The Best Car In The World! - DWA! Podcast Ep. #930
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57:12
Term
license plate
A license plate is the car’s ID number for the road. If someone covers it, police can’t read it, which can get you in trouble.
Company
Offtherecord.com
Offtherecord.com is a service that helps people deal with traffic tickets. They say they connect you with a lawyer to help you contest the citation.
Concept
If you don't win, you don't pay
This means you only pay if you win your case. If the ticket isn’t handled successfully, you don’t owe the fee.
Term
turbo
A turbocharger forces more air into the engine, which can increase power without making the engine physically larger. When people say “a turbo” in car talk, they usually mean a turbocharged variant designed for stronger performance.
Company
Singer
Singer Vehicle Design (often just called “Singer”) is a specialty company that builds modernized, restyled Porsche 911s with bespoke interiors and updated usability. In this segment, “the singer” is treated as the benchmark for combining classic driving feel with modern tech.
Concept
three pedals
“Three pedals” usually means a manual car. You use a clutch pedal to shift gears yourself, which many drivers find more fun.
Term
sound deadening
Sound deadening refers to materials added to reduce noise and vibration inside the cabin. It improves comfort by lowering road noise, wind noise, and some engine/drivetrain sounds.
Term
manual
Manual means you shift gears yourself using a clutch and gear stick. They’re saying that one downside is that this car doesn’t come with that kind of gearbox.
Car
Ferrari Ff
The Ferrari FF is a fast, luxury grand touring car made by Ferrari. It has four seats and uses all-wheel drive, which helps it put power down more effectively. It’s mentioned because it’s a unique Ferrari design compared with more traditional two-seat sports cars.
Concept
three pedal cars
They’re talking about a manual car—one where you have to use a clutch pedal. It’s the classic driving setup with three pedals.
Term
air conditioning
Air conditioning is what cools the inside of the car. They’re saying an older car would feel much better day-to-day if it had that.
Term
heating
Heating is how the car warms you up. They’re saying the car would be more comfortable if it warmed the cabin better.
Term
Car play
CarPlay lets you use your iPhone through the car’s screen, like maps and music. They’re saying a classic car would be even better with modern tech like that.
Concept
choose one car to do it all
They’re talking about picking one car that can cover everything you need—daily driving, family stuff, and still be fun sometimes. It’s basically about balancing comfort and practicality with performance.
Term
clutch pickup
On a manual car, the clutch has a spot where it grabs and the car starts moving. If that spot is smooth, the car feels easier to drive and less jerky.
Concept
wagon
A “wagon” (station wagon) is a body style that combines passenger-car comfort with a longer roofline and a larger cargo area behind the rear seats. In enthusiast talk, wagons are often praised because they can be both practical and fun—especially when paired with performance trims like AMG. The transcript also hints at how rear-seat space and cargo layout can affect usability.
Concept
fully analog
Fully analog means the car uses traditional-style controls and gauges instead of mostly screens. People like it because it can feel simpler and more “connected” while driving.
Term
headlights
They’re talking about the car’s headlights—both how they look and how they work. Small design choices in the lens can make a big difference.
Term
breaks
They’re talking about brakes. Bigger brakes can handle more heat, but if you don’t need maximum performance, smaller brakes can still work fine.
Company
Bring a Trailer
Bring a Trailer is a website where car enthusiasts buy and sell cars through auctions. If someone says a car is on Bring a Trailer, it usually means it’s the kind of car people are excited to inspect and bid on.
Company
Jeremy Clarkson
Jeremy Clarkson is a famous car reviewer and TV host. Here, they’re referencing his opinion to support the idea that the car wasn’t as exciting as expected.
Concept
kit car Gullwing
A “kit car Gullwing” is a replica or restomod-style build that uses the Gullwing concept as inspiration, often assembled from kits and using modern donor parts. The speaker’s point is that even with modern powertrains, the visual details (like fender shape) can look off if the proportions aren’t right.
Company
Gunther Werks
Gunther Werks is a company that takes older Porsche 911s and modifies them. They’re known for making big upgrades, and sometimes they change the car’s look more than some people like.
Term
tolerances
Tolerances are how precisely everything is made to fit together. Better tolerances usually mean the car feels more solid and the parts line up cleaner.
Brand
Alpina
Alpina is a German company that makes special BMWs and has a very recognizable style. “Alpina style” usually means the look is inspired by their designs.
Term
throttle response
Throttle response is how fast the car starts moving when you hit the gas. A car with good throttle response feels immediate and predictable.
Term
clutch pedal
The clutch pedal is what you press to change gears on a manual car. If a car doesn’t have one, it usually means it’s automatic (so shifting is handled for you).
Term
pop-up headlight things
Pop-up headlights are headlights that rise up from the front when you turn them on. They’re a signature “classic” design element on some older sports cars. The speaker is basically saying they like some styling but not all of it.
Term
frequency
Radio frequency is like the channel number. If your radio is on a different channel than the group, you might be able to listen but not transmit.
Term
rpm
RPM tells you how fast the engine is spinning. Saying it happens around 5700–5800 RPM means the problem shows up at a certain engine speed.
Term
power steering
Power steering makes the steering easier, mainly when you’re parking or turning slowly. Without it, the wheel can feel much heavier.
Term
fuel economy
Fuel economy is how far the car can go on a gallon of fuel. Higher fuel economy means you spend less money to drive the same distance.
LIVE
Where am I? And where are you?
Can you imagine his head being inside his little head?
Egocidal vehiculum.
There's no doubt. Correts are fast.
What about the people that put their fingers over the license plate?
Keiichi Tuchiya.
Those cars have such a cute little face, you know?
It's like a little salamander or something, you know?
I'm riding dirty right now.
Offtherecord.com.
Fight those tickets.
If you don't win, you don't pay.
All you have to do is download the app, snap a photo of your ticket,
answer a few questions, get matched to an experienced lawyer,
and you won't pay for the ticket.
Enter code awesome to get a nice discount.
Welcome to Driving While Awesome.
My name's Warren.
I'm Lane.
And I'm Art.
We were talking about this yesterday, but best overall one car solution.
The best vehicle in the world that has been produced to date.
