definitely had the major stand at Goodwood.
You can see where the money is.
Isn't Yang Wang at BYD Russia?
Yeah, yeah.
So they've got two performancey things.
Yeah, it's a bit confusing.
It's a bit confusing.
Yeah, but I won't talk loads about that
because that was a week prior.
And if you've read the story on pH,
you'll be familiar with it.
But that had 1600 horsepower and insane 0-60 claims.
It was like sub two second, 0-62 times.
So very quick, but because it's an EV,
and also because they made me leave all the TCSC on,
I didn't find it very intimidating.
And while it was very quick down the straights,
you know, it's a tall.
It's a fast tall.
How heavy is it?
Do you know?
2.3 tons.
Quite heavy.
Yes, which is 1,100 kilograms heavier than the Gunter Werks.
Oh my goodness.
F26, which by the way, F26 is a nod to American fighter jet.
I was going to say, I thought that was very...
Yeah, because 26 is the number of cars they're building.
Interesting, because yeah, there's the F16.
Exactly, yeah.
F15.
And it turns out that's quite an appropriate name
because this car is, if you don't know the specs,
it runs with the Metzger four-liter,
they're bought out four liters,
built by a racing team effectively in America
to have as much as 1,100 horsepower
if they run it over 8,000 revs.
They'd cap the rev limit when I drove it
because the race driver that took it up the hill
on the day or two before to try and break the record.
In fact, they went five seconds quicker
than their closest rival in the time run, so it's fast.
He had a slight misshift at maximum revs.
Or as some people call it, a money shift,
I think is what this called, isn't it?
So anyway, it did some extra revs.
They saw it in the data,
but the car ran and continued to run.
But in order to make sure it didn't obviously go bang,
they capped the revs to, I think it was 72
So I only had 900 horsepower, which was very,
I don't know why I got out of bed in the morning.
Pointless.
Why did I drive for Chichester for just 900 horses?
I'm surprised it could even move.
Exactly, 1,200 kg.
Oh yeah, by the way, the day I was there,
they had, it was part of a rest-o-mod super car track day.
So it's quite an exclusive event
with some very wealthy people there.
This car was one of the more expensive ones,
at 1.2 million pounds.
But there was also a Porsche 918 Spyder there,
and I did some calculations.
And this, even in 900 horsepower spec,
even in low power mode, had over 180 horsepower per tonne more
than a 918 Spyder.
It's chassis that's 20 years older.
Yes, but has had not in substantial amounts of modification.
Before the half-roll cage went in, it's 150% stiffer
than a standard 993 structure.
Then they throw half-roll cages.
So you can imagine how stiff this thing is.
But it has some amazing suspension tech, active damping,
that's continuously active.
So ultimately, this is 993 body shape.
Should have a slant nose, because it's an homage to the,
an homage to the 930.
No, it was the, the original slant nose was a 930,
wasn't it? I'm forgetting now.
I believe it was.
Yeah, I think it was.
This is less slant nose, more kind of gistly sanded.
It isn't running the slant nose spec in the UK,
because they are using this car in the UK on the road.
I think I'm pretty sure they said they have got plates for it.
If they haven't, they've put it into UK spec, at least.
Because the slant nose doesn't pass our MOTs
because of the positioning of the headlights.
So what they said was, if you buy one of these cars,
in the UK, you will get given a car with the standard 993 nose
front end, but they will sell, they will just throw in
into the boot, the slant nose kit.
So like Alpha did with the rear wing on there,
old BTTC car back in the day.
You got the wing, but it didn't come on the car.
So you can just add it yourself.
So you basically, you could fit it and then pay your MOT
man a few quid, and then hopefully it will just get through.
That's funny, because that seems like quite a,
it doesn't seem like the work of a minute to just go and put
the slant nose front end on your Gunther Works.
It's not just a couple of, you know, Euclips,
and then you pull the whole nose off and then you, no,
I think it's probably quite a big job.
But if you spent 1.2 million, I'm sure it's within budget.
Anyway, to drive, unbelievable, as you'd expect.
Slick tyres, loads of negative camber, minus three degrees on the front.
I can see from these pictures.
It's running camber like a BTTC car.
There's some slant on those tyres.
And it is, oh, and by the way, 900 horsepower,
wheelbase shorter than a Ford Fiesta, the last gen Ford Fiesta.
So pretty small thing.
I thought it was going to be, and as I said with the denser,
I wasn't scared to drive that at all.
With this, I was quite scared, not just because of the value,
but because of the car.
The best thing about it, I got there, the team were amazing.
I spoke to the boss, I spoke to one of the head engineers,
Kerry, I hope he's a head engineer.
He was definitely a key engineer fellow and he was called Kerry.
Definitely not just a bloke who walked over.
No, and he knew his style.
He was great.
He was giving me loads of information.
You could see the passion.
They were a fantastic group of guys and girls.
And anyway, I was about to jump in the car
and I thought, they're going to give me a full briefing.
There's going to be a race driver sat next to me
because they had their race driver on hand as well.
They just gave me the keys and they just went,
yeah, just come back in five laps.
And they just walked away from the car
as if I was just going to park their Ford Ka in the car park
and I was like, are you going to tell me how to use it?
They're like, well, you've driven manual.
And I was like, yeah.
And they were like, well, just start it and drive away.
And I was like, what the hell?
Oh, what a joy.
It was amazing.
So I had five laps in this car.
It was hot, thankfully.
The day was hot, so the slicks were up to 10.
So I didn't have to worry about getting up to temperature
and went out in this rocket ship.
And oh my God, so fast, so much torque.
It didn't matter whether I was pulling out the corners
in fifth gear or second gear, I was exploding down the straight.
And it was such a malleable engine.
And I thought it was going to be terrifying,
but it put the power down exceptionally well.
I was, you could full throttle power out corners
with an almost, you know, with steering lock on.
It's got a phenomenal traction.
Amazing amounts of steering feel,
but light steering at the same time.
They've done some changes to the gearbox.
It's a 996 GT3 based gearbox,
but obviously totally reworked for the extra power and torque.
And also they've changed all the linkages.
So it just, it was such a lovely gear.
I know what that era of gearbox is like,
because my 986 Boxster gearbox has a very similar box
to what they would run in the 996.
And that's quite a heavy gearbox.
It's an armful to change gear in that car.
In this, it was lovely.
It was just flowing through the gate,
like you do in a new Civic Type R.
The latest RIP, now Civic Type R.
Really lovely thing to drive, approachable.
It rotates in the corners in a very predictable manner.
