A restomod is an older car that’s been updated with newer parts so it drives better. It’s basically “restore the old look, but modify it to feel modern.”
Pro touring is when people take an older car and upgrade it so it drives and handles more like a modern sports car. The focus is usually on steering, braking, and suspension, not just looks.
He’s explaining what the word “restomod” comes from: restoring the old car and then modifying it. It’s a way to describe updating an older car instead of leaving it stock.
Subframe connectors are metal braces that help the car’s body stay more rigid. Less flex usually means the steering and handling feel tighter and more predictable.
Gunther Works is a specialist that builds very high-end Porsche custom cars. The point here is that their cars aren’t just lightly updated—they can be heavily reworked, including major material and engineering changes.
Brand
the SP40
The SP40 is a specific custom Porsche project/build mentioned alongside other top-tier restomod brands. The host is saying it’s more than a simple update—it’s a major transformation.
Car
Singer
Singer is a company that builds Porsche 911s with a modern engineering twist, while trying to keep the classic look. The idea they describe here is mixing the best styling details from different 911 eras into one car.
Here, “reimagining” means taking a classic car idea and updating it with modern technology and design. It’s more than restoring it—it’s about redesigning parts while keeping the spirit of the original.
A hypercar is an ultra-expensive, ultra-fast kind of supercar. In this conversation, it’s used to explain how performance trends push designers to rethink what the next version should look like and do.
Rob Dickinson is associated with Singer as a key figure in its design philosophy, described here as sitting with the car and deciding which design elements to keep and which to change. The host uses him to illustrate the “perfect the car you love” mindset behind Singer-style builds.
Porsche 911 (964) is one specific generation of the 911 from the early ’90s. The point here is that some custom builds begin with that body, but they’re changed so much that they don’t behave like a typical restomod.
A restomod is a classic car that’s been updated so it drives better like a modern car. In this discussion, they’re saying some of these Porsche projects are changed so much that the “restomod” label doesn’t really fit.
Car
Land Rovers
Land Rover is a car brand that makes rugged SUVs. Here, they’re talking about older Land Rovers that people update with newer parts while keeping the classic style.
“Turbo” means the engine uses a turbocharger to make more power. It forces extra air into the engine so it can burn more fuel and produce more horsepower.
Car
Gunther Works F26
The Gunther Works F26 is a specific custom car built by Gunther Works. The hosts are treating it as an ultra-rare, extremely expensive build meant for people who want big, loud performance.
“Wings” refers to aerodynamic appendages—typically rear spoilers or large aero elements—meant to generate downforce. More downforce helps keep the car planted at speed, improving cornering grip.
“Cages” means a roll cage, which is a metal safety frame inside the car. It helps protect you in a crash and can also make the car feel more solid and stable.
“1000 horsepower” means the engine makes an enormous amount of power. Cars with that much power need special engineering to put it to the ground safely.
“Air-cooled” describes an engine cooling system that relies on airflow over the engine rather than a liquid coolant circuit. Classic Porsche engines are often discussed this way, and the episode ties it to the high cost of building powerful air-cooled cars.
Knurling is the rough, patterned texture on something to help your hand grip it. Here, the host is saying the steering wheel’s grip texture didn’t feel right to them.
Car
Singer Turbo
Singer Turbo is a custom Porsche 911-style car built by Singer. The point here is that the steering wheel and controls are designed to fit your hands really well, and the interior feels extremely high quality.
Car
McLaren
McLaren is a company that makes high-performance supercars. The host is saying McLaren also designs the steering wheel so your thumbs naturally land in the right spot, which makes driving feel more intuitive.
Grooved steering wheel surfaces use channels or indentations to guide hand placement and improve tactile feedback. The host credits grooving with making thumb positioning more natural, which is part of why the steering wheel feels “perfect” in the McLaren comparison.
The Lexus LFA is a rare, high-end supercar. The host is pointing out that Lexus went to extreme lengths with carbon fiber—basically creating a special way to make it—so the car could match their exact design goals.
Car
Lexus
Lexus is Toyota’s luxury brand. The point here is that Lexus usually sells more mainstream cars, so it can be harder to convince existing customers to buy something as extreme and different as a supercar.
The Audi R8 is a high-performance sports car from Audi. The host is saying that when Audi’s supercar image gets tied to the “exotic” world, people may want it more.
The Huracán is Lamborghini’s V10 supercar. In this discussion it’s mainly being used as a benchmark for how the Lamborghini name can make a car feel more special to buyers.
Residual value is the estimated value a car will have in the future, often used in leasing and also as a shorthand for how well a car holds its worth. In this segment, the host argues that branding (e.g., wearing a Lamborghini badge) could have improved the LFA-like “halo” perception and thus residual value.
The Audi RS 3 is a fast, performance-focused version of a compact Audi. The “RS” badge generally means it’s the higher-performance trim. In the podcast, it’s brought up while talking about how Audi model names relate to what the car is.
The Toyota Camry is a regular, everyday car that’s meant for commuting and family use. It’s popular with people who want something reliable and comfortable. It’s also often mentioned when talking about how buyers trade up to nicer cars later.
A single-clutch gearbox is a type of automatic/manual-style transmission that uses one clutch to change gears. The point being made is that even if the car has impressive tech (like a V10 and carbon fiber), it can be hard to sell to people who aren’t already into that kind of detail.
The Lexus LC 500 is a stylish, luxury coupe with a V8. People like it for how it looks, how it sounds, and because used examples tend to stay expensive.
The Ford Mustang is a sports car from Ford. It’s known for its style and for sounding like a “real” performance car. People often buy it because it’s fun to drive and can be dependable when maintained.
The Aston Martin DB12 is a luxury sports car made by Aston Martin. It’s designed to be both fast and comfortable for longer drives. In the podcast, it’s used as a comparison for what a top-tier grand touring car feels like.
The Aston Martin DB9 is an older luxury grand tourer. It’s brought up alongside the DB12 to help explain the vibe: comfortable cruising and good looks rather than pure track performance.
A “GT car” is built for long trips—comfortable, smooth, and easy to live with. It’s usually more about cruising than about being the most precise, track-ready driving machine.
“Long hood Grand Tour” is a phrase enthusiasts use to evoke the classic grand touring formula—front-engine layout, long-hood styling, and a focus on effortless cruising. Here, it’s used to describe the kind of experience the speaker thinks Porsche’s sports cars can deliver, especially compared with cars that are more track-oriented or more luxury-focused.
The Lexus RC is Lexus’s coupe platform, positioned as a sportier alternative within the brand’s lineup. The speaker mentions it in contrast to Lexus’s racing involvement and the idea that the LC 500 could be their more luxury-oriented cruiser.
A “manual swap” means converting a car so it uses a manual transmission instead of an automatic. The speaker is saying that kind of modification can change how the car feels to drive.
“Electric power assist” means the steering gets help from an electric motor. The speaker is saying newer cars with this system tend to have better, more refined steering feel than older setups.
“Mid-engine” means the engine is placed near the middle of the car instead of at the front. The speaker is implying that on mid-engine cars, steering feel really stands out because the car’s handling is so focused.