In the whole world?
In the whole world, even other worlds, the universe.
Let's call it universe.
I don't think there's other cars in other places, other work.
So you've never seen Star Wars.
That's weird.
Never seen Star Wars?
Kind of crazy.
I thought we made the movie Star Wars.
We did.
So where's Lucas actually might be an alien, huh?
Absolutely.
Who's to say?
I mean, Alph is an alien.
This all came from the Bring a Trailer auction that ended yesterday,
not to timestamp this podcast.
But this was the Singer Turbo Silver Over Red, pretty much perfect car.
And I struggled to think of a better car.
But not a one car solution, right?
Why not?
Because you can't carry your family in it.
Yeah, you can.
It's got four seats.
Keep going.
What else you got?
Come on.
What else you got?
It's not a real family.
Well, let's take it to a daily overall like money, no object.
It doesn't matter about the value.
It's just as a car, what would you rather have than that?
Let me ask you that.
What's on your list?
What do you got?
Because I was thinking like, okay, what about a modern brand new Porsche, right?
A turbo or a GT three or whatever.
I wouldn't prefer that.
No, no, but I think it's all scenario based, right?
Or it's like location based, right?
Well, let's hear it.
It's also, I mean, I see we were checking off though, because yeah,
the singer's got all of the materials, the experience, the driving dynamics,
the sounds, the looks and three pedals and three pedals and it has modern
stereo and car play.
Sound deadening and stuff like that, right?
I mean, so yeah, there's also one key thing here, like you could go 911 ST,
but now you're, it's a much bigger car, right?
Exactly.
And I feel like with the singer, you're talking about a specific footprint.
Yep.
And so like it does check a lot of boxes and if like Ferrari had a singer
equivalent that was taking, you know, name a 456 M for example,
but making it all modern, like eliminating all the sticky buttons
and the weird computers that are 50 years old and just putting a hot motor in it,
putting a hot motor in it, putting the best brakes, great suspension,
like dialing it in as singer has to that point, you could make a case like that
for a 456 for me, it would be more, that's more like my style.
Yeah.
More usable daily.
A V12 howling V12 with carbon body that looks like a bigger back seat.
Yeah.
All those things like that's that's insane.
I think the one thing that if sorry as I'm thinking through this and I'm
speaking before, but it's like GT GTC for Luso, right?
Ferrari you have the FF before that you have the GTC for the slightly more
modernized updated version of that.
Like I would rather have that over the 456, but the GTC for does not have a
manual. That's like the one downside, but I think I like the size.
I like the looks. I like that it's got rear real rear seats, pretty big.
That's a big car. I don't think so.
I don't think so.
I want to look out and I'll look it up real quick.
You wait GTC for Luso. Oh, you're talking about the new GTC for like a 2018,
2019 Ferrari FF successor.
It's the one that came on a rally that Paul yeah blew the tire out accidentally.
Yeah, I don't yeah.
I wouldn't and I'm not, but it were you were talking for Ari.
So like I'm just saying we're talking.
You know if you're taking a car from the 80s or 90s and then making it as
perfect as you can. Yeah, it just doesn't exist.
It's pretty good, especially for like I would say I mean, especially being in
Santa Cruz, right? We're in a pretty like a good location for driving a pretty
vintage car and three pedal cars like, but that car could do everything.
Like I could drive it to LA tomorrow.
I could take it to the court.
I can pick up, you know, totally.
And I think we're, we're, but I think we're lucky where we are is what I'm saying.
Like if you lived in New York City or something or even the middle of LA,
maybe not the best car, right?
Like yeah, but, but where we are, we're pretty like, like we're,
we're able to have a car like that as a daily.
Like my 9 11, it's a total, it's a great daily.
So imagine that that would be just a better version of my car and say,
you know, like way better.
Like that would just be a way better version of what I already have.
And my car really is a great, it is a great daily.
Like I, I choose to drive it on most days and it's great on rainy days.
And yeah, I drove it, I drove it in the rain to LA not too long ago.
And it was actually really pleasurable experience driving it to LA in the rain.
It was like very nice.
And I think you can imagine if it had air conditioning and had better
heating and stuff, right?
Car play built in.
That doesn't look like anything's good, but yeah,
I think also I'm looking at it more from the perspective of if you had to
choose one car to do it all.
And that means fun drives, daily chilling, family, airport runs,
all that stuff, like what other car is there?
I don't, I wonder how mellow that thing actually is.
It's not that manic.
I mean, I've seen the, the, the TST review that he did that Matt,
and I think Zach drove it too.
And it's actually very sedate everything.
Like he was even talked about how nice the clutch pickup is and like,
it's not like, cause you know, you have the other super high strung
NA versions, right?
But like the turbo is that classic case of being very user friendly
and very comfortable, but also being extremely fast and you know,
but that's what I'm wondering.
I wondering if it's even like, like I would think it would be maybe even
like more comfortable than like the clutch would be even smoother than
my car and maybe you know, like is it even more comfortable?
Right?
Is it even, is it even dialing that stuff even more towards the luxurious side?
Right.
I mean the, I'm thinking of wagons.
That's where my mind goes right as competitors, right?
Like shooting breaks and wagons, because realistically your kids can only,
can fit in the back only up to a certain point, right?
And then eventually you're in a wagon and your fun drives.
Yeah.
So and what is it?
What wagon?
So it's yeah, I keep thinking of B five RS four.
So then you basically take that same concept and apply it to that, right?
So you have the best materials, the best, I'm saying what exists today
that you can buy at my argument.
Yeah.
He's not saying like you make your dream car.
My argument is if there was a singer Ferrari 456, that would be very high on
my list and it would probably be more in line with what I'd want or like a
five seventy five M right, right singer because Warren's on a Porsche guy.
He's more of a Ferrari.
I'm not as much of a Porsche guy.
However, I'm here on this podcast saying this is the perfect car because it
it's a perfect car.
You know what?
What I actually am in love with this trip.
I just recently started falling in love with a new car that I saw and I had to
look it up because I'm not really paying attention to modern Mercedes stuff.
The new E 53 AMG wagon.
Have you seen that?