It handles like a mid-engine car, not a rear-engine car.
Very interesting, because I...
Terrifying to approach.
Wonderful to drive.
Because I look at this and I have, what would you call it,
second-hand terror, where I look at it and I go,
that looks not just because of what it is,
but also the circuit you drove on.
Goodwood, we've done it before.
No run-off.
Zero run-off, extremely fast.
And is quite keen on kicking.
The way that the circuit is orientated is quite keen to kick you off,
or at least encourage.
Hundreds of, it punishes you.
Snap over, steer.
If you overcook it into a corner, you will go off.
Yeah, it doesn't...
There's no, like, camber to push you back online.
It's camber to push you off the track.
100%.
And then there will be a tyre barrier waiting to just eat you up.
Well, at bits of it, some of it's just like grass verge.
Yes, precisely.
It's amazing.
It's an old school racetrack.
It's fascinating to drive.
It is terrifying circuit.
In something like this, where it is a 993,
and I know that it's been heavily engineered,
it's got Widowmaker written all over it.
Yeah, but it wasn't.
In fact, very accessible.
It was very accessible.
And as I said, it was one of the most daunting cars I've ever walked up to.
Partly because I just had no advice.
And normally you do something like this,
and they've given you the full lowdown,
and they're like, right, it's going to do this in turn three.
Make sure you're ready for X, Y, Z.
There was none of that with this.
And I guess it's because they just knew it's such an approachable car.
There are a few cool things that I noticed.
The first was that the gear, the pedals,
obviously in a 993, you sit a bit contorted, a bit twisted.
It's amazing actually how in the 996 and 986,
how much that stuff is all corrected.
The pedals were in the middle and everything comfortable.
In the old cars, you're steering wheels out of line
from the center of your body,
and then the pedals again are out of line.
So you sort of sit all twisted, but you just get used to it.
But because the engine revs up so quickly with this Metzger 4-liter,
even though my feet weren't perfectly comfortable,
heel and toe was so easy,
because you just needed the gentlest of blips of throttle,
and it would just go, 11 it would just spike up.
So I found myself powering up to a 998 Spider,
being let through because it was holding me up, powering away from it.
I was nowhere near the limits because I didn't want to get near the limits
because I was like, I'm happy to just get 50, 60% out of this, if that.
It was unbelievable.
Made a fantastic sound.
All of the guttural sound you get from an air-cooled motor,
but then with this gorgeous song up top,
it's much louder, obviously, than standard.
It did trigger the noise monitor,
so sorry to chitchat a district council.
I think it was me flagging it a few times.
It's okay.
Moving near a racing circuit is sort of to be expected.
But it was fantastic and comfortable.
The suspension, by the way,
because you can soften it into comfort mode,
I didn't drive it on the road,
but the engineers told me,
I trust them because everything they said about all the other stuff was bang on,
they told me that it's more comfortable on a road
than a 992 Turbo S in comfort mode.
Yeah, because even a 992 Turbo S is still quite a firm thing.
Yeah, but it's the more rounded 911, isn't it?
I mean, compared to a GT3, it's exactly bed-like.
I was just going to say this is extremely nerdy,
but you were talking about the pedals.
I did just notice that it's still floor-hinged pedals
like you would get in a 993.
But beautifully sprung.
My old 986, when I first get in it on a cold morning,
which is not many at the moment,
you can feel the kind of like that.
It's a little bit like our Bentley Studio,
but this thing, oh, it was just the control weighting in this was perfect.
As I said, the gear shift is just,
it was so positive.
If you don't know what positive means,
a lot of the PHS will know,
but you sort of minimal input,
and then it just pulls the gear shift through to where it needs to go.
It feels like it's doing the work for you,
but so you just feel so, everything's so forgiving.
You know, if you slightly misangle the gear shift in my 986,
you'll, you'll crunch a gear or you just won't get it in.
In this, it was just so fluid, steering, lovely as well.
You know how good it is because Sam Sheehan is gesturing.
Every single movement, which I was fine when I was doing,
we'll get onto it in a bit.
I was doing a write-up of a car yesterday.
And you find yourself kind of doing air gestures and be like,
yeah, kind of like, can I, can I,
is my, are my muscles going to recreate that feeling that I had in the car?
And they kind of do, and then you remember stuff.
You're like, oh, I remember that feeling.
Get really strange looks from my wife, but she's quite used to it.
Because they're doing it in the mirror and the bathroom.
Yeah, exactly. Not writing.
In your towels.
Just gesturing with my eyes closed.
What interests me about Gunther Works is that they were sort of secondary to
Singer design.
Because Singer was the first to do the rest-o-mod,
and then Gunther Works came along and it was just like,
heck, these are real pretty little things.
Have a look at this.
And they are, it does look, you could,
you could quite easily convince,
be convinced that that is a car built and developed from the ground up.
It is, yeah.
Barely anything of the original car remains.
And they are very happy to admit this.
Whereas Singer goes off and, you know,
turns the cars into a work of art.
And there's a real design focus.
And that's why they're so beautiful.
And they obviously still re-engineer them fantastically well.
So I've never driven a Singer, but, you know,
having read all the pieces on them, it can tell.
I want to.
Yeah, so, yeah.
But with this, the focus is very different.
They actually come at it from an engineering focus first,
and then a lot of the aero pieces and shape are crafted
through fluid dynamics on computers first.
And then, obviously, they apply the finish to make it look lovely.
But really, it's an engineering car first,
and then the design kind of becomes part of that.
And so much so, actually, that the S-duct,
which I didn't mention on the nose.
Yeah.
So it has the S-duct.
That obviously improves front, reduces front lift,
actually gives a bit of downforce,
combined with the splitter and stuff.
But it was so effective on the car,
they had to redesign the rear wing again
in order to balance it out,
because they found the car was just too pointy.
It was too on the nose.
And the result is, as I said, it was such a neutral car,
it felt mid-engine to me.
It really didn't feel like a rear-engine car,
and nothing like the Widowmaker, you know,
massive oversteer into a corner,
and then you're in a hedge or worse.
So just to confirm, an S-duct is something that,
I think it was made quite popular in Formula One
several years ago,
where the F-duct was something that stored a rear wing,
whereas the S-duct, I believe,
it takes air from kind of low down at the front of the car,
and then passes it through the bonnet,
and then up over.
Yeah.
So, and it basically,
for downforce.
Exactly.
With other cars, so the 788HS, so 788HS,
didn't realize that so much.
Yeah, didn't realize how much for a mouthful there was.