Term
Porsche E-Pass
“E-Pass” here is being used to describe Porsche’s electric power steering system (as opposed to hydraulic steering). Electric power steering uses an electric motor to assist steering effort, and the feel depends heavily on software tuning and calibration.
Steering ratio is basically the relationship between how much you turn the steering wheel and how much the front wheels turn. If it’s set “faster,” you don’t have to turn the wheel as much to get the same cornering.
The Nissan Skyline is a performance car line from Nissan. It’s known for being popular with car enthusiasts and for having sporty versions. In the podcast, it’s mentioned in the same time period as other performance cars people were talking about.
They mention the Volkswagen R32 because it’s an example of a car from that time that had early electric power steering. The steering didn’t always feel as connected to the road as hydraulic setups.
The Volkswagen Golf is a compact car that’s meant for everyday driving. Some Golf models are also made to be faster and more performance-focused. It can come up in discussions about what features were available in certain years.
PDK is Porsche’s automatic-style gearbox that uses two clutches to change gears very quickly. The idea is to keep power flowing so it feels quicker and smoother than a traditional manual.
A water-cooled engine uses coolant that circulates through the engine and radiator to keep temperatures under control. It’s different from air-cooling, and the feel/character can be part of the debate.
Naturally aspirated means the engine doesn’t use a turbo or supercharger to force air in. It relies on normal airflow and engine design, which many people think feels more immediate.
Hydraulic steering uses fluid pressure to help you turn the wheel. Some people like how it feels because it can feel more direct and “mechanical,” especially on older cars.
Power steering helps you turn the wheel with less effort. The speaker is saying some older cars feel so assisted that steering can seem almost too easy.
“LS” is a name for a GM V8 engine family. People often think of these engines as dependable, so it’s surprising to hear about problems in certain trucks.
The speaker is referencing Toyota Tundra engine problems that led to recalls, focusing on the engine itself as the affected component. This is a reminder that even reputable brands can have specific powertrain issues that require corrective action.
The Toyota Tundra is a big pickup truck. The host brings it up to point out that Toyota has a reputation for making engines that last, even though today’s engines are more complicated than older ones.
Direct injection is a way of delivering fuel directly into the engine’s cylinders. It can help the engine run more efficiently, but it’s more complex than older fuel systems, so problems can be different too.
The BMW 535 is a 5 Series BMW. The speaker is talking about one they bought used and how early direct-injection engines could have specific problems, especially around the valves.
“First generation” means the earliest versions of a new technology. Early versions can have more bugs or wear issues before the design is fully perfected.
Term
coped up
“Coped up” here means the back of the valves got dirty with deposits. Those deposits can mess with airflow into the engine, which can make the car run rough.
The “intake” is the part of the engine that brings air in. Here, they’re talking about taking it apart and cleaning it because something inside is getting dirty and causing problems.
They’re using walnuts as a cleaning abrasive. The idea is that it’s soft enough to scrub off gunk without scratching or damaging the metal parts underneath.
Term
directed ejection
“Directed ejection” is a type of engine fuel-injection approach where the fuel is sprayed in a more controlled, targeted way inside the engine. The speaker is saying it was a big improvement in theory, but they still didn’t feel good about how it played out on their car.
The BMW E39 M5 is a special high-performance version of the 5 Series from the late 1990s/early 2000s. The host is saying that another BMW problem they experienced also showed up on the E39 M5, even though the reason was different.
The Jaguar XK is an older Jaguar sports/grand touring car line from the UK. People like it because it feels special to drive and has a classic character, not just raw numbers.
The Mazda Miata (MX-5) is a small two-seat roadster. It’s designed to be light and fun, so driving it feels lively even if the car isn’t brand new. People often talk about it because it’s an easy way to enjoy driving.
Hedonic adaptation means your brain gets used to good stuff. So a car that feels amazing at first can start to feel normal after you’ve driven a lot of them.
“Canyons” refers to winding mountain roads with lots of elevation changes and curves. It’s a driving context where throttle response, traction, and balance matter as much as straight-line power.
Suspension is the system that connects the wheels to the car and controls how the car moves over bumps and turns. If it’s set up right, the car grips better and feels more predictable, which makes it easier to drive fast.
The Porsche 911 Turbo is a high-performance 911 that comes from the factory with a turbocharged engine. The host is using it to illustrate how people can start with a lot of power and then add even more through tuning.
“Stage two” is a common tuning label that usually means you’ve added some hardware upgrades, not just changed the computer settings. It’s intended to support more power than a basic tune alone.
The Nissan GT-R is a very fast, turbocharged sports car that’s built to handle big power. In this story, it’s used to show how even huge horsepower can lose its novelty.
The 911 Turbo S is a top, high-power version of the Porsche 911 Turbo. The host is saying that even if it feels amazing at first, you can get bored if you can’t use that power often.
The throttle is the pedal that controls how much power the engine is allowed to make. The host’s point is that with too much power, you can’t press it as much without losing traction or getting into trouble.
Term
up shifts
An upshift is when the car changes to a higher gear. It helps the engine keep the right speed and power as you accelerate.
The Toyota GR 86 is a small, light sports car meant to feel fun and connected when you drive. The speaker likes it because it steers well, feels responsive, and is easier to enjoy than heavier cars.
The Toyota GR Corolla is a sporty version of the Corolla. It’s made for people who want a more exciting driving experience in a smaller car. In the podcast, it’s mentioned because it was part of a lineup at a Toyota performance event.
The Toyota Supra is a sports car. In this discussion, the speaker says it’s quicker than the GR 86, but it feels heavier and less “sharp” in how it drives.
Car
Miata
The Miata is a small, light Mazda roadster that’s known for being fun and easy to drive. The speaker is saying the GR 86 captures some of that same feel.
Term
torque hold up people as they would refer to it
“Torque hold” is when the car’s power delivery feels like it’s being held back or controlled in a way that doesn’t feel smooth. The speaker is saying the newer GR 86 version improved that problem so the car feels better when you’re accelerating.
A power band is the range of engine speeds where the car feels strongest. If it’s “better,” the engine pulls more smoothly instead of feeling weak in certain RPM ranges.
An opposed-cylinder engine is one where the cylinders sit opposite each other. Subaru uses this layout (often called a boxer engine), and the speaker is saying they haven’t had the best long-term reliability experience with it.
The GT4 is the more track-focused version of the Cayman. It’s designed to handle more aggressively, but the speaker admits they don’t always use that advantage in real life.
The Porsche Boxster is a mid-engine Porsche roadster, and the speaker specifically references a “25th anniversary edition.” They describe how it felt great around town and also good enough for more spirited driving, using it as an example of Porsche’s overall balance.
A “convertible top” is the roof that can fold down or go back up. The host is basically saying it can be annoying to manage depending on weather and where you park.
The Porsche Cayman is a mid-engine Porsche sports car. In this conversation, it’s the “more realistic to own” choice compared with a much more expensive 911 variant.
LIVE
Hey, everyone. I'm Derek. This is 11 after nine, and I have my good friend Zach Klapman
on the podcast this week. Zach is the host of the sensation on YouTube that is Driver's Test,
which is a game show for automotive gearheads. And Zach, I have watched all of them. He's a
producer. He is a co-host of the Smoking Tire podcast with Matt Fair, which is long running for,
gosh, probably more a decade and a half, I would imagine something like that. Zach, I want to welcome
you to my podcast. Welcome to 11 after nine. Thanks for being back on again, dude. It's really
nice to see you. Yeah, thank you for having me back on. And this is a legitimately clever name.