Oh yeah.
It's so fucking cool.
Like it's it's an inline six hybrid and it's smaller than like the, you know,
that what we've seen traditionally, right?
It's like it's not take it's not even as big as like a Panamera and like that,
but it's like nice package.
It's very pretty.
It's like just beautifully and you take that over a singer.
I don't know.
I'm not taking it over a singer.
What's happening here?
Yeah.
It's a great package, but like yep.
My point is this is a modern fully analog incredibly dialed car that you could
do everything with.
Like you could take that on a rally.
You could take it to the airport.
You can go get groceries across the country.
It's not an automatic.
It's not heavy and bloated, but it looks fantastic.
They kept so many great details in that car.
I mean, we've talked about this before, but it's so good.
It's unbelievable.
Even the under trays for the engine and stuff are factory look.
They look factory.
Like just, you know, they're just matte black plastic.
They're not some weird carbon riveted stupid ass thing.
You know, it is there.
It is their greatest success.
Yeah.
Like from a design standpoint and from like a execution standpoint, like, and
like I was saying, I think the, the one, they still fucked up on the headlights.
Headlights are an easy thing.
Not having fluted.
Not.
I would just throw them away and put stock headlights in.
And then they've more meat.
I would love having a smaller wheel.
Yep.
More meat less heat.
And if that meant having a little smaller breaks, then let's go.
Exactly.
You know, it's like, I don't, I don't need that ultimate, ultimate.
I'm totally with you.
I would want like the, the bbs or molly basket weaves with like big rubber.
That would be dope.
Yeah.
Like that 80s.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Turbo.
Yeah.
Exactly.
So anyways, we don't talk about this too much, but we'd mention it yesterday.
I mean, why not talk about it?
And that car was so good.
So it's on bring a trailer.
It was at 1.3 million.
It was like a really good.
I don't know what silver that was like a GT silver ish.
Silver.
No, I thought it was more.
No, I thought it was pretty silver and then I had a dark, dark red, like a very
detailed, like, you know, as singer does dark, like medium dark red interior,
beautiful.
So the interior was so understated and so 1.6 or 1.8.
Oh, 1.8.
Wow.
Yeah.
It's like, yeah, I just look at them like that's a perfect vehicle and I
wish there were more options in like the Italians, you know, the, the,
the Ferraris of the world, the Alfa Romeo's of the world to this level.
But it's also, they kept like the, the bumperettes on the rear and they kept
that.
It's such a good job.
Like all the stuff, the, the like impact.
They kept the 80s ethos, but like modernized it.
That's what I love about that.
How they kept the accordions, but they kept the accordions, but didn't keep
the accordions.
It's so good.
And they left an aesthetic.
And they left like the, the rubber trim between the bumper and the body.
Like you could have easily just like that's something that people do, right?
They either people always take it away.
And when they do, it ruins the look.
It makes it all seem homogenous.
And so that car is just incredible.
The interior is perfect.
Like that's my also a great color combo for me.
So that's probably why, if that was like, you know, a green car on tan leather,
I'd be like, yeah, it's not perfect, but it's pretty damn close of what I would
want.
Yeah, the silver on red is amazing.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Things sick.
So I don't know.
Call it a million, dude.
I'll put it on discord.
So, so 1.8 million or a hundred grand for an E 53 wagon, E 53.
I'm not throwing budget into it.
I'm just saying the vehicle produce that exists.
What is the number one?
Yeah.
It's hard to beat.
I mean, because you go into McLaren stuff, you go or sorry McLaren, you go into
the Gordon Murray cars and now you're, you know, you're again more compromised,
right?
So, right?
Yeah.
This is that is this is a phenomenal package and that's why they're so valuable and
like that would be an argument.
Like, yeah, the T 25 or the T 30, right is the open one.
Did you guys watch the newest like like a Henry Metcalf driving the
newest like the T 50?
Yeah.
You watch the watch.
We went over to Clarkson's to Jeremy.
Yeah.
He was he didn't.
He was not very impressed with the car.
It was less so than I would was expecting.
He was very like, it's not very exciting.
The whole time he was like, yeah, it's just not that exciting with a car.
Yeah.
It's almost too good.
He seemed let down.
He seemed kind of let down the whole time.
Yeah.
And it's very extreme.
Like, well, at least the one he was driving was.
Yeah.
He said it was really loud, right?
Yeah.
He's like, this is a touring car?
Yeah.
Kind of like this is there.
Yeah.
Get away from it.
It's more of like a track day weapon or, you know, the rally.
But then he was saying it wasn't very exciting, right?
And, you know, for that car in particular, that's not a good daily driver.
You have to get into the middle of the car every time.
Yeah.
Exactly.
It's an awesome experience.
Compromise.
Yeah.
Exactly.
And I don't love the way it looks.
Like I'm definitely not as high on it as I was, you know, the F one.
So they definitely don't look special.
Huh?
They look.
Yeah.
It's just not a cohesive.
The tail is so weird and the headlights are a big shape.
I don't know.
It's all.
It's not like a car.
You're like, oh man, look at that.
Are we talking T 50 or T 33?
This is a T 50.
Oh yeah.
Yeah.
I'm not.
Yeah.
I don't like the rear on the theater at all.
Do you like the front either?
I mean, do you like it?
Yeah.
It's fine.
I prefer the T 33 overall and I don't need the center seating position.
Yeah.
I think I'm with you.
But then even then it's a, I think lane kind of called it out early on.
And I was like, geez, I guess you're kind of right.
It's sort of boring.
It just doesn't have a lot of body sculpting.
It's very simplistic and I like it for that.
It's like pure, but it also lacks like styling, which is weird.
Yeah.
It lacks any kind of drama, right?
Which I am, I feel like I, I tend to like the boring stuff too.
Me too.
I tend to like some more sedate, kind of like more kind of a mellowed, calm down
stuff.
Like I don't, I don't tend to go towards the like McLaren side of stuff where it
kind of goes over the top and stuff.
And he kind of was a little too restrained, it feels like.
Yeah.
Do you think you could ever make a car from like metal bumper days?
Like I'm thinking of like a E nine BMW or a Gullwing or something, but make it
modern and it still works as well.