That McLaren, the reason that had an S-duct added to it
was to reduce lift,
because it's just such a high-speed car,
although this actually has a high-top speed.
230 miles an hour, this give or take.
But in this, it was specifically to add downforce,
whereas I think McLaren were just trying to cut-lift.
So, you know, it does the same thing, really,
isn't it? Cut-lift, add downforce, it's, you know.
It interests me.
I personally hadn't been that interested in what Gunther
were doing, because I find, I think, looks-wise,
before I knew about the engineering,
I thought they were a bit style-over-substance
in the sense of massively over-engineered,
over-designed, maybe a bit too futuristic,
but having heard what you've had to say about it.
Yeah.
I really want to drive it.
I think it looks like such a cool thing,
and if they can really go big on that engineering aspect,
this is really heavily redeveloped.
Yeah.
Yeah, I think it makes me much more interested.
You know, I actually forgot, and you've got the article open,
so you've just reminded me of the picture.
Two things.
Number one is they also sell parts for other cars,
so I was like, can I get a free piece for my box stuff?
But I don't think they'll do that.
I'd love to double wishbone Gunther Works front end
of my box would be quite nice.
But no, the other key thing that was really cool,
and it's kind of emphasis on the attention to engineering detail,
is the door mirrors you see there.
They are, as you can see, they're slightly different,
and they've got that kind of L-shape to them.
So for the listeners, they're almost like Formula One mirrors
where they've got kind of a flat bit at the bottom
that's completely horizontal,
and then they right-angle upwards,
and then the mirrors are hung inwards off of that.
And the reason for that is because they're also an aero piece,
so they generate downforce,
and they are 3D printed into a piece of titanium,
but because they didn't want to compromise on usability,
they 3D printed the inside of the mirror to be hollow
so that they could put back in the original 993 mirror electronics.
So you can still adjust the mirrors electronically,
but they're an aero piece.
Because it's kind of like a hybrid of what you'll find
on a GT3 and GTE car, right?
The mounts are so thin,
but the actual design itself is still, I assume, the same.
Yeah, so the mirrors are titanium, but the body's carbon.
So what does remain of the 993 then, just the underpinnings?
The bare structure, basically, and the underpinning,
and the structure, as I said, has been substantially stiffened.
So even that is 993 on steroids.
Well, on the subject of old cars that...
Of steroids.
I've been taking that.
If anyone's watching, I clearly have not.
On the subject of old cars looking modern,
I've been passengering in a modern car that looks old,
but also modern.
Interesting.
Around the same circuit.
I think I know what this is.
And I've ridden shotgun in the new, soon to be, coming out,
Renault 5 Turbo 3E.
Please keep listening, because when I put the video up
of this last year, it sparked mild outrage,
mostly because it's obviously an electric car.
Electric cars go down mostly horrifically on pH,
but secondly, it's an electric car with turbo plastered down the side of it.
When Porsche announced the Taycan Turbo,
oh boy, did not go down well brilliantly on pH,
for understandable reasons.
Because obviously an electric car can't have a turbo,
because there's no combustion engine.
But this is important for a reason I won't...
I'll ask you the question a bit later into your discussion.
But this is important for something beyond this car as well, isn't it?
So yes, there is some more...
A very pH important subject.
Yes, so the platform of this, but obviously it's a continuation
of the Renault 5 Turbo lineage.
And so that's why they've gone with the turbo name.
It looks like a turbo, massive flared arches.
The thing that Renault is extremely proud of is the fact that it has a
2 to 1 length to width ratio,
something that I don't think I've ever seen as something in a press release
where they've like, oh, it's 2 to 1 and you go, okay,
I have no reference point for that whatsoever.
I'm really trying not to make a crude joke there, but yeah.
Yeah, it's, I'm not going to go there.
Yeah, I just, yeah.
But so yeah, 2 to 1 length to width ratio,
Tihi, is not far off a Renault Clio V6.
So it's kind of like, it's quite a stocky old thing.
From above, yeah, you can see like an above view,
they would be both quite, yeah, I can see that.
Absolutely.
And I mean, getting to the circuit and you see it in person,
and I saw the mock-up of it last year,
but when you actually see the proper production version, it's like, wow.
I mean, there's not many electric cars that make you go, wow.
And I think the Denzer is a great example of that,
of where it's got all the numbers and you look at it and you just go,
that's a bit frumpy.
Same with the Yang Wang U9.
Yeah, the Yang Wang, I think I've said on this pod before,
the Yang Wang, from the side, I'm like,
okay, super car dynamic, super car show.
But then you look at it from like front three quarters and the offset
and the way the wheels sit is all wrong.
The total opposite is true on the Renault.
The offset and the way it sits is perfect.
The design is faultless.
I think it is absolutely stunning.
I mean, the standard Renault V is such a good-looking car.
And there is barely anything that has been carried over from the Renault V to the turbo.
I mean, it's literally this different under the platform, different.
100%. So, you know, it's a double wishbone,
suspension all-round, all-aluminium chassis.
It's a bespoke build with some Renault V elements to it.
But it's, as the original homologation special would have been,
it's a new car.
It's its own thing.
Renault is calling it its super car because it's got 555 horsepower,
which is 15 horsepower more than they quoted last year,
which was 40 horsepower more than they quoted the year before.
Interesting.
Every year, it's getting more powerful.
Rear-wheel drive only.
The electric motors are integrated into the actual wheels themselves.
Yes, inboard.
Inboard.
Yeah.
It was not outboard because it's unlike an inboard motor,
is where the motor is in the middle of the axle.
This is in the wheel itself.
So, it's better for weight distribution.
But it also means that you get a crazy torque figure.
So, if you look at it, they quote something like 3,600 pounds feet of torque.
It's like, because there's no losses.
That's it.
Right.
It's, there's no, you know, usually it will be taken at the crank or at the axle,
but because there's none of that, it's literally straight to the wheel,
so you get a ridiculous, ridiculous reading.
I don't know if this is something that I'll answer,
but do we know, like, if you, let's say you had a blowout on the motorway
and you jacked it up and you had to take the wheel off,
does the motor I come off with that?
Oh, damn it, Sam.
I didn't ask that.
Can you imagine that?
You're at the roadside and you're like, the AA man comes in and you're like,
um, it is 400 kilograms.
Yes, yes, exactly.
I don't know how much they weigh.
That is going to be extremely heavy.
Probably not that much, but yeah.
I hadn't thought of that.
It probably isn't.
It'll be on the hub, won't it?
They didn't have any tech people on site.
It was literally just,
I've just answered my own question in my head.