Thank you. I don't have many good ideas in my life, but I'll take what I can get.
It's a good... It makes it feel like a night show. And granted, it's the light out right now, but
this feels like a Porsches After Dark to night show type of thing.
Talking about sleek German metal with my buddy Zach Klattman. So we are talking restomods today,
Zach. And this was a topic, honestly, I have gotten from quite a few people, not necessarily
looking into buying restomods, but just curious about what they are. On 11 after nine, I would say a
huge portion of the audience are folks that are just coming into owning Porsches. And do they want
to know what are these numbers mean? What's a 993 versus a 997? What's air cooled, water cooled,
stuff like that, all the way up to people that do have a collection, but are still new into what
all these companies are like Singer, like Roof, like Gunther works. But anyways, so what I wanted
to do is bring on my buddy Zach, who has had the opportunity to drive a lot of these cars in probably
the native land in which they were meant to be driven, which is the canyons of California.
Certainly out here, dude, in New Hampshire, I get those cars up to about 3000 RPM and end
up in an oak tree with all the small bumpy roads out here. So I feel like that's the wild
dead there. But welcome, welcome to be on on the podcast, dude. And I was hoping we could do this
just because from the top, you have a general idea of these cars. How would, if I were to say,
what's a restomod for the audience? How would you describe it, Zach?
Sure, it's a very good question, especially as more cars enter the space, as they would say,
and the prices go up. So I gave it some thought and I wrote it down a little bit.
So for me, the restomod term entered my lexicon in the 2010s. And it came from,
again, this is my experience living in SoCal, but working in auto journalism, filming
every genre of car, the term was being used by the muscle car crowd. It was like a pro touring
thing. And so it stands, I mean, it's a contraction of restored, like restoration modified. And so
what I saw is you've got these old muscle cars that are known for big engines looking good,
but they don't stop very well, they don't turn very well. I mean, the handling, the flimsiness
of the construction, etc, etc. So what people would do is they would throw on subframe connectors,
they would make the chassis as rigid as they could without totally changing the shape or
the look of the car. Usually, like, there's a lot more going on underneath the metal than you
realize with some of these expensive cars that would compete at track events and stuff.
They do brakes, they do suspension, maybe a modern engine, maybe leave the engine alone.
Basically, you improve all the things that were known for being terrible. So I think you were,
and you were restoring it, you're gonna make it look good, you could buy a junker and
paint it or whatever. You want it to look good, which I think is the primary job of an old muscle
car, but then you want it to perform as well, so you'd modify it. I don't think cars like
Gunther Works, Singer, the SP40, which we can talk about, these things that are called restomads,
I think they're so far beyond that because they have changed, especially with Gunther Works,
they've changed so much of what the car looks like and modified it. I mean, the price is like
a different discussion, I guess, like once you've spent hundreds of thousands of dollars or more
on a car, are you modifying it or are you building a car? And I think a lot of these have slipped
into they are building a car. So, you know, the Gunther Works, like the bodies are carbon fiber,
half the inside is carbon fiber, the engine is totally insane, like the thing is re-engineered
from the shell. Same with Singer. Yeah, but like it has a vent plate and that's pretty much it,
if you really think about it. Yeah, exactly. So, I think that's where
you move into Singer's legally created term, we should say, which is reimagined. And,
you know, they did that for reasons, but I think also the same way we needed the term hypercar,
once supercars got so fast, is reimagining is a good way to put it because 5001, Gunther,
a bunch of people, they go, well, what would I do with, if I was the designer of this generation
of car with the technology I have today, would I make it exactly the same as they had made it?
Or would I tweak it adjusted just slightly? You know, what aesthetics from the past would I keep
and what would I maybe change because hindsight is 2020? And I think that in that case, you are
literally like Rob Dickinson from Singer, he sat there and he looked at the car and he thought,
I love these pieces and these pieces. I would change these pieces. Like, he's sitting there
imagining what he would build if he could perfect the car that he loves the most.
Yeah, it's funny. I mean, I really think, so Singer, just for the folks out there, is a company
that has been in business for well more than a decade. And essentially, they do a greatest hits
9-11. He took a look at all the different parts of the generations of 9-11s that really resonated
with him. The swoops of the rear glass, the haunches, the overall interior of what he really
thought made the most beautiful parts of the 9-11 and he put it all together in one car. And I feel
like Singer, that is their ethos. Like how to make a physically beautiful car that also can perform
up and far beyond what the old school 9-11s could do. And then like, I feel like you compare that
to a company like Guntherworks and they have a completely different ethos, right? Like with the
993, they think, well, if the 993 had kept being developed from the 90s, what would it be in 2026?
And that's kind of what they came out with with some of their latest creations. Is that about right?
Yeah, yeah, that's accurate.
Yeah, but to your astute point, I mean, the cars are not what they were. They're not,
they might come from a 964 or a 993 body shell, but they've been so
chopped and lightened and added to that they really, you're right, they really can't be called
restomads. Like you said, when I think about a restomad, I think about a car that drives like
a modern car but looks like an old car that was original. They do it a lot with Land Rovers too,
like restomaded Land Rovers are like absolutely the thing. But let's talk about price for a minute
because it's not like you can go and buy one of these cars for the price of a Porsche.
Singer is, I mean, what do they start like over a million dollars now?
I think so, probably with tax at least. I think the Turbo is the quote, the cheap one. And I think
it starts at 750, so. Right. And Gunther Works is in the twos?
I think the one we drove was like 1.2, the F26, 1.5 for F26. Yeah, I mean, that's the seven figure
car. Seven figure cars and they really are like super cars. But let me ask you a question,
getting out of the Gunther Works F26, is that a $1.5 million car to you?
So this is like, I understand the question. I think it's really hard to answer when
you don't have the money. And I say that as someone who doesn't have the money because
like if I had $1.5 million to blow on a car, I guess I wouldn't buy that car is the short answer.
But to say that it's not worth that price is hard because I mean, one, I think they've sold
most of the cars or a bunch of them. So people clearly think it is worth the money to them.
It also, I think Gunther Works has like, they cater to a specific kind of customer who's
like a little bit more aggressive, maybe even a little bit younger speculation
than a singer client because their cars are extroverted. I mean, this singer,
some of them can like, walk amongst the regular 911s, you could park it on the street.
Depending on your spec, it can be a, if you know, you know car where it might just get
passed over and someone will think it's worth 50 grand. Gunther Works cars,
with the size of the wings and the amount of carbon inside and like the cages and whatnot,
I think it'd be really tough to look at it and not realize, not think that this is a very
special thing that is probably really, really fast. So that is to say, I guess it is worth the money
to a certain, to a select group of people who are into 1000 horsepower cars that scare them,
that speak a little bit louder. It's kind of like, I think I said this when we drove it,
it's like the Lamborghini of these reimagined, whatever, Resto Mod cars,
because it's the extroverted family member in that family. Does that make sense?