In other words, like this, this car works well because it is a modern, like a
modern feeling vehicle.
This 900 Porsche, but every single time we've seen a Gullwing try to be modern
or some like kit car Gullwing thing that uses a, you know, an SL 55 engine uses a
new Mercedes engine and it's got weird like flared fenders and it just never
looks right.
Something about it, we were like, that is so good as that is.
And I think the same thing would be true for like Porsches really, but then
again, like the singer nailed the long hoods and it's just, it's just
interesting.
Like, I mean, I think it's possible.
It's just, we haven't seen it.
Like if you look at some of the mechatronic builds, it's more singer
as great.
It's very subtle.
It's just, it's, it's tightening tolerances up.
It's slimming things down more like a Rod Emory approach, right?
Where it's, it's all very, very minimalist and you keep the basic structure
and design and it's just more just kind of like updating little things.
And I can see that being the case.
Like if you look at this turbo interior, I have a, I have the trailer auction
right now and I'm looking at like your, it's all there.
It's just all of the materials are up or, you know, improved or, or there's
subtle little color changes in detail that, that just it's a, it's, it's an
evolution, but not like a, it's not bastardizing it, right?
Which is what we've seen.
It's like carbon fiber and like all this crazy shit.
I mean, when, and when you think about it, the singer is the only one
that's gotten there right too.
So like it's so hard to do because think about like, what's the other?
I think ring brothers have done a good job too.
Yeah.
They've done, they've done well.
Yeah, for the most part, but you know, they, they've got some missteps, but
how about like what's their names that do the Porsche as the Gunther works?
You know, it's like they always go too far, which is what all these other
companies tend to do with like these older metal bumper cars as well.
They were, they, they, they try and change it a little too much and you're
like, oh, it looks so stupid.
Like, you know, they put the, they put the rings around the gauges and do all
this kind of stuff.
That's funny.
I was, I was watching a video from the McGaraga thing I went to and they were
talking that Gunther works.
It was like the guys, they're like, oh, is this going out on the track?
They're like, it was built for the track.
Oh, for that track.
Remember? Yeah, it didn't make.
Oh, make it around track.
Yeah, so yeah, the like the Ring Brothers Grand National is what one that I was
thinking. I just pulled it up and we're in a similar situation.
I feel like that's it's like a lot of it's it's the essentials are there just
improving details here, lights, tolerances, cleaning things up and then as usual
the wheels are too big, right, because they're putting giant brakes on these
things, but but they've I feel like the Dejamasso that they did a while ago was
pretty dialed, but the Grand National in particular was insane like that.
The Dejamasso was weird though. Remember how the half and half interior with like
the weird materials and stuff while it was all Nike themed because it was like
Nike materials or something, so it had like half of it was bright yellow and
half of those are commision to like right.
It's like it's kind of yeah. They tend to like execution like they tend to
always kind of go a little over the top. I feel because they are customer
builds and the customer wants a little something. The customer always wants
something a little extra. Yeah, so I don't know what they would do if they
hadn't you know, and then they do a little more of that like they go a little
crazy. They tend to like yeah, I feel like they always push it a little bit
too far, but have a little flair to their yeah. Wait a minute. It's not ring
brothers. It's Dutch boys, Dutch boys. Yeah, I read a Dutch brothers, but
Dutch oven. Yeah, the interior same idea. The interior is like largely original
design wise, but then they like improved it with they just modernized it, but
this one is this so rad in the flares. Everything like the stance that
these are hard things to execute like getting the interiors right and still
making it feel modern, but not too modern is like yeah. It's a balance, but
I'm just thinking of those examples of like where they've managed to pull that
ultimate resto mod like re or what are they reimagination right? They call it
Singer does so and it's yeah. There's it's very, very difficult and like 300 SL
we haven't seen like what about a Batmobile you know E9 Batmobile done
to like carbon body all the stuff all the same stuff right like it's so hard.
It's so hard. You know where they always go wrong with cars like that is like
they they'll end up you know where the has the aluminum trim down the side or
the anodized trim they'll do that in carbon right or like yeah or black and
it's like well that it's also on like the craziest wheels and wheel entire
package like 21 inch 21 inch Alpina style wheels that I feel like rubber
something like that you almost want to go nickel right instead of like a
composite for like the trim right you like it's a different look slightly but
it's still sort of true to the original which is what singer did right yeah
yeah E 30s or we've been talking about it for years I think they can you know
Fox bodies are also like right for that I think there's a big opportunity there
and yeah especially Fox bodies because they're so crappy like you know stock
but like you know taking that and just improving all the materials and you
know the gauges and all of those details I feel like the thing is we talked
about this before too it's like it basically costs the same amount of money
to like do a Fox body as it does anything else so you know short of like
maybe the engines a little cheaper or something but it basically costs the same
amount to sell that car as it does the singer but you're selling a Fox body
right like right for you're going to be selling a Fox body for 600 grand
and that's a harder sell right to find like four customers in Dubai I think
it's I think the market is there yeah for sure it's just like it's it's all
about because it's so much it's more than just the objective like you know
performance right it's like it there it's the nostalgia it's the emotional
component that's very valuable but you can't just sell for is the thing if
you're going to really do it like singers done it it's like you're redoing
everything I know it's not just recovering a stock dash it's like making sure
those tolerances are perfect and stuff that's what singers done done they've
gone to that next level dude it's like it's not just recovering a stock dash
it's like making sure that dash matches up with that door panel perfect it's
like redoing everything to make sure it fits perfect and better than the same
but still looking the same but yeah that way better than it ever was from the
factory and it's almost like they've like reimagined them it's almost you know
what I mean but hey yeah so let me throw this such a can we start with the
formula here so perfect car overall does it have to have four seats I'm going to
say yes I would say yes I mean if it's your only one solution one car so that
eliminates a lot and I don't know if everyone feels the same way but that
eliminates like so many cars right like that we we've lusted over the years
like you know at 40s and and so on
career GT's and whatnot they're they're gone because that is very compromising
so you start to like whittle this down and you know some people might say they
want all-wheel drive in their perfect car you could do a four-wheel drive version
of this singer like they I'm sure if you commissioned one they're going to do a