It'll be on the hub.
It will, yeah.
It will just be like removing the wheel off of the hub and the motor is the hub.
I feel like surely replacing a tire or raising a wheel and having to do the whole motor
will be a bit ridiculous.
It will be on the hub.
You know, super car stuff.
I mean, you know, it's anything's possible.
So it looks fantastic.
Inside is stripped out.
There's no rear seats.
There's a, there's a roll cage.
Nice.
There's beautiful carbon backed bucket seats with bits of suede padding that you sit on.
Sabel harnesses.
And the seat design itself is quite interesting because it looks a little bit,
you know, a rally car's got proper wrap around seats.
Buckets, yeah.
Proper, yeah.
But they wrap around your head.
So they kind of mimic that a little bit of where it's,
it's much more of a wrap around design than a standard bucket.
Beautiful.
Look, the interior itself is very limited, very stripped out.
The actual Renault switch gear is, is a really good looking thing, I think.
So they've put, you know, you've got the Renault dash kind of bolted to it and the steering wheel,
but they are, it's a nice design to begin with.
In the middle, you've got a carbon propped,
hydraulic handbrake.
So it will, if you pull it, it will lock the rear.
So it's like, it's like the Yaris GR when they do it, yeah.
Yeah, it's a proper, proper.
And it's, that's kind of a heart back to the, you know,
started life as a drift car prototype that then generated so much interest.
They were like, we should probably actually make this as a, as a proper production car.
So it's got all the drama.
It's only 1450 kilograms for an electric car.
I actually didn't know that.
Yeah.
Because that's really like,
that's only a hundred and something more than the gun, the gunter, which is,
it's only a hundred more kilograms than a phase one V six and 50 kilograms more than a phase two V six.
But I mean,
so it is extremely for what it is like,
looking around a 70 kilowatt hour battery, which is good for 250 miles of range.
Yeah, not the best, not the worst.
The weird sensation though is you sit in it and there's
none of the sounds and sensations that you would get with a performance car as you're about to
head off and or rally car, which you have a fresh memory of.
I think that's kind of what ruined it.
You know, you get in the rally car and it's just obviously buzzing you.
And then before you start, you put it into a launch mode.
So it's the wine of the gear.
But I mean, you got the wine, I suppose, actually, but it's different.
Not really.
Oh, really?
Not really.
Because I guess there's no, because it's in the wheels.
You kind of take away that wine transmission or any sort of wine.
So I've been imagining what it sounds like.
And I just instinctively throw a wine soundtrack into my mind's imagination.
But that's not your totally right.
It doesn't have.
No, there's no, there isn't.
And even, you know, electric cars have that wine.
It's significantly reduced in the turbo.
So off the line, you know, there's no anticipation.
There's a, you know, the thing is the driver didn't floor it off the line.
He kind of wants to build up a little bit first.
So there was none of that kind of like silence and then launch.
But there's none of that rumbling away.
There's no fire up.
And so you're just kind of, there's a bit of anticipation,
but it's more of as a passenger, it's what are they going to do?
And so that's, I wouldn't say it's necessarily a bad thing.
It's just a very different sensation of getting in a car.
And it's on and you know that you're in something performance related.
It's just silent.
You pull away and he's kind of swerving to kind of show you how reactive the front end is.
And it's, it feels really dirty, really reactive to his steering inputs.
You know, and because there's, because it is relatively on the light side,
it does, you know, he has small little movement of the wheel and it just snaps in the direction
that he's going.
Yeah, it's got some G.O. and stuff.
Isn't it as well?
Oh, I assume that would be more than they do anything on that platform.
Absolutely.
Because it's currently, they are, they're still developing it.
So there's still, you know, deliveries don't happen until next year.
So there's still some work going on.
And so, you know, I can only really, because I've not driven it,
I don't know what it's like handling wise, but just looking at it, it goes,
okay, it looks really responsive.
The other thing I noticed is, you know, he had the driver assistance off.
I wouldn't call it snappy, but I would call it a handful.
Like, you know, he's coming into a corner and there is mid-corner rotation.
So it over rotates.
So he comes in and even before he boots it, there's just that little bit of,
it just gets a little shuffle on.
And then you're bringing the power in.
It's one of the tippy toes, as they say, like it's already kind of like,
I'm doing lively things before you've asked for it.
That's it.
And as soon as he's powering out of the corner, he's not stomping on the throttle.
He's just bringing it in and the back steps out and then he catches it and then it steps out again
and he's catching it.
So it definitely, I think that's the fun aspect that I see it.
It looks like it's a challenge.
It's not a car that you get.
It's not like the Denzer where you said you get in and it does it all for you.
Yeah, the Denzer was very bolted down.
It plays a bit, but not a lot.
Yeah.
And that had 1,600 horsepower.
Whereas this has much less.
It sounds like an absolute lunatic.
The only thing that I'm just, I'm so curious to find out is,
what does that feel like from behind the wheel?
Because if in a combustion car, you've got, you're listening to the revs,
you've got a feel of what the engine's doing.
And in a turbo car, you go, oh, I can't know when the boost is going to come in.
So I can then, you know, I know how to manage it from there.
But in an EV, it's just there.
Bang, we're talking.
Do you know the thing that makes me really excited about what you're saying is it's making me go,
this is Renault.
That's my, you know, my, my favorite performance brand.
Oh yeah, you are Renault Sport.
That is Renault Sport right there, what you're describing a lively,
potentially too lively at points, but because it's more fun that way, sort of car.
That's exactly what they do.
When the Renault Sport engineers who obviously know Alpine, but when they were saying,
yeah, we need to make a hot hatch, that's fast and fun.
They took the fun bit to the next level, more than most other.
I mean, you know, Honda's FL5 and FK8, fantastic hot hatches, but are more serious.
But I think like things like the Trophy R and, you know, the R2-6 and things like that,
they just went and had fun and made them fast.
And this sounds like that.
I'm really, I'm glad you picked that up.
Because that's exactly the feeling that I got out of it.
And you, I actually kind of wanted to say on the sound thing first,
because we were talking about how quiet it is.
It is actually quite loud when you're driving from the wind noise.
Because it's not the most slippery-est of cars.
It's quite, it's a bit of a brick.
And so you get quite a lot of wind noise and it gives you a really good sensation of speed.
And maybe that's more of an indictment of what the,
the combustion engines are like now, where they're so quiet and so restricted that you don't get,
you know, it's amazing what some, you know, Porsche, for instance,
what they do with an actually aspirated engine is unbelievable.