Yeah, it's loud, it's brash, it's in your face. You can't not look at it when it drives by
and the people that own those cars, they own those cars because they want people to look at them,
for sure. And they're fast and fun. And look, I mean, in terms, if you want to add up numbers,
the engine is from Rossport, the engine is, you know, cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.
And the one we drove is an air cooled car that makes 1000 horsepower.
Doing that is not cheap. I mean, you, anyone listening who owns any Porsche,
it doesn't matter if the cost knows that if you want to try to add horsepower,
even if it's a turbo, it's really expensive. And if it's an air cooled car, I mean, the prices I've
heard out of some of these shops just to build a basically, you know, a slightly quickish
1970s Porsche is astronomical. So, all right, you got a special engine, you got special suspension,
their, their ride is great, the geometry is really good. Like they do a lot of really serious
engineering. And so I think when you look at the car, it looks expensive and it is expensive.
It is probably, if you were going to look at the spectrum of these altered Porsche's,
it's certainly I think about as far out as it can be in terms of how it looks and how it performs,
taking a step back towards the singers. You've had some seat time in those, right? And
what, what's your impression of those? If, if you were going to give that a personality, if, if
the Gunther Works was the Lamborghini of Porsche, like what does a singer strike you as? Like who's
the buyer for that? Is it a driver or a collector? Well, I mean, I think the character, and I hope
this comes across as a compliment to people would be, it's almost like the Lexus of that because
and like Lexus LFA level, you know, their motto, everything's important,
you get in, you drive that car, you close the door, you touch this controller, like literally
everything has been attended to and is feels unique and special and different, but not in a way
that is, that is a poor choice. Like one of the things I didn't like about the Gunther Works
at 26 was the steering wheel design. Like I didn't like, I didn't like the shape of the
knurling on the back of it. I didn't like the design of it. Fine. That's what they wanted to go
with. That's their choice. But yeah, by contrast, when I drove the Singer Turbo, it was the most
perfect steering wheel I'd held. It's like that in a McLaren, like the way they had,
you know, grooved it a certain way. So your thumbs land in it, the size of it, all of these
things. And it was me, I thought this way, Matt has larger hands, he thought this way. So they do
pay attention to everything. And I think the same way, you know, when Lexus made the LFA,
they had to make a new kind of carbon fiber loom to make the car. And it's like, at the time,
the only people or entities on earth that had this kind of loom was them. And I think the
U.S. Air Force, so it showed how serious they were. Yeah, it showed how serious they were
about doing things to their specification, not like to what is acceptable by the, you know,
the people in the dealership. Lexus is like, we want to do this to this level. How do we do that?
Oh, we have to make a new piece of machinery to make the machinery. Alright, we'll make that,
we'll make that, we'll make that thing. So I think Singer does that because everything has been
touched and thought through and is so perfect. And they drive great, and they handle great,
and they're really fast, but they are definitely more subtly styled in a way that I think is pretty
much perfect. So I do too, I kind of feel like they're the, like maybe like the James Bond of
those type of cars, like they'd look, they look like they're in a tuxedo if the colors are right
on the outside, they're so buttoned up and the quality is so amazing. I haven't had the opportunity
to be behind the wheel of the turbo like you, but I've been in the standard classic Singers and
you just want to sit in the driver's seat and just like look at all the buttons and how
to the level of quality that they take the interiors. And I'm not telling anyone anything
they don't know that is familiar with Singer, but for those of you that don't know these cars,
they are, if you took a 911 and you just brought it to its ultimate form of precision
and quality and also looks and they really are fantastic. Question about the, it's funny,
you brought up the LFA. Do you kind of feel like with the LFA when Lexus came out with it, Zach,
that it didn't take off because its audience didn't understand it? Because it was so on Lexus
of Lexus to come out with, and it took like, like what, like 57 years before people came
around and started realizing what it was. I remember like they couldn't sell them.
Yeah, they couldn't and Top Gear gave it a great review and even that couldn't help sell them.
I should preface, I have never driven one of them. I think they sound amazing and like the story
is incredible. It's a good story. I think, you know, any of these companies that have basically
made their bread and butter by selling common pedestrian cars, trying to step up into, let's
just say like, you know, the Ferrari Club is really, really hard. I mean, look, Audi,
the R8 is amazing when they partner with Lamborghini eventually, like that made them even better.
That car, if it had been wearing a Lamborghini badge, and I know that the Huracan and whatnot,
like they're basically the same, but the R8 did some things better. Or if it had a more,
if it had a more exotic badge, they would have been more popular, the residual value would
have been better. But as it stands, like, you can get them pretty cheaply, I use one, and they
don't really go up in value, despite being great cars. And it goes, oh, it's because you see the
four rings, and you think, oh, Q3, Q5, RS3, like there's just too many other
That's a good point models kind of watering it down a little bit from being at that up restaurant.
So I think Lexus, you know, they sell, they sell cars to Camry people who got, you know,
who made more money, like that's who they sell to. It's Toyota owners who invested in the SPY
and just set it and forget it, and then woke up one day and had a little bit more money,
and they want the same car, but it looks a little nicer, and it's a little bit more impressive.
So to try to sell a V10 single clutch gearbox thing made of carbon fiber and explain that to
existing customers, I think is hard. And then to try to pull in other customers from other brands
is also tough. Plus the interior, in my opinion, was a little too close to some of their other
products. And that's just, that's the nature of that beast. Yeah, that's a really interesting
take on that, Zach. And I appreciate you sharing that, because I hadn't quite thought of the fact
that it's a company that makes pedestrian cars. And when they reach for like this F1 sounding
crazy hair on fire machine, you know, people just weren't ready to jump in on that first
iteration of it. I wonder if they had continued that line for a while, if it would have become
something more, you know, instead of kind of having that one run. But the LC 500 is also kind
of like one of those cars, right? Like people love the LC 500, which is like this, like beautiful
kind of like coup-ish thing. I don't know why, but people absolutely are head over heels for it.
I mean, I get it. I think they look like the concept car and was stunning. So I
think, I mean, anytime I see one, I turn my head and I go, man, should I get one of these things?
They, they sound good. It's just got a five liter kind of sounds like a Mustang, fine,
the engine's gonna work forever. But I just feel like it's one of the best designs that's hit the
road in like, I don't know, 30, 40 years. And they, I got a friend of mine bought a used one,
he's been offered like 20 over what he paid for it. Like they, they are holding their value
very well. My father-in-law was looking to buy a used one and they just haven't come down to
where he expected, even after being out for like five years. So they just, they're not a huge supply,
but people like them. Is your buddy's a stack or is it the automatic? No, it's auto. It's auto.
Did they, did they make a stack? I think they did, right? Oh, they didn't. I don't think they did.
Okay. I had, I was staying at a hotel once and they had like this Lexus program where you could
borrow a car and take it for a drive. And I took the LC 500 out and you're right, it's an absolutely
gorgeous car. But I was, I think probably because I was driving it like around, it was, it was kind
of a congested area like along the coast of California. And I don't know, I didn't, I couldn't
really open it up and I was kind of like, I get it. It's beautiful, but it didn't have like, it felt
very isolated. You know, it felt very like, not like engaging. It was much more of like this GT car
that was made to like do these long sweepers at like 90 miles an hour, not like around town.