C4S or a 993 turbo base thing or I don't know what they do for four-wheel drive
yeah I mean it's I don't yeah I mean I guess if you live in Scandinavia or
something but like for where we are it's like it's completely unnecessary
only Scandinavia that's what you're giving only there only yeah you have to
ask if you're an aspect only if you're Santa Claus yeah if you're in if you're
an aspen you just get snow tires for the winter but if you're in Scandinavia you
you need you need the full the full deal I do by the way I just over the weekend
I went to this this brunch thing and there was a 997.2
GTS but it was a Carrera 4 and I was like wait a minute like there was a Carrera
4 GTS like how did I not know that and first of all why like that's why I was
thinking like it's like Scandinavia Scandinavia right but it's like that is
like doesn't make any sense like in my mind but yeah I guess you know let me ask
you this would you rather have this singer or a can up a restored nine five
nine
I think I'd have a better experience with the singer I agree yeah it's also the
because doesn't this have like a because we're talking like as a solo as just
having a car right and doing everything with it the singer is I think a better
tool for that yes well yeah I think I would love to drive both and see what
they what the experience is like but I have a feeling that because they didn't
it wasn't like a Williams Cosworth collab on these engines yes just imagining
like throttle response and it's all up and like all of those details this and
it's a quad cam or it's a yeah so it's yeah it's a four cam engine also rear
wheel drive yeah all of those I think that all adds up to a better more
enjoyable experience but I feel like the I'm a bit lighter yeah what about yeah
Audi Sport Quattro yeah for sure just what like as is yeah because now I mean
talk about a singer that would be an awesome believable like that's like like
if you're like looking at like the ultimate like put like sell me a
million and a half dollar car like I know Sport Quattro or you know or just
more like a long wheelbase quattro because they're actually better looking
yeah yeah I know there's a few cars like that like even a golf rally if it was
singer eyes would just be unbelievable it's like insane yeah all the stuff I'm
just thinking of that profile shot of a sport quattro it's like a clown car so
yeah it's a stuffy boy I think they look better in person but yeah they're
yeah they're very cool anyhow but you know this is one of those things it's
so many other cars that are compromised that are you know way people I'm sure
there's answers to this question that are ridiculous you're like Sharon you know
Bugatti like well yeah but that's a two-seater drive it up highway nine it's
it's worthless it's worth exactly I'm not kind of you're in first gear the whole
time it's like no but imagine driving stage road or something like yeah it's
around here it's like I would yeah but on top of that like there's no way no
clutch pedal no backseat I mean there's all these other things you know but it
is yeah like there's other things right it depends on what you value and I feel
like not necessarily these modern supercars but like there's like a vehicle
purchase is like so emotional right like besides the fact that what you appreciate
and applying it to your driving style and all that but also like you know I'm
sure there's you know some of our listeners here who are like like you know
that there's this they'd still want that grand sport you know whatever in 1965
Corvette or whatever right because of whatever that thing has to offer the way
it sounds the way it looks the way it smells and over this like more quote
unquote sterile more polished experience right like so I can see that being the
case I mean it's not necessarily what I want but yeah I can see something going
right like it's modern enough and it's beautiful and and but I just don't think
that's like thinking about it yeah all the the data points here I mean I also
like like getting in an old 911 after getting in mine and has a it's a fun
thing right it has a totally different vibe to it and it's like yeah it has a
neat like has a lightness that my car doesn't have you know and this turbo
wouldn't have either so yeah I can understand that or getting in the old
Alfa Romeo it's like super light and yeah I mean yeah Alphalox right Alphalox
that's the thing is like you can go full Alphalox and like and again if there's
that emotional connection with Alfa like you might may rather have that you
rather than what the Porsche experience is but I would say like Alphalox doesn't
make there there's so much more high strong and and loud and intense which
is what they're selling you know you want an emotional experience every time you
drive it yeah they're not selling an insulated like a insulated beautiful
interior like yeah singer right exactly or just a car that you could drive you
know on the highway without really thinking much of it that Alphalox would
be like an ex you'd have to be on so you'd be hearing the fucking diff and
every other thing going on yeah do you are so I was trying to find a quoted
weight for the turbo obviously spec depends you know changes the
dramatically right because materials and leathers and all that but yeah they do
quote a number guess what the number is approximately so there's a singers
turbo the one that the one that's all the beauty yeah I would say like three
thousand pounds yeah that's where I was going to be at I would I wanted to say
lower but that seems unrealistic with that setup so the average weight is
anticipated to be around thirteen hundred depending on specification but you
can go full lightweight to drop it below twelve hundred kilograms which is you
know what is that twenty seven hundred pounds just like that what's thirteen
hundred twenty nine hundred pounds twenty eight sixty six oh that's great
so that's the same way as my car yeah a couple more like the good see it like
tombstones and stuff because that's the thing when you get into the lightweight
it gives you like you're getting like shitty buckets you're getting tinier
right that's the thing and you can hear the gravel under the car and like exactly
yeah you don't want that with that car yeah so yeah twenty six forty at twelve
hundred pounds another sad thing about this car is it was built in December
twenty twenty four by singer it has eight hundred and ninety seven miles on it so
the perfect car never driven just just put it in the garage and then sell it for
a profit I guess like what did this thing cost brand new it couldn't have been
yeah like one point eight I thought these are all about your you're buying time
you're buying you're buying into your back time as well access yeah because it's
what is the weight three years four years for these cars no no I guess I'm saying
from the original person who built it like what why you tell right right keep
saying they were like I think they were probably what around a million when
they were least at least I would say closer one five and as usual I am I
would be willing to bet a lot of money that the person who owned this car owns
maybe five to six other cars that are around the same value of course I mean
this is just yeah and they probably have five other singers to or three other
singers or whatever you know I think I remember hearing some stat about singers
like they've sold I forget what the number is seven hundred cars and they
have two hundred and twenty customers or so you know something like that yeah
you know it's cool about this car too it's got black wood trim which it looks
like leather in the photos which is such an interesting choice and this car is
awesome but yeah there's just some details here that are never really seen