But it's, you, because you don't have an engine kind of rumbling away in the background,
there's nothing to cover up that wind noise.
So the wind noise is a lot more distinct.
But, you know, we, we stopped, we were only getting a couple of laps,
and literally two laps of goodwood.
So not a lot of time as a passenger.
And because it was a prototype, it did fall apart a little bit.
And so we had, had to pull over and check.
Bodywork there, wasn't it?
It was, it was some underbody that decided it didn't want to be part of the car anymore.
The cable ties broke.
Yeah, yeah, pretty much.
So, so the run was curtailed a little bit, but I got out of it and I didn't think,
there was no point of me that was thinking, I really wish that had a,
did the Alpine engine in it, you know, the four banger.
I think other than getting in it and kind of feeling that rumble to begin with,
I think that the overriding feeling was, I really want to drive this.
I'm so curious.
And I'm so excited to be, and it's not a case of,
is this going to replace a combustion engine performance car?
Nothing different.
No part of this makes me go, oh, I don't need a petrol engine anymore.
I still want that.
But do I like this as a, as an addition to, yeah,
what's also available in the performance market?
Hell yeah.
I said, why not?
I actually think that rent, like I'm, I'm going to try and be as unbiased as I can
as a former Renault Sport, as a Renault Sport fan.
I know this is not Renault Sport, but as I've explained, sounds like it's that again.
I think, because you just reminded me, I've just remembered a billion years ago,
10 years ago, I drove a Renault, is that I'm going to type this in.
Back when I used to work for a, oh, I've got no internet.
Anyway, I drove a, oh, here we go.
I drove a very, very fast version of the Renault Zoe.
That was a concept.
It was, it was, they never made it.
I'm going to type my name into Google.
I'm sorry.
Oh my God.
So here it is.
E-Sport, there we go.
456, it was, and this was lively.
I think it came on, that was it.
It came on shredded tyres because they were trying to tear it up with Formula E, I think.
Now this is not as exotic as the, for those of you who use-
It looks like a render, but it looks like a render and it looks really cool.
And don't watch the video I did on it for the channel because it's me at very junior stage.
And it's, it's, I'm presenting like I'm talking to my mum on the phone.
It's not good.
Yeah.
But it's a 456 brake horsepower Renault Zoe E-Sport.
And that was lively.
And that was before Renault Sport had been killed off.
And it's making me remember that with what I came away from that was, I can't speak,
what I came from that drive.
What I came, let me say-
What you came away from.
What am I trying to say?
What I came away feeling after that drive, there we go, was that, because this was about
when the electric cars were still very boring, generally speaking.
It was that if you can make an electric car hyper alert and have like the most crazy,
exciting chassis and then have enough power to make it exciting in that regard as well,
then you're so fixated on that that you don't mind the lack of engine.
Of course, it would be nice to have a big powerful engine in there.
It would just add to the experience, but you don't miss it because you're so focused on
that. It's the same way that when you drive a PDK or very like an automatic
high performance car gearbox on track, often you go, I don't miss having a manual because
I'm so fixated on the speed I can carry into the corners with this auto.
So there are loads of times when I go, I don't want a manual in this car because I can go
that much quicker and have that much more adrenaline rush with the auto.
Absolutely. It's whether that translates into a good road car.
That's true.
Speaking to the Renault lot last year, they were like, if you go on track in this,
it's probably going to last about 15 to 20 minutes, which is kind of how long you would
lap before taking a little break, but you still need to charge it.
Interesting because you know the A110 that's sharing this platform?
Yes. Well, that's the thing.
They've come out and said formally in an interview, 20 minutes of track driving,
it will be capable of.
Interesting.
So that's a slightly more cautious maybe it's got more power.
Well, this was a year ago and they've found more power in that year.
And so it wouldn't surprise me if they found more capacity or at least more usable time
just with software engine, you know, working and stuff.
Because that's what this previews, the A1 to Alpine A1 to rear drive.
The motors are different, obviously, but the platform itself will be similar.
I think the interesting thing when that Alpine comes out is because we've seen
the camoed up version going up the hill.
And it looks cool.
It was called the A110 future, wasn't it?
Or something?
Yeah.
And you know, it looks cool.
It's as they had said, it was a bit more aggressive than it was before.
I just think when I see this Renault 5 Turbo, I just think, holy moly, that is so unbelievably cool.
And do I get that same feeling from the Alpine?
I think the Alpine is like, I would really want the petrol version of that.
Yeah, well, they are going to continue that anyway.
So that's the good news.
I think that's the, you know, I've just come away from it thinking,
I've gone in with a very open mind.
It's absolutely not changed my opinions of petrol cars.
I don't think it was ever going to.
And I don't think that's what it's designed to do.
It's just designed to be fun and it's been engineered to be fun.
And everything kind of points to that being the case.
So I can't wait.
Yeah.
And also that just to add, the petrol A110, I think we've mentioned on the pod before,
is 85% going to survive on in a new model because that platform can take a petrol engine.
So, you know, this is a sign that the EV stuff can be really fun from that brand, but petrol live on.
If petrol stuff is still very much your thing, which obviously is because that's why you're
on Piston Heads, then if you haven't already, go and get your tickets, please,
for Piston Heads and your services on the 8th of August.
So you'll only have a couple of weeks after this podcast goes live to get your tickets in.
It's on, yeah, 8th of August at Bistermotion.
It's going to be our biggest event yet.
I've got some, we have got some great guests to talk to because you're joining me on the
live stage this year, are you not?
Yeah, I am.
So we've got Johnny Herbert is going to be coming along to talk about the Lola T70S
and just Johnny Herbert things, met him at the British Grand Prix for proper.
Coolest guy.
Unbelievably cool guy.
And such a sort of chap, he sort of like just seems permanently happy.
So down to earth.
And it's that thing of where he was talking about the gear shift in the T70S.
And then he just goes, oh, by the way, you know, it's it works really well with my gear,
my shifting style, because Gerhard Berger used to go from 6th to 2nd in one movement,
whereas me and Mika Hakkonen, because you can just name drop like that,
like to go through the gears individually.
And he's like, and with my driving style, it works really well.
And I'm there going, it's ridiculous.
You're like Gerhard Berger went from 6th to 6th.
So when he was going down into a from, you know, I don't know,
on a, let's say take Monza, for instance, and you're going down into the chicane,
would just go one movement, 6th, bam, all engine braking down into 2nd.
And I said, did that not just nuke gearboxes?
And he goes, obviously, yes.
But it was that thing of where he could talk and say,
this is what my contemporaries were doing.