But that was just my take. I got out of it and I was like, it's gorgeous. And I can understand why
people like to look at it for sure. But to drive it, I just wasn't blown away maybe because it was
automatic. So maybe I need to give it another go. Well, I think if you, if you thought of it like,
you know, Japan's Aston Martin DB12 or DB9, like that's what, because that's what that is,
what it is. You're right, like it's a GT car. They have some firmer versions, you know,
but they're just, it's not, it's just not a good track car. It's not a good like a quote,
driver's car. It does okay. But what it does is looks good, eats miles, works all the time,
sounds good. I think it ticks a lot of those boxes for a proper like long hood Grand Tour
where I think Porsche most, you know, most of their sports cars are sports cars, right? Like,
they're not, that's how they define them. Can you Grand Tour any 911? Absolutely. And it will be
probably pretty comfortable and it'll do a really good job at it. But it's like, you know,
a race car will drive handle stop well. If you drive it on the road, will it do those things
well on the road? Yes, of course it will. So it's just what their, what each company's focus is. The
LC 500 is probably aimed at a slightly older market and, you know, Lexus has their, like they
have their racing in IMSA, but they focused out on the RC. So the LC could be their luxury cruiser,
as it were. It's definitely a car that I think does turn my head too. And I get why people,
you know, and for that matter, it's the R8 too. The R8 is a gorgeous car. First generation R8s
are gorgeous and everyone keeps saying, we're going to pick them up. They're going to explode
any day. And I'm like, I don't know, they've been exploding any day now for like the last 10 years.
And I kind of feel like they haven't come up in value. So maybe they're either the best deal
ever, or at least you'll get your money out of it if you end up buying one.
I don't know. I think about it a lot. I think they look awesome, especially the first ones. And
I drove one a few years ago. This guy had actually manual swapped it, which was pretty interesting.
And the only thing I didn't like about it was like the seating is a little high and the steering is
pretty vague. And when you come out of newer cars where they've perfected, you know, electric power
assist, I just, I pay too much attention to steering, especially when it's a mid-engine
sports car. And that was the only thing I didn't like. But otherwise, man, give me a,
give me a VF supercharged 4.2 Audi engine like any day in the back of that thing. It's just one
of the best sounding cars ever, one of the best sounding engines ever. And, you know, close to
being like one of the greats, in my opinion. Yeah. And it just has this presence. Anytime you
look at a parking lot and one's parked, your eyes immediately go to it with those side blades and
everything. It's sick. It's sick. Speaking of steering though, dude, where do you weigh in on
this, on the whole Porsche E-Pass versus the classic hydraulic steering? Do you think Porsches
kind of come back around where the new steering on the later cars is almost just as good as kind of
the vaunted, you know, 997 hydraulic steering that everyone talks about all the time?
Yeah, I do. I think they figured out, you know, the magic of steering ratio, meaning,
you know, the speed at which you turn when you turn the wheel. So how much wheel input leads to
how much front tire, how much the front tire turns, some cars are too slow. And that can make the car
feel lazy or you have to do too much hand over hand. Pretty rare these days. But
I think Porsches really figured out how to talk to the driver through the hands with a mix of
hardware, software, alignment, tire size. There's so many things that go into steering field.
It's like a really complicated dark art. But yeah, I think saying that any hydraulic steering system
is better than any E-Pass system is just incorrect. Like that's like saying any carbureted car is
better than any fuel injected car or vice versa. So I drove early E-Pass cars. I think the R32
Volkswagen, the Golf had it in a couple cars around that generation. And there's way too much.
The effort's too low. You don't really feel what the front wheels are doing. You know,
when you turn the steering wheel, you see the horizon turn, but you don't really feel that kind
of force back from the tire. And then, you know, 67 years later, it got a little better.
And now I think it's really, really good. And there's hydraulic systems I've driven where
the ratio is too slow. Therefore, I'm having to turn the wheel too much. Therefore, usually effort
is down. And when I start going faster in these cars, it's like, there's just something in my
brain that doesn't work when the amount of turns I have to input are too great for the amount that
the horizon is changing. It's like, I want to be able to steer quickly to move the car quickly.
I don't want to have to, you know, do like a bus driver's turn, even if the car has a ton of grip
and is sticking really well. Just like, I don't know, it just removes a little bit of the confidence
I have in it. And there's plenty of hydro systems that are too boosted. And it doesn't matter what
the ratio is. It's just like, it takes too little effort to turn and you cannot feel the pressure
coming back from the tire. And also, your brain's like, there's no way it's this easy to turn those
giant front wheels to go around this thing. Like, you know, you need, it's weird to me, I guess,
when people can hold manual steering, you know, near the top of the pile, but then say hydraulic
steering is better than E-pass, when hydraulic steering can be over boosted and slow, like any
system can be. Do you have to just look at like, what are those ingredients and how do they add up
and then judge the steering from there? I think in the Porsche world, you have a lot of commudgens
though that always talk about how the good old days were better than what's new, you know, and
listen hand on heart, I do it too. Sometimes I catch myself doing it too. Even with me just
talking about how I would always prefer a manual over a PDK, while I fully acknowledge like how
amazing PDK is, I'm that guy hanging onto my manual saying like, I just, I love those cars.
And I'm sad that they're going away, slowly with Porsche at least, unlike other car companies. But
so I think just like moving away from air-cooled to water-cooled, air-cooled are always better,
water-cooled sucks. And then enough time goes by and everyone goes, okay, well, water-cooled
are pretty good, but manual over PDK. And then, you know, you go a little further and it's like,
naturally aspirated over turbocharged motors, you know, and so it's always something, right Zach?
And I think like, I used to be that person well into my 30s and about everything. And, you know,
when you're, when you're a kid, you're like, I like this band and someone goes, what about this
band? Like that band fucking sucks. And sucks. Like that band could be, I don't know, the Rolling
Stones or whatever. It's like, they clearly don't suck. But subjectively, you prefer this other
thing. So I think when people, it's just like the language of, oh, hydraulic steering is better
than E-pass. You're like, well, no, you might prefer it. And I've driven cars that are old
and have loosey-goosey steering, but there's a charm to that, especially if that suits the
automobile. Like, you know, I go, oh, it's a lazier car. It's more of a cruiser. This is kind of fun.
It almost becomes a bit of a joke. Old 60s cars, dude, like you could steer them with one finger.
You could almost, you could practically like throw the steering wheel, like a frisbee,
and it would just spin and turn the car. Like there was so much boost in the power steering.
Um, you know, is it better? Well, I don't know, it depends on your mood and what you walked out
of a car. So I think, you know, it's hard to use the words best, worst, better, worse when you're
judging something subjectively versus objectively, like, you know, if it's a lap time. And yet the
internet and the forums have no problem doing that. So, of course, I mean, I, again, I used to do it.
I'm sure I still do it from time to time. And I think I'm just privileged because I get to drive
so many things. You just get a lot of perspective on there can be good, good cars and
bad cars from any company, any country. And I think we all grew up with like someone would say
Ford and some Chevy guy would be like, Oh, found on road dead. And then you think, Oh,
are they unreliable? It's like every car company has recalls. Every car company makes reliable
stuff sometimes. You know, you just got to like, you just be like, Oh, I just prefer this. I prefer
hydraulic. I like the way it feels. Yeah, great. Great. Except for GMC trucks, because my I'm
waiting for my motor to fall out the bottom of my GMC pickup truck any day now. Right. Isn't it wild?