before but yeah they they've decided to let it go after eight hundred miles
they've had their fun with it yeah yeah they've had their fun and all that said
I'm sure you could build you can get singer to build you a motor however you
want to characteristic wise in terms of torque and delivery and revveness and
blah blah blah you would still want to go turbo over and a I really like that
nine six four turbo we drove that was Gens the other you and I think once you
learn you know you kind of like experience it and figure it out it's
really a fun toy yeah well also elevation right if it's your only car and you're
gonna go across country I'm an aspen of course as been your snow tires I also
really like the design of the turbo I think they've just nailed yeah the rock
the everything about it the right all the pieces yeah I mean that's that's the
thing right is like that one of my favorite cars of all time is is the you
have the nine six four what is it the Carrera RS club sport or whatever the
hell it's called that one did you love that car yeah that's a nine six four
turbo body with a high strung three point eight liter NA motor so it's like
you got and it's club sport options so it's like you know half cage like super
lightweight you know all that stuff so you get the looks but you but you have
the NA motor I like both I like NA and turbos but I'm just curious to know what
you guys yeah I like this one yeah I was gonna say that I don't like the DLS the
the modern singer product that they're putting out is not my taste at all I've
seen it multiple times like almost all of it is too overwrought but that's so yeah
I've landed on this one is the yeah I'm not that in the DLS I'm actually not into
like the classic one either now now what I see I'm kind of like I'm just kind of
indifferent to them you know like they're just there it's it's too close to
like a classic 9-11 I feel like I just want a classic 9-11 at that point it's
too much like a retro thing yeah but I do feel like part of me you know they
brought out that Carrera now which is like kind of has a lot of these
styling characteristics still like the turbo so much more because for some reason
the Carrera has side scoops like holes which is like why so then it has
those like pop-up headlight things those rally lights so it has some things I
don't really like but I do think I do prefer like NA power so but yeah the
turbo I just think looks so good it looks incredible yeah what about a roof
equivalent that's a good question I mean I think roof has gone pretty far modern
for my tastes and looking at the interiors and stuff it just yeah I don't
I'm again these are all like commissioned cars so you can get them built how you
want and that's I'm looking at cars that already exist so it's hard to say but
we've seen all the modern roofs in person multiple times and they're very
impressive and I'm sure they drive amazing but firm for my bucks I think I'm
still on this singer singer tip because you really like the new you'd like the
new yellowbird art you always say like how awesome yeah I really like it but
it's like massive wheels modern lighting it's also not even a port it's like
they've done so much to that thing it's like not even a Porsche right it's like
totally different dimensions and everything right yep full like modern
chassis and everything yeah it's really cool but I do love the details of the
singer compared to that right yeah I think yeah because like the CTR anniversary
which is like it's got like the rear scoops and like a lot of the details that
throw back to that to the original yellowbird but yeah I agree it's like
it's I mean I would in an ideal world I would want both right but yeah right
and you probably would if you're going to go with one I think aesthetically I
still prefer the the singer turbo yeah yeah how are you guys doing for rally
prep oh rally prep not not great but I also don't need much I guess I could
say okay so I need to tire pressure you know it's funny as I was thinking about
this other night I'm like these damn radios we bought these stupid bow fang
radios and yeah for whatever reason the frequency that Matt hushy pushy
decided to like broadcast to the whole group these radios like didn't work on
and I don't know what the trick is so no only one there's something yeah like
or it could I could hear but I got all the other ones to work I could hear in
but I couldn't talk out and so I need to like figure that out because that's
really annoying like the radios could talk to each other the three we had or
whatever number but I couldn't talk to the group which is the whole freaking
point yeah art and I were just talking yesterday briefly about some route stuff
and then the drives to the rally the rally to the rally which is always fun
and art has a good plan for the Santa Barbara meetup crew so if you're
listening and coming from Southern California and you want to come up
Thursday stay Thursday night before the rally starts on Friday there'll be a
Santa Barbara crew and there'll be a Santa Cruz crew and the Santa Cruz crew
will drive down through Monterey and and that direction so we can kind of pick
people up along the way if needed when we get there we're going to fight I think
that's the best is we the other jets and the sharks yeah yeah so she's and the
repies or we're definitely the sashes down here I don't know yeah so that's
kind of cool I like that as an option though because it'll be a fun hang to
even get to the hang right yeah well to answer your question I do want to
change my front brake pads I really don't like the pads that I came with the
kit from I have a Brembo or not Brembo sorry a Wilwood six piston set up
front and they're just they have no bite I really don't like pads like this like
they're just like I don't know like they have like regardless of how much pressure
you apply they're just like that they have very like shitty mod modulation and
also like I don't like them the bite so I'm going to go with with a hawk pad
okay hawk DTC 30 to us so up front I have hawk HP pluses in the back which do
not squeal how squealy Dan or your front's going to be what's that how
squealy Dan are you going to be up front I got to know we'll see I'm going to do
all my stuff and then we'll see what happens you I'm going to pull up to you
and just the best you always say like they don't squeak I mean the only squeak
when they're cold or when you're when you're when you're in front of warren
or it's slow mine only stops but no stethoscope mine would only squeak when I
did like light application of brakes I'm like well that's like most of my daily
driving but if you're like once they're hot and you're doing your thing and
they're fine but yeah we'll see I haven't tried DTC 30s before I've but
basically I'm kind of what's the word I'm looking for I am limited I guess that
is the word by the pads dimension and size right because these will woods are a
certain shape so yeah I was looking at what the what the options are and I'm
going to I don't want to go with will woods because I don't like the ones that
are on there and I was I read a ton about like the other options that would be
competitors to the ones that I'm about to source and people are not super stoked
on them either for similar reasons so I think that it's just a different type of
application a lot of the willwood stuff is like an endurance pads and they're
like circle track racing and you know it's just totally different so I'm going
to try those out and then I also have some NVH shit that I want to sort out
there's an issue now where you know I mentioned a while ago that I had the
exhaust sort of rehung with all new new mounts and the exhaust and the engine now
have some slack so they move and the header on one of the runners on harder
left hand turns it hits the the lower control arm and so it's super