And also comparing the steering to a 7.8, his Le Mans winning 787B is just unreal.
I can't wait for us to talk to him.
We've also got Vicki Butler Henderson coming along.
We have a car launch, a world preview of a car that's going to be here.
I mean, I'm so excited about what we, you know, that's not including the hundreds of cars
that we've got littered all over the site.
So please come along.
We'd love to see that.
It's such a great day out and I can't wait.
I'm really excited for it.
If you're looking for a car to bring, then maybe this will come in handy.
So we've not done a proper buying challenge in a couple of weeks now
because we've had so many events and stuff going on.
I've got something here from Bell 427 and they say,
I've been looking at interesting estate cars for the last 18 months,
but for various reasons have not been in a position to buy.
I'm hoping that I can start looking again now and hopefully in a few weeks we'll be ready to
pull the trigger on something.
My budget is around 20,000 pounds.
Ideally can't be too ruinous to run.
I do lean towards comfort these days,
but I can bend towards something a bit more interesting.
I did around 8,000 miles a year and mostly short 13 mile journeys each way to work.
Boot size does not need to be the best in class.
They mention a Cooper Leon 300 Golf R and also a BMW 330 slash 335D.
Any advice would be much appreciated.
Sam Sheehan, what have you got with the criteria in mind?
Well, I have got, the first car is actually, I'd say,
I mean, he's hinted at, he'll be, is it, do we know?
And they have hinted that the 330,
which I totally missed actually in the piece, but anyway, there we go.
It could be an option because I took it out of the show notes.
That's why.
But the key thing is I've gone for a 330E,
which I would describe as the current, like the 320D of these days.
Oh, absolutely.
Because now that diesel's a bit of a dirty word.
330E, same kind of vibe, performance, fuel economy, just a great all round car.
And this one is, it's in decent spec.
I mean, it's, it's in white.
So, you know, some people are like, if it's got smaller wheels,
I see leather seats as well.
So it looks like it's specced to be comfortable rather than sporty.
And look, I think these are just a great all round car to drive.
Fuel efficient.
What do they get out of these?
This is a two liter, isn't it?
I mean, 300 horsepower.
Being a, being a hybrid means it'll be a ridiculous number, won't it?
Where it's like 16000000 miles per gallon.
It's like, well, what's the real thing?
But still, with these, with these, as they in air quotes,
self charging hybrids or plugins?
I think they were plugins, weren't they?
I'm just going to double check that out.
I have a funny feeling they were plugins, but it's got 290 horsepower.
Yeah, I think which is, which is too bad.
70,000.
Yeah, I see some charge cables.
Yeah.
Okay.
Yeah.
So plug into, you're getting some, you're getting some electric only running
and you can, you can preserve the battery in these.
So if you don't plug in every single day,
but you want to have some electric for a city stint.
I know white BMWs aren't everybody's taste,
but the white over black interior is the one of the more safer options.
Yeah.
And also it's a smaller wheel.
So it's not a show off white car.
I can't tell if it's Alpine white, which is a flat white or mineral white,
which is a Metallic-y.
It looks a bit Alpine.
It does look a bit more on the, the flatter side,
but as a, as a solid,
mildly brisk.
Yeah, kind of.
And good to drive.
effortlessly brisk.
Fantastic.
I've driven a 330 of this generation and it was brilliant.
It was, yeah.
I think they're great.
I think they're really lovely.
And, and it's one of those cars.
And I'm like, one day if I need a car like this,
this would probably be on the list immediately.
And also you've got two pounds change.
Which is quite nice.
Go buy some friends.
Yeah.
Another car that I've got a bit of a soft spot for,
even though I know a lot of people don't like them.
But I just, I've just always liked barn doors.
And so I've gone for a Mini Clubman,
but it's a Cooper S and I've gone for a classic spec car.
So it's got green, it's got a lovely shed of green paint,
metallic green, well, looks a bit.
And it's, it's got the comfort pack.
That's it out for me.
And two and a half grand under budget as well.
17 and a half.
Should be great to drive.
190 odd horsepower.
Yeah.
It's, why, why do people not like these?
I think it's, is it one of those things
where it's the hang up because it's not a Mini.
Yeah.
I think so.
And also because this later era one,
this is a 2021 car, I guess it, the mark one
of the BMW era Clubman was really cool.
So cool.
And they're tiny.
Yeah.
Like all of the cars of that era look tiny nowadays,
but, but I saw one the other day and I was like,
that's, that's, you know, effectively in a state
and it looks really small.
It looks like a normal, like a focus hatchback
alongside it looks about the same size,
probably a bit bigger actually.
So they're really small.
This is a bit bigger, but that means it's more usable.
And it's of the era where it has the infotainment system,
has the circular surround, but it's still the oblong screen,
which I know some people prefer because it's more BMW-esque
in the operation, whereas the new stuff, as cool as it looks,
is a very mini bespoke system.
So it's slightly different and maybe a little bit harder to use.
This still has all buttons in the interior.
The only thing I would say about that one is that,
it's a screen, isn't it?
That's a bit more, I remember getting in one of these
and then hooking it up to Apple CarPlay
and you've got the big circle and then you've got these
two tiny little widgets for your Apple CarPlay.
But it's, it's, it's a great car.
And, you know, it's a, it's still,
it's an estate at the end of the day and not a mini SUV,
which I still find a bit, but makes sense, obviously.
But I just find it's not my cup of tea.
And I just, I just think the barn doors,
I mean, it just makes, because obviously the 60s,
they're quite cool, it's quite fun.
Usually when he said it doesn't have to be the best
in class for space and this definitely is not that.
The only thing that's, that's I struggle with with a clubman
is the lettering on the boot because it's, it's, it's,
it's uneven because one, because it's a seven letter word.
So one side says club and the other side says man.
Yeah.
So it always feels a bit, this is really pedantic.
Makes me think of those top gear race cars
where they deliberately had a very funny, very funny.
My next choice is, so those were fairly sensible,
like kind of, you know, the mini is a bit more of a fun,
but this one seems a lot more sensible.
Well, I think it does in terms of it's going to appreciate
in value.
Oh, good thinking.
Because with 40,000 miles on the clock,
so this is a 28 year old car, it's red.
Yeah.
40,400 miles on the clock and just two previous owners,
two owners from new.
So I've gone for an Impressor 2000 turbo wagon.
Absolutely.
Yeah.
So this is ridiculously cool.
Yeah.
1998.
I mean, this is the era when, you know,
you were talking about rallying earlier.