Like GM makers of the LS, which are known for being pretty damn reliable engines in certain
applications, they've got this huge problem with their the trucks. And they were doing that weird
stuff with the oil, like making that thicker to try to fix it. And that didn't fix it. Like,
Toyota's had huge numbers of recalls lately with like the Tundra engines, the turbo chargers,
you know, just like last week, they found more metal and more engines, they got to recall more of
them. It's wild. And this is Toyota. It's wild. Exactly. And it flies in the face of what Toyota is.
I wonder, I wonder if it's like, do you think it's that these car companies are under this
pressure to come out every three or four years with a new model and usually a new motor to try to
adhere to emissions requirements? And so they're just like pushing these these
motors out or these designs out? Because certainly like Toyota isn't going to put out a bad product
knowingly. I don't know about the American car companies, but I would believe Toyota wouldn't.
And it's so it's like, how do they get caught out like that? That's kind of crazy.
I don't know if engine development cycles have gotten shorter due to pressure from,
you know, various either countries or regions of the world that, you know, if everyone's got
shifting rules on cafe standards, emissions standards, efficiency standards, like that would
certainly shorten your development time. But I don't know if that was also the case in the 90s.
But what I think is that we know that engines have gotten more complicated
in the last 15 years, right? We've got direct injection came in, everyone made more power,
cars got way more efficient, great invention. But what some people said about it is they said,
well, yeah, but now you don't have gasoline washing the back of your valves. So
for people like for people that don't know, you know, fuel injection used to just inject
before the valve would open, it would go through that valve passageway into the combustion chamber,
compress, boom, you go down the street. And that fuel was basically clean gasoline washing over
the back of your valve. When they go to direct injection, the fuel is shot directly into the
combustion chamber. And now you get like carbon buildup on the back of your valves. So there's
like trade offs with things. I think now we have more cars than ever are turbocharged,
both like direct injection, it was a quest for efficiency, cleanliness, and also the
byproduct of power. Or actually you get power and efficiency. And you have more systems in the
engine. So I think that's what's happening is even Toyota, you know, the makers of the tundra
that went a million miles, the LS 400 essentially that went forever, you know, cameras that went
forever. Well, these engines were simple four cylinder or V six or V eight engines with like
really simple systems that had probably been developed for 60 years in terms of size.
10 miles a gallon. And everyone was okay with that.
Yeah, some of them. I mean, the LS 400, we had got like 20. It wasn't great. I think those
tenders weren't great. But you know, they're bulletproof because they're because they were
simple. But now you've got tons of direct tons of different sensors, forced induction systems,
those have to be cooled. There's also a lot more demand from the consumer for, you know,
gadgets and features. So they have to cool those things down. There's more computing
power going on. So I think everything's just getting way more complicated. And in Toyota's case,
it seems like either their suppliers are screwing up with their QC or the things aren't being made
to a precise enough degree. And that's a that's a big problem for a company like Toyota. But I
think it just comes down to complication. But maybe there's a timeline aspect as well, like you
said. No, I think you hit the nail on the head, Zach. I think I think that makes a ton of sense.
It's interesting. I think back to like that 0809 2010 time period when direct injection was
really coming out. And a lot of different companies BMW came out with it in 09 Porsche,
in 09. And I remember, I think it was like 2012. I can't remember if I mentioned this
before on the podcast, but I bought used a BMW 535. So that was the kind of the first
generation of direct injected motor in a sedan. And I thought, dude, I bought it used. I'll never
forget out of Texas. And I bought it from a guy, it was like a completely loaded car. And it was
from one of those kind of like shady online dealers, like who like you ask questions and they
give you half answers, but like the price was good. And this was before I knew enough to walk
away when things like didn't quite add up. And so I got it on a truck and I got it here.
And I remember driving down the street and within the first 100 yards, of course,
you know, 535, I mean, this thing has all of God's power under the hood. Like you are good to go.
And the minute I stepped on it, it started bucking because it had, yeah, it had that first
generation was famous for on the backside of the valves getting all coped up. And so the air flow
coming in would get all disrupted and the computer would cut power. And so I remember taking it to,
it might have just been under, I can't remember if it was still under factory warranty or not.
I took it to the BMW dealership in New Hampshire and Stratum, New Hampshire. And I remember the
shop manager like was looking at it and he goes, I need to take your engine apart. I need to take
the intake off and I need to use walnuts to clean your intake. And I was like, I'm sorry,
you're going to use walnuts to clean my engine? And he's like, yeah, that's how BMW, because they
were just coming out with like, this is how we're going to fix the motors. And I had to do it twice
more over the course of like 25,000 miles. And I'll never forget that. So when, when I think of
directed ejection, I'm like, I don't have a good feeling in my heart about it, even though I know
it's a huge technological jump. That's, that's pretty wild. And it's funny that it came off of
like the E39, their E39 M5 had a similar issue, but because of a different reason.
Oh, really? Yeah, the walnuts, do they just like, are they essentially media blasting the back of
the valves with something that won't hurt? That's exactly what it is. It won't hurt the metal,
because it's softer than the metal that they're blasting. Like, yeah, that's, wow, that's cool.
It's clever. That's exactly right. Yeah, it is, it is kind of funny. But it was like one of the
and they were like, figuring it out as they went along. I was like their test engine.
And I'm like, boy, BMW quality's really gone downhill. The guy's like, yeah, I don't really
understand this, but we're going to do it anyways. So question for you, you had mentioned about
driving a lot of cars, getting in and out a lot of cars. What's it like getting into a million
dollar car or a, or a 2000000 dollar car and driving it? Do you, do you have to consciously
pretend like it's not worth what it is? Because God forbid something happens to it.
Like, do you have to like, put yourself in a different place to drive a car that
maybe you're, it's writing checks of your body can cash?
Yeah, yeah, you do. And some cars make that easier. Well, some cars are just easier to drive.
But yeah, I mean, effectively, I just try to forget
what the car costs. And like, if I'm doing a video review, I'm going to talk about the price of it.
But I usually try to save that for the end of the review and talk about, you know,
its attributes pros and cons first, partly for video, you know, algorithm reasons,
but also just because I think it's like, talk about the qualities of the thing before it,
you talk about how much it costs to get it.
But yeah, I think if I focused on the value too much, it would probably curb
how I drove the car in terms of like, you know, there's a certain speed and pace I'm comfortable
comfortable with on roads I know. And if I just worried the whole time, like, oh my God,
if I crashed this million dollar car, are they gonna sue me for all I have? And like, you know,
my wife and I will be homeless. And if I did that, then I wouldn't drive it in a way that
I find interesting, the audience finds interesting, that tells me anything like,
I would just be putting up and down, you know, this road and driving it really gently. And then
I think, I think I had to grow into that though, you know, you have to, in this job,
like it's been doing it for a long time. So you have to, you know, you can get jaded and that's
a different story. But I think it's just about compartmentalizing and going, all right, we're
just going to assess this car for what it is. So let's drive it the way we've driven other cars.