buzzy and nasty so I was looking at a couple of options to fix that so I'm
going to try to like sort that out ahead of that and outside of that it's just
really just you know kind of do the standard fluid change stuff and get it
ready to roll I don't need a ton really what about you Lane I think I'm pretty
close to dialed I just got new front tires this last week I don't know if you
saw them at Morning Waters last week but they were they were down to like the
the the the really the other layer of rubber basically so they were really bad
so yeah I got some new front tires so those are good so I've been going through
two sets of fronts for every no I've been going through two sets of rears for
every front so I think the rears have been lasting like 4,000 miles and then
the front's last 8,000 I guess around dang what are you ruck you're still
Continentals yeah I was thinking if I can maybe maybe I will try and get some
retestines for the next maybe if we can get a hook up or stuff oh yeah we can
maybe the next full set give me this one I just did the fronts you know yeah
well yeah I'm curious too because obviously there's the there's feel and
there's all that stuff but I'm curious about longevity too right like I'd be
good yeah exactly there's grip and all that but I'm just curious to see well
along those last yeah so yeah I did really I did I'm going through I'm pretty
good I mean I do have pretty aggressive alignment and I did get an alignment as
well so right it was it was a little bit it was out of spec and then and dude it
was like it definitely meant it definitely improved the feel the turn and
feels a lot better feels a lot sharper car feels a lot lighter up front because
I took out a little bit of caster I think I had like seven and a half almost eight
degrees and now it's like six and a half so it feels a little lighter up front
which is kind of nice so yeah it feels it just feels yeah feels good nice so
and it was it was wearing a little uneven too like my right I think it was my
I want to say I figured it was my right or left tire like the outside edge on one
of them was like probably twice as much wear as the other side so hey get all
those oval track rallies but the outside edge is like where it really wears just
because you know in them corners dog you know you know how it is but yeah I went
on a drive last week and I was like you like my tires were pretty done and you're
you forget like these I mean nine all cars but 9-11's to you really you have to
rely on that front end and without the front end grip it's like a little tricky
you really yeah it's a little it's kind of it's kind of sketch yeah yeah but I
think I'm pretty much there I have a little bit of a little hesitation like
it around right before redline it kind of like wants to break up still even though
we it breaks up a tiny bit sometimes like it's not all the time it's like
depends on what temperature the car is at so that's something kind of dealing
with it's not it's not a huge deal I don't know what it is maybe a reference
sensor or something so spark plugs maybe have you done spark plugs or say did spark
plugs yeah did just have the distributor rebuild yeah could be yeah I don't know
so that's something but it's not I mean it's not gnarly but it's just kind of like
you know it's one of those kind of like a thing that's happening around 50
5800 or something 5700 rpm yeah dude yeah I was um I started looking at remember
like I was considering doing like electric power steering on this thing
like just for around town stuff because you can dial it you know you can turn it
off it's like the options right now in the market they have like Rio stats so you
can just okay just give me a little bit of assist around town and then you can just
shut it off like after you know 25 30 miles an hour or whatever because yeah
I find myself like I want to drive this car a lot more now like and I have been
and it's just annoying you know like parking and parallel parking and pulling
into this lots and stuff and that would be a simple solution but I have been
reading that it really really affects like steering feel but like if I'm
turning it off it's technically not dampening anything so I think it'll be
alright and I was just looking at the options 2002 yes he does yeah I remember
driving I thought it felt pretty good yeah I I'm like I think like yeah having
I'm a fan of power steering I think I I remember driving 944s without power
steering and then driving them with and like without they feel heavy and kind of
it's just a lot of work and then totally with it just feels like a way more
nimble car and yeah just you know it just feels like you can do a lot more
with it and you have a lot more control where you're not having to muscle it you
know you can yeah yeah more realistic it's just more usable dude it's like
right it's it's like it's like work to drive drive hard and or even and and around town
right that's like annoying when you well that's why I'm annoyed yeah like the
driving at speed is it's it's the steering lightens up significantly it's
like it's almost imperceptible like it's you you see or you feel it on really
tight hairpin stuff like Gibraltar like you'll feel it like on really really
tight stuff but otherwise yeah it's like when you're moving it's it's not that
big of a deal but like yeah just as a usable car just as you're describing
like that's where I'm kind of like I like this is frustrating because I want I
like to drive it as much as possible right it's always fun to pick up the kids
in and all that shit but like three point just thinking like that's something
that I'd want to do I don't know if I'll be able to squeeze it in like I was
looking at DIYing it but like you have to pull the entire steering column out
and like all this other stuff and it's like I mean I've done that in the past
but it's just you know it's kind of annoying work you know it's really shitty
work yeah so I don't know I was gonna see if like I don't know I realistically
I'm not gonna take it up to be lying you know like it would be someone like
Schneider Auto House in town and seeing if they can pull it off for me like and
that would be of interest because the the cheapest option is around like it's
like 1300 bucks with no core exchange and then you would have to send the core
afterwards plus labor I mean I don't know that's gonna be probably like eight
hours or something so it's banky and then you know to do the standard power
steering option you're looking at about 800 bucks you know for that package
plus labor so it's not that big of a difference you know because I mean this
is obviously you need a you know it's a high-strung setup you know like you know
the the stock E30's you know power steering is probably not gonna be stoked
to be revving to eight grand regularly so and I mean I could go hydraulic but I
just love the cleanliness and like aesthetically and also just from the
fluids and all the shit like you know to the E-pass setup sounds really cool and
I love the fact that I kept full control right so I can dial it in exactly like
maybe I'll always have a little bit of assist right and that's sufficient for
all the time so I'm pretty excited about that idea I just like was deterred by the
the fuel thing so I've been kind of going back and forth on it it's the only
other thing right now on my list that immediately the other list is like the
deeper deeper dive shit it's like I have you know I don't want to respray my car
but like I definitely want to fix that little rusty fender on the bottom you
know it's like super low-key subtle stuff but I mean like that needs to be done
I'm not gonna do that before the rally you know I still I need to get my
hot my fog lights upgraded I was also looking at ducting you can do better