This is the one of the peak eras for rallying.
It was my dream car.
Yeah.
And so obviously this is a wagon.
So it wasn't the rally car shape, but I mean,
it's an estate based off of a rally car.
That's about as cool as things get.
And also this one's been tastefully modified.
So he has.
Doesn't mention anything about engine mods.
I'm just going to re skim that.
Yeah.
Look, it's got some, it's got some induction kit.
It's got a short, a BNM short shifter.
Stainless exhaust.
Stainless exhaust.
Extra warble.
So it makes more warble, more intake,
and will probably feel nicer to drive as a result.
But still basically standard engine,
which is good for reliability,
has some subtle changes here and there.
Eye back, look, eye back.
Eye back, I'd say so.
Eye back, yeah.
Lowering springs.
Oh, a lightweight pulley kit.
There you go.
So it might have a little bit more power.
It's a really nicely done car, this.
It's lovely.
Looks quite punchy and red.
Yeah.
It's not going to be nearly as plush as the others.
But if you want to have fun.
Yes.
That's good.
Why not?
Yeah.
You know.
And it passes the number plate test.
Look at how mint those number plates and wheels are.
You can tell this is somebody who cares about the details.
Deliciously 2D plates.
Yeah.
I think if you're going to buy an old Subaru,
this is the one that you're going to want to get.
It's just fantastic.
Really, really well looked after that.
Engine bay.
That engine bay is spotless.
Absolutely spotless.
Was it 40,000 miles?
40,400.
So if you're doing 8,000 miles a year,
you can use this quite liberally
and not really have to worry
about the mileage going up that much.
I guess the one thing is obviously
Japanese cars on this era do rot a little bit.
And so if you're using it in the winter months,
this one looks especially clean underneath.
It would be a shame to get this anywhere near salt.
Yeah.
But you know, you've got 1,005 pounds spare going by yourself
for Citroen C1 to bottom of that in.
And I don't know.
Well, while you're having to think about
which one to put forward,
let me give you my options and see if that sways you.
So the first one, they mentioned this
and I thought it's probably worth actually hunting one down
because we've had it before.
It was our last one that we did where they said,
oh, quite like an MX-5 or a Z3.
And there was not really any good examples in budget.
So let's see if there is one in budget and there is.
It's a Coupre-Leon 300 in that kind of matte.
Is it matte or is it kind of like that dark gray color?
Looks shiny there.
It does look a little bit.
Yeah, I think maybe not matte.
So it's the 2019 Coupre-Leon 300.
So you've got, it's essentially a slightly more affordable
in air quotes.
I think they're about the same now as a Golf R.
But yeah, it's a Golf R.
So it's got 300 horsepower, all-wheel drive,
that kind of snappy DSG.
One thing that they were really after
is the adaptive suspension, which you have here as well.
So you can go and swat through it
and have a slightly more cushy ride if you'd like.
I drove a newer version of this that was the front-wheel drive
because they do it now where the Coupre-Leon,
you can have a front-wheel drive, 300 horsepower,
you can have the all-wheel drive, 310, whatever.
Oh, 330, can't remember.
All-wheel drive is by far the best way to go.
Yeah, I mean, it makes no sense.
The front-wheel drive one is hilarious,
but it will chew tires, so lary.
They have their diff style system, don't they?
It's not a proper mechanical, I can't remember.
Isn't it, is it VAC?
It's still all over the place.
Yeah, it's still kind of bitey on front axle
when you power hard.
This thing will be extremely efficient
at getting this power down.
It's got a big old boot.
It's got a nice-ish interior.
A very solid interior.
You know, VAG, oh, I found out the other day
that VAG, it hasn't been called VAG for like 40 years or so.
So, VW Group.
VW Group interior, very solid.
It is, yeah, exactly.
Yeah, 40,000 miles, 19,000 pounds.
A very smart choice.
Yeah, and also it passes the pretend police cast.
Oh, as does this one.
Over a few years ago.
But traffic cones in the back
and suddenly people start letting you through
and driving under the speed limit.
We're talking about smart choices here
and you can't have a list of smart estate cars
without a Volvo.
It's giving Partridge.
It's giving more Partridge vibes.
Yeah.
But the thing is, if you own one of these,
you are in the 1% of cool people on the planet.
Yeah, yeah, I agree.
This is the coolest thing that you can have.
It is perfect, fantastic condition.
2003 Volvo V70R.
Yeah.
That is the 2.5-litre five-cylinder turbo engine.
My God, I did not know these were worth.
That's, so I was looking at the pictures.
I forgot about the budget.
Yeah.
Because my brain's stupid
and I forget things instantly.
And basically I was like, oh, I'd love one of these.
And then I looked at the price and I was like, oh my God.
They're 14 grand now.
That's more than I spent on my three series.
Because they've gone up in values so much.
Which is 10 years newer and just a bit,
a smudger more powerful.
I thought these were still like a four grand car.
We had, we've just had a, let me have a look on auctions.
We've just had a Volvo estate sell on auction.
I don't even think it went to auction
because someone snapped up so quickly.
This is a 850 T5R manual with 145,000 miles
that sold before it went to bid.
Yeah, before it went to bidding for nearly 13,000 pounds.
Yeah.
I mean, with over 145,000 miles on the clock.
These are all some cars.
But that's in the same bracket as some, you know,
you can get a, could you get a, maybe not a 9-11,
but you could definitely get a decent Cayman.
Oh, a hundred percent.
I know it's a very different car,
but what I mean is it doesn't, yeah, it just shows you.
Brilliant.
People love Volvo, fair enough.
Really cool.
This one's black, again, 42,000 miles.
So it's considerably lower miles,
which if you compare it to the 850 makes it,
just sold on auction.
Not bad at all.
No.
It's an auto, so not quite as engaging,
but still as an everyday car to use.
I just think that's really cool.
Yeah.
Really cool.
However, I'll get to that in a second.
I'll get to that in a second.
The one that I think I'm going to put forward
is a CLA 45 shooting break.
Yeah, that's cool.
It's a really smart looking car.
This one's got 83,198 miles on it.
So it's a little bit on the higher end.
It says zero previous owners,
so I'm guessing that means that it's been with one owner.
First, yeah.
Yeah, it's moving on from its first owner.
You've got that properly punchy four-pot with 375 horsepower
and infinitely tunable.
So if you want to go and get it chipped,
mate, you can get ridiculous power out of it.
But I find that these look really smart.
I think because Merck's design has gone in such a weird direction these days,
you look back on this era and you're like,
because at the time I actually didn't love the look of the front end
and the headlight shapes,
because they were really playing with shapes.