And then at the end, I'll think about the price. And then I can think about the whole,
is it worth it? Would I buy it over other things? You know, and whether it's a $3,000 car or a $2
million car. Yeah, just try to, you know, judge it on the content of its character,
so to speak, before you focus too much on just how much it cost to buy one.
What do you mean you have to be careful not to be jaded?
Well, it's hard to not get jaded because, you know, if I think back to how I felt about cars
when I was like 12, 20, even like 30 when this job was new, when I was new to this job,
any press car was the most amazing thing in the world. It was just so cool to be able to drive
the metal that I had read about for so long and stared at and watched videos on and like,
now I get to do that. And so back then, it was too easy for me to be too celebratory about a car.
Like, I mean, Matt and I were joking recently, I wrote a really good review of a Jaguar XK or
something, like a glowing thing because I was driving a shitty Miata at the time. So anything to
me seemed cool. Like I reviewed a Buick, a Buick, whatever. And I was like, wow, this thing's kind
of awesome. And in hindsight, like, no, it isn't. It's not exciting, it's just a car. And so now,
though, I'm on the other side where I get to drive this amazing stuff, carbon metal, some of it's
very expensive, some of it's not. And, you know, the human brain, because of hedonic adaptation,
will get used to stuff. So the same way someone needs hot or hot sauce if they use it all the time,
or insert whatever vice you want, like they're going to want to raise the stakes.
You know, now that I've driven, I don't know, a handful of cars that have 1000 horsepower and
like, a dozen or so that have between 700 and 1000, you kind of get used to it. And so I get a
little jaded to, oh, this is really fast. So is a lot of stuff. This is really expensive. So is a
lot of stuff. And I think that it's like, it's a bummer because sometimes the excitement, like
that little kid excitement goes away and really reinforces what Jay Leno said, which is if your
hobby becomes your job, it's no longer your hobby. But I think the pro, the good side of it is that
it allows me to, you know, assess these cars that have great value or great power. I think
a little more maturely and a little bit more, well, objectively and subjectively,
just with like a clear mind. And then just going, oh boy, gee, this is just like everything's amazing.
And like, well, if you do that, you're not doing a very good job of, you know,
right, you're not a very good car journalist.
What do you think the perfect horsepower is, like for a car? I mean, realistically,
for the driving you do in the canyons or 500, 500 crank, maybe 450.
Okay, I think I don't think anybody needs blah, blah, blah need like for canyons and for tracks
up because that's enough power that I think you could grow with it for a very long time.
And I'm talking about racetrack, like you could always extract more speed out of a car with
better technique. And then when your technique's perfect, you can adjust suspension. And when
your suspension's perfect, you can adjust tires like race car drivers are forever searching for
that perfect lap. If you're listening to this, odds are you're not a professional racing driver
and you haven't had that perfect lap. And so I think there's a lot of people out there,
especially now that power is so accessible with turbo charging and then adding power is so easy.
That it's so easy to go, oh, I bought a 911 turbo, it's got 612 horsepower,
but this shop down the street will chip it and now I have 720. And then if I do stage two,
I'll have 800. And I remember Matt and I years ago on the show called Tuned,
we were filming a guy who had a Nissan GTR that had like 900 horsepower.
And at the time that was a lot, but we were filming with him and we said, hey,
how long have you had this setup? And he had had it for like two months. He had had the 600
before that. And he's like, yeah, I'm already kind of bored of it. I might go for the Alpha 1200.
And I just, and I remember like, I very vividly hearing this guy going, oh,
oh, speed is boring. Like power gets boring. Once you launch your Lucid,
you know, Sapphire five times or your 911 Turbo S or whatever, like you're going to get bored
of that launch sensation. You can't ever use that power at the high speeds that it's capable of,
really, unless you live in Germany. So what are you going to do with it? So you're like,
you know, you're walking around with this giant horsepower number that you can't really explore.
And the faster car I drive, I noticed that, especially in the canyons, like, all right,
I can only use 40% of the throttle most of the time, or I can use 100% of the throttle for
like half a second. But if I have 400 horsepower, I can stay on that loud pedal for a lot longer.
I get to enjoy, you know, up shifts, down shifts more, like I get, I think you just get to use the
engine and experience like the breadth of the engine's abilities a lot more than if you have way
too much power. It's such a good point, Zach. We talk a lot about on my videos, we talk a lot about
how the base model is sometimes really the Pec being with my base Boxster that I have,
I have a base 997 Carrera. And you just you just play on that upper range and you can just use
all of the car. And you're not worried about getting super amounts of trouble. And your speeds
are just more approachable. So you can have time to react and you can get into more technical stuff.
And I just think that was a beautiful point you made, though, going back to the idea of
having a 500 horsepower car that you can continue to iterate and get better and you grow as a driver
instead of just the car just gets stronger and stronger. And that's just what sets your hair on
fire. With that being said, I know you guys talk a lot about the Fizz. In the past year or two,
can you pick like one car that you just got out of and you're like, that's a
freaking good car. I would want to buy that car. Maybe that isn't that maybe is kind of approachable
to some people. Every time I drive a GR 86, I strongly consider selling my car and getting one.
And I was at Sonoma a year ago for a big Toyota event and they had they had a GR Corolla every
year lined up. They had the new Supra stuff and then they had the GR 86. And so I drove
all of the fast things that Toyota makes right now, and all of which are like pretty
red enthusiast cars. But the 86 is the one I always loved and went back to. Supra's faster,
but it feels heavier, feels softer. Power's there. Yeah, but like the GR 86,
like the steering is where I think a lot of other heavier cars would like it to be, but they can't
be because of the weight, you know, just the weight, the lightness of it, but the feedback was
really good. The speed of it's really good. The shifter is a very good feeling shifter for the money.
You know, I think it just does a lot of things like that Miata's got famous for and some of the
things that the GR does even better. So that's something that I think that's just a fantastic
car. Packaging's good. I think it looks great. My seam around town, still seam around town.
I still turn and look at it when I see them and every day. It's not like,
it's not like, oh, there's the new thing. I go, oh, that's that's been out for three years, but
it's awesome. More expensive side power bump. Didn't they get, didn't they give a little power
finally? Yeah. So the version two, they fixed the torque hold up people as they would refer to it.
It just that, that engine, the old engine had this weird thing like right in the middle of,
you know, right in the mid range, you would lose like, it's like 30 pound feet of torque and then
it would come back up, but it was absolutely palpable when you were driving those things and
ruining an otherwise great car. So with the new engine, they fixed that and it's got a lot more
torque and it's a lot better power band and better than a Miata equal to a Miata. If you had to choose
between the two, I prefer it to the Miata. I'm not, I'm not really into convertibles.
I'd rather have a small back seat for backpacks for my dog. If I had to choose,
I think it looks better than the Miata and it does have a little bit more horsepower, which I like.
So a bunch of those attributes. I'm jealous of the Miata's reliability because, you know,
the Subaru opposed cylinder engine, not famous for lasting eons and eons. No, certainly not,
unfortunately. And that is a bummer. If you, it's funny, I feel like this podcast,
we've talked more non-Porsche than Porsche, but it's just fun to talk to a car guy who has your
depth and breadth of experience driving all these cars. But if you could, with your own money,
put a Porsche in your garage, what do you think it would be if you had to pick one?