break ducting from the fog light holes instead of using them as fog lights I
never use fog lights so that might be a thing but it's like little tweaks like
that and then also I had mentioned the oh I did one thing I had mentioned how
especially on the overrun and when you're off when the transmission isn't
loaded you do get really gnarly bearing noise like you can look this up it's
called the they call it the get drag rattle the get track rattle which is a
pretty common thing on all e30s and and all get tracks really especially 28s do
it too but then with this motor because of the way the way it's balanced or not
it's unlike an inline six it makes it even worse right so you get this nasty
like marbles and a can noise so I was reading about you know different fluid
combinations and all that and so I did that I did and it's an MTL with a heavy
I think it was 85 140 gear oil and it helped it definitely made it quieter it's
still there but it's way better so that's something and I it's it's all it's
almost gone when the car is cold so you can tell the fluid does make a difference
like we're just driving around for the first like 10 15 minutes you can barely
hear it and then once the cars once it's all warmed up like it comes back but
it's definitely dampened and so I was happy to do to fix that because it's
something that especially when you guys drive it like you'll see it's like it's
it's not not pleasant yeah well you know modified car stuff it's all good all
good in the hood well trivia time
think so thanks so time do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do
do this trivia comes to via the internet
you guys heard of the internet you guys use that at all for the interwebs
yes someone did a cost analysis that did the math on gas truck versus diesel
truck now that diesel is quite expensive and how many miles it takes to recover
the premium so diesel gets a little bit better mpgs but the trucks are more
expensive by ten thousand dollars or something so how many miles until you
realize your investment
on with today's gas prices yeah like in the old days it was hybrid versus gas
like you could take a you know Toyota Corolla versus a Prius Prius is quite a
bit more to purchase and it would take like six or seven years before you realize
your investment right now this is a weird exercise because the diesel trucks are
better work trucks like to have more torque and they're heavier duty but
that's this isn't even taken into account maintenance or that's where I was going
to go because service ability to really these things are going to be like you
know they're they're more reliable and they probably I imagine the intervals
are probably longer right like to do all this stuff yeah everything's bigger
but purely on the fuel yep dude when I bought here's a little when I bought my
Jetta diesel back in 2010 you know I bought it yeah because gas prices were
really high and diesel was like diesel was two dollars less a gallon dude right
yeah now it's like two dollars more yeah yeah isn't that crazy though it's like
totally and within my ownership to it leveled up okay at some point like towards
the end I own the car for seven seven years or something like that so six years
whatever but yeah not only was it cheaper and you got better fuel economy yeah I
got a great killer gas mileage yeah well also because the diesel guy thing
because they were cheating the system but yeah but I did a fun fact I don't
know if you saw I spent a hundred and forty dollars the pump the other day
ooh no I didn't that's nice yeah hundred thirty hundred thirty five I think that's
like my truck the nine eleven yeah it's not good right now it is really bad we
were in San Diego last week and I saw like six sixty a gallon but it's over
that now I mean I wonder what that one spot and big sir that's always like
well the gorda yeah it was a KSBW went down there into a little store it was
it was ten dollars a gallon but there you go it's got to be more than that now
there's another spot in Marin too have you seen that one that's it's not in
South Solido proper I think it's right outside it's it's always insane yeah I
wonder what that's right fifteen right now alright so how many miles till you
you're twenty seventeen Ford super duty diesel is you've you've made it so I'm
going to do the math but I'm going to say a hundred thousand dang that's a lot
because I mean you're thinking yeah like what is the premium for a diesel over a
gas it's going to be what like ten grand ten grand yeah
damn hundred or a thousand probably more than a hundred thousand dude I can't tell
I can't read Warren's face right now at all what do you got but now with the
premium it's fucked right so by the way no one's buying a diesel pickup to like
have better gas mileage exactly exactly anyone who's doing spreadsheets like this
should just all right an electric I'm gonna do this is the people that buy
purchases I'm good just because I'm clueless I'm gonna I'm gonna fuck with
Lane and I'm gonna go prices right style 101 Bob 101 okay prices right he prices
righted you five hundred and twenty thousand miles wow and if you factor in
like the the def you know the emissions the diesel emissions fluid and all that
stuff it's probably north of 750,000 miles oh because you have to put the
urea and stuff in huh that's a whole other consumable you know chemical so
wait what is the miles per gallon difference like on average between a
you know a Chevy 13 versus 18 you know it's like five MPG or something like
that difference huh okay yeah but and I think maybe it's even more it
depends what you're doing with it right so if you load down a gas truck I mean
it probably drops they're gonna get way worse right so I don't know there's a
lot of factors here and you know people right off the bat are saying well it's
not the reason you buy a truck like that you're buying it for work and diesel
trucks are just heavier duty because they have all that torque and now you're
buying it because you can roll coal warring well that's the thing that goes
when you go off the line anyways I don't know this is a you know take this
with a grain of salt but that was interesting to see there's no like
basically there's no justifying the fuel economy savings it's that's crazy dude
yep cray cray am dude where is all the thanks trump stickers at the gas pumps
I don't see them I think they're coming remember there was all like the thanks
spot biden I did that oh yeah I did that that's right it was like extra fifty
cents a gallon I think we're double we're double now yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah
don't worry about that everything's gonna be great alright that's podcast see you
next time guys hey support the podcast hey go patreon.com forward slash driving
well awesome give us a holler and if you're not feeling it go ahead and rate
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all right we'll see you next time
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About this episode
The crew debates what “one car solution” really means, landing on the Singer Turbo Silver Over Red as the closest thing to a perfect all-purpose machine—four seats, analog feel, modern comfort, and huge usability without feeling manic. They compare it to other dream picks (Porsche 911 variants, Ferrari FF/GTC4Lusso, wagons like the E 53 AMG), and discuss why true resto-mods succeed when they evolve details without going overboard. The rest of the show shifts to rally prep, brake-pad swaps, E30 maintenance/gear-noise fixes, and a quick diesel-vs-gas fuel-cost math rant.
Original notes
On this episode of the DWA! Podcast we talk about the Singer Turbo, Rally Prep, and more.
Driving While Awesome
Lane Skelton, Warren Madsen, Art Cervantes
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57:12