And I was like, oh, maybe it's finished,
but actually now looking at it versus today's cars.
I'm like, that looks really smart.
It does.
I always thought that these looked in hatchback form,
extremely front-wheel drive.
Yeah.
You know what I mean?
You know when it's just kind of like there's so much going on at the front
and then they have these dinky little wheels at the back.
For me, it always reminds me of like a little Chihuahua
that's got one of those wheelchairs that it has to be put on.
I don't know why, but I think with the shooting brake,
it looks so much more well formed.
And obviously that engine and gearbox rapid to drive
and obviously broke a load of records at the time.
I think it was more power per liter
than any production car or something.
But in the hatchback, I don't know, because it was never that,
it was at the time, was the FK8 out I think by now?
Maybe it was actually.
I'm sure it was.
But certainly Renault Sport was still making fun of the hatches.
I remember the hatchback version was always the fastest
and often the most super car-aping,
but it wasn't always the most exciting to drive in terms of handling.
But because this is now a shooting brake,
the priorities change and you're like, it's just effortlessly quick.
It doesn't need to be a lary hatchback.
It's actually just an ultra-powerful estate.
And I think it feels a bit more plush than the Leon.
So that's the one I'm going to put forward.
But my honorable mention was a R36 Passat estate
because I just never find them anywhere.
They're so rare.
The Passat is just shy of 10 grand.
And is that an import with those plates?
It is. It's a Japanese import.
It's a square plate.
You don't have to worry about rust,
which is a problem on those R36s.
Talking of things that I've aged well, my god, that looks good.
It does look really good, doesn't it?
Silver with that kind of chrome front end was really cool.
So that's $10,000.
But I would rather, I think the wisest thing to do is
go for the CLA, which is $16,295.
It's like on the higher mileage side,
but that's just going to last you a long time.
You'd be distraught.
Because if I go for $330, it's just $0.02 when boring.
The Mini is great, but it's just...
I mean, I could throw in a curveball and just go,
let's see who agrees that just living on the wild side
and going with the Impressor.
You're going with the Impressor.
Okay. People can vote.
So if you are listening...
People can vote?
Yes, they can.
Oh, they need to change that.
Yeah. All right, authoritarian.
If you are listening to this on Spotify,
I will have a poll for you to vote on.
So you can choose my car, you can choose Sam's car,
if you think that we've done a rubbish job.
Head into my post on the Pizzenheads homepage,
go and click on the topic and put your own suggestions in there
and maybe say that we were absolutely rubbish.
And bear in mind, by the way,
because I don't see some suggestions come in.
Bear in mind we are restricted by what we can find
because sometimes people come in like,
how do you guys ignore this?
We'd love to find every car, but...
It's what's available at the time.
Yeah, but feel free to then just shame us
and say you should have chosen this.
Yes, precisely.
And we'll just cry tomorrow.
Sometimes I've seen people do that and I go,
oh, it's the obvious choice, but it's a boring choice.
We kind of want to be a little bit different.
Now, you can obviously always check out
Pizzenheads Auctions as well.
There was no performance estates
that met the criteria this week,
but it's because we've sold them.
And these don't meet the criteria at all
because they are a lot more expensive.
I think I've bought the B3S Touring up
on a previous podcast.
Yeah, you have.
You have.
Yeah, yeah.
Did I bring up the E61 M5 Touring
that's all one of 11 Indianapolis red?
That's in Chris Harris.
Is that the same color he has?
Well, it was the same color that he has.
Oh, he said it painted.
He's had it...
Well, his is now green and I've looked...
I looked everywhere to see if it was painted or wrapped
and I saw there was a picture he put up of it stripped and green,
which makes me think that it was repainted.
So instead of it being a one of 11 worldwide Indianapolis red
M61 M5 Touring...
Is that right?
It's now one of 10 at least.
That's actually made me surprised that he did that.
I guess he's just one of the color he wanted.
I know.
It's also amazed me that he put orange corduroy seats in it,
but he did.
When they were in the car with that color exterior,
I was like, oh my God, what has he done?
I know.
Because it clashed so bad.
It works with the green and he'd obviously thought ahead.
Yeah, I'm still not...
I just...
I think the thing I love about it is that it's...
It looks comfy.
He's not worried.
He just doesn't give a damn.
It's just he's done it.
I feel like whenever I look at dream garages,
my dream garage now, it's gone from,
I want this specific special edition,
this supercar, whatever.
I just...
I want my version of the car that is mine of these cars.
He's done that and I'm...
My hat, I'm not wearing one, is doffed.
Green on orange works anyway, just ask BRM, but yeah.
Yeah, exactly.
There you go.
On that note, we will end an episode of The Gassing Station Podcast.
Thank you ever so much for listening.
If you enjoyed this episode, please give us a five-star review
and also maybe leave us some nice words.
It helps us get The Gassing Station Podcast out to more people
and yeah, lets us know that we're hopefully on to the right tracks.
And send us a hype, is it?
They can do that on YouTube, can't they?
You can hype a video.
Hype?
Oh yeah, you can hype it.
That would be really lovely.
Thank you in advance.
Sam, anything else you'd like to add other than
talking about how the algorithm works?
Can I tell you about how the algorithm works?
Can I tell you anything about what I'm driving in the next few days?
Or is it all under bloody embargo?
Yeah, there's a lot of embargo.
There's some cool stuff though, some really cool stuff.
But I can't tell you what it is.
What a teaser.
So on that note, I shall...
About this episode
From Goodwood studio squeaks to rally-stage intensity, the hosts recap a packed motorsport run and then dive into Gunther Werks’ F-26: EV acceleration comparisons, a 996 GT3-based gearbox, and even why a slant-nose conversion can fail UK MOTs. The Renault 5 Turbo 3E ride sparks “turbo” branding debate, with details on its wheel-integrated motors, torque claims, and track behavior when aids are off. The episode also pivots to a £20k fast-estate challenge and other used-car picks.
It may not have an actual turbo, but Renault’s new ‘supercar’ slips and slides just like its predecessors. But is it just as fun without an engine?
From new cars that look old to old cars that look new, Sam takes the Gunther Werks F-26 for a spin around Goodwood, before wrapping up with a £20,000 fast estate buying challenge.
Chapters:
0:00 Intro
2:13 Co-driving in a Toyota Rally1 car with Jari-Matti Latvala
5:28 Gunther Werks F-26 track review
23:59 First passenger ride in the Renault 5 Turbo 3E