Sure. I think I would get a Cayman GTS probably.
Which generation? Like an earlier one, like a 987 type of generation with the first GTS or
maybe that like early teens, 981, or would you go with the turbocharged, the 781 GTS?
No, because I want the 4-liter. Like that's what I would go for. So I think, like,
that's a car I look at often and also, you know, think about how I could maybe get one.
I like the GT4. It's just a little more track-oriented and I have to be honest with myself
that despite driving a car with track suspension, I don't really go to the track with my own cars.
So I think the GTS is just such a well-rounded car. I remember when I drove,
this was back when I worked for a production company that worked for Porsche,
but I drove the 25th anniversary edition, you know, Boxster. And I was like,
this is so good, it's so many things. The ride was great around town, but good enough in the
canyons, power is awesome, looks good. And I think the GTS just carries that same torch.
And like I said, I'm not that into convertibles. The Spyder is rad.
I think if I spent more time with one, maybe that could sway me a little bit,
but I don't want to copy Farah too much. So I'll go.
Yeah, yeah, when you have a buddy that has a car, you don't want to get the same one.
Yeah.
And we've got a bunch of friends that have those because they're really good cars,
but I'll go hard top.
People, people really do love them. I need to spend more time with them as well.
I've driven a couple and I can absolutely appreciate them for what they are, but I've
never driven them in anger because they've always been someone else's car. And frankly,
I didn't want to bend it. Do you, do you think that when it comes to the Spyder that you would get
tired of having, not doing it, but the thought process of putting the top up and top down,
depending on where you park it and the weather and stuff? Like with that, where are you?
It would. Yeah, I know me. Like I'm lazy in some ways. I'm not lazy in other ways.
And in that way, I'd go, eh, I don't really want to do it. And when I, I was a different person,
but I had a Miata, I think I put the top down twice.
You know, it's fun. Like it is fun as a cool experience, but if I had to just choose one car,
and I just realized that like I chose Cayman because it's a car I might actually be able to
afford versus like 9-11 ST, like that's the Porsche I'd put in my garage.
Yeah, sure. But not for $600,000.
Um, yeah. Yeah, I'd go, there's like our top car. I also like prefer the way the paint looks,
you know, just keep everything a uniform color. Sorry, what were you gonna say?
Oh, in terms of not being broken up by a convertible top, you mean?
It's very rare that I see a convertible top that I think enhances the looks of a car.
So, yeah.
It's no wonder that like, especially when you talk about Porsche, that the convertibles were
always more expensive when they were new, and they're always a discount to buy them used.
And I think for many, many generations, it's because the convertible just didn't look quite
like the coupe, even though they tried to mimic the lines the best they could. And it's really not
until the last 10, 15 years that they kind of did do it, where I feel like there's more,
like parody in terms of like, used car prices when it comes to the two of them. But I agree with
you 100%. And I think that's why everyone, the coupes go for all the money, more or less.
I do think the Porsche market is softening a little bit. Are you seeing that out in California?
Are you seeing some of the older stuff come down a little bit from the crazy price or things
still nuts? I'm hearing that. I don't think I'm not shopping ever. So, I think that keeps me away
from staring at the marketplace. But I've seen like Doug talk about it and other people like,
things are softening a little bit for who knows why there's so many different factors
at play when it comes to that kind of stuff. Like sometimes car prices, especially collector
car prices are totally resistant to what would seem like macroeconomic forces. And sometimes
they're totally correlated. So, yep, it depends on people's passions. That's the problem. When
you have a passion driven hobby, sometimes it goes counter to what the economy is doing. So,
I hear you, Zach, I have kept you on for an hour, my friend. It has been such an unbelievable pleasure
catching up with you again. You're such a good dude. You're so knowledgeable. You have a great
way of putting these concepts into kind of terms that even a dummy like me understands. So, thank
you for taking the time, man. And I hope to have you back on again real soon. Thank you. I mean,
I am also a dummy. So, I think I speak dummy. So, yeah. Thanks, man. It's really fun. And that was
a really fast hour, honestly. It felt like 10 minutes. So, test it. Yeah, absolutely, man.
Well, when you have a good conversation, that's just how it goes. So,
thank you again, Zach Klapp and everyone. Please check out Driver's Test on YouTube.
Do we have a new episode that's going to be coming out anytime soon?
No, we don't. I need to write season two and then produce season two and it takes a bit of time
with this one. So, there's five episodes up there. All the things I've shot are now up. So,
there's nothing in the can anymore. So, yeah, people want to go watch those.
If you'd like to give a share. Please do. Please go check it out. It is reminiscent of kind of a
British comedy show where the points don't matter and it's everything about how funny you can be
with nonsense answers, which is right up my alley. We just need you to write a Porsche episode.
So, we'll wait for that, Zach. Is Porsche not famous enough? Do you guys really need
more attention? Is that what's happening right now?
There are so many fucking Porsche events and books and things happening and I look,
they're great cars. I came around a long time ago, but I'm just giving you shit.
You're like, enough, enough. All I hear is another get-together, another Cars and Coffee,
another new special edition coming out and it's painted gold. I'm all done.
It's oil and ice. We're having cocktails and talking air-cooled cars. They're oil-cooled.
First of all, but to answer your question genuinely, I don't know if I want to do a
brand specific episode yet just because it would ostracize a lot of people that are into other
brands. So, I try to like, whoever the contestants are, I want to give each of them two questions
that's like, firmly in their wheelhouse. And a lot of it's like, whatever pops in my brain,
but I feel like there's probably been a Porsche question in every show, especially if the folks
drive them, have them, work on them, whatever it may be. So, I try to go around the whole car globe.
It's fascinating stuff, man. I absolutely love them and I feel like your brown suit has become
iconic that you wore in the earlier episodes. And so, thank you very much again for being
on the 11 After 9 Podcasts Act and we'll get you back real soon, okay?
Sure. Thanks for having me, dude. I really appreciate it.
Yeah, man. Absolutely.
About this episode
Restomods get a reality check as the hosts and Zach Klapman unpack what the term really means, where it came from in the 2010s, and why some ultra-custom Porsche builds “really can’t be called restomads.” The conversation moves from Singer vs Gunther Works design philosophies and million-dollar pricing, to what actually matters in driving feel—steering ratio, manual vs PDK, and usable horsepower. They also connect modern engine complexity to direct-injection valve deposits and wrap with Porsche culture and market talk.
This week I sat down with Zack Klapman, co-host of The Smoking Tire and the man behind the Hilarious car-nerd game show Driver's Test, to map the whole restomod world for anyone who's new to it. We get into what these cars actually are, what they cost, and whether a one and a half million dollar Porsche can possibly be worth the money.
From there we wander, the way these talks do, into the Lexus LFA, the Audi R8, hydraulic versus electric steering, why modern engines keep grenading, and the most useful thing Zack said all night: power gets boring, and the base model is usually the smarter buy. If you've heard me preach that on this channel, you'll like where this one goes.
Zack has driven the stuff most of us only get to read about, and he talks about it like a normal person, which is the whole point of this show.
Also: Check out The Smoking Tire Live Show with the amazing Christian Hand!!!
