The Real Reason I Sold My Supra For a 4Runner

All right, welcome back to the Martini Works podcast.

If you're listening, happy Friday.

We're glad to have you.

I'm Dakota, and I'm here with Gels.

And Lars.

He's back.

We're going to say special guest, Lars.

But he's not really a guest anymore,

and now Alex is a special guest, so welcome back, Lars.

Thank you.

I like to think of it more as a mutiny at this point.

Alex is out.

I'm over throwing him.

We overthrew the government.

But anyways, we have a lot of stuff coming up here.

And we're kind of getting in crunch time for certain things.

Slammed enough.

Severeville, Ellenberg, whatever you want to call it.

More weeks.

Yeah, it's coming up quick.

I wish there was things I could tell you guys,

because there's stuff sitting just feet away.

Just feet.

That is mind-blowing.

And again, if you guys want to guess what cars we're

bringing, I think we're going to have two in the booth.

Two in the booth.

Two cars in the booth.

If you can guess both of them,

I will give you a free wheel slap on your belly.

I've seen a wheel slap on these wheels.

That would hurt.

It's going to hurt, but you'll have a good time.

I don't think there's any way that you guys can guess.

So I think the one maybe, the other one,

there is no way in hell.

I don't see how.

Yeah, there's literally.

Oh, true.

You're right.

One definitely, because it's already been leaked.

Yeah.

I suppose.

Yeah, it has been shown, not only here by accident,

but Alex has announced.

Especially by the time this goes live.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

So yeah, two cars really excited.

Yeah, that's second one.

Lars, you actually just went and got it this weekend.

I wish I could share it more.

But I am exceptionally stoked about this one.

It's official.

Like I was hesitant to say anything,

because I didn't even know if it was truly really going

to happen.

But now that it's here and I can see it and I've touched

it, it's like, holy shit, this is real.

And I'm so excited to show you guys.

But I've never heard of one of these things before.

I've never seen one of these things before.

But I tell you what, it's fucking sick.

It's so cool.

It's unreal.

I'm so excited that it's here.

Hopefully we don't get in trouble.

Anyways, before we get to the main topic of the podcast,

I wanted to check in with you guys and just see what you're

up to outside of work.

What's going on?

What hobbies are you into?

What have you been up to lately?

Any good games you've been playing?

Ooh.

What's going on?

Lars, how about you?

Me?

Outside of trying to get the M3 running, which I think.

I don't remember if we updated this last time last year.

Yeah, it's been a game.

We've officially given up on that for the rest of the year.

E-DLC.

Yeah.

But no, outside of that, Escape from Tarkov.

It was me by the balls right now.

Damn.

I've been putting a lot of hours into that one.

I'm going to sound like a total nerd.

Is that game like officially out,

or is it still in some sort of beta mode?

It's technically still in beta.

I've been hearing about this game for,

I shit you not, 10 years.

I bought it in 2020, I think it was.

That's crazy.

And it's still in beta, yeah.

But no, it's supposed to be, apparently,

it'll come out officially for 1.0 in a couple months here.

Really?

OK.

It's very exciting stuff.

And then.

Is there supposed to be a big change with that?

Yeah, there'll be another big wipe.

So in Tarkov, you don't play.

It's a constantly progressing game

where it's an extraction shooter, right?

So you go in, kill your other players,

and then you take their stuff out.

And every so often, every five, six months or so,

they wipe the whole game, so you lose all your progress.

But it's part of the fun.

That sounds horrible.

Part of the fun, believe it or not.

You just delete your save file after.

Oh my god.

Yeah, yeah, very much.

And then you do it all over again.

But it's fun because you get to use the lesser equipment.

Kind of like prestigeing Call of Duty.

Right, yeah, exactly.

Way more intense.

Call of Duty's ruined.

Yeah, it's over.

Battlefield, though.

Very soon.

Well, Battlefield's fine.

Are you guys playing that?

Yeah, we played the beta when they released that

for a bit, and I had so much fun

that I forgot that that was just a beta.

And that the full game has so much more, and it's not

I'm so hyped for Battlefield.

We were playing a ton of it, so that one's looking good.

And that comes out in a few weeks here.

October, yeah.

I'm excited for that.

It's nice to have some winter games we can all play.

That's what I'm saying.

That's why I asked, because I found myself

slowly creeping back into my winter habits.

Like we got a few cool days.

It's kind of warm today, which is nice.

This week looks nice.

But that cool weather, it was like something changed.

You know how like bears have to like go hibernate,

you know, because it's winter?

It was like all of a sudden I started like,

man, I should play Runescape again.

I kind of got back into Runescape.

Old school Runescape.

Yeah.

It was like a false alarm for a week there.

Yeah.

Yeah, it did.

But it triggered stuff.

Like it did.

Like I started to make it chilly again.

See?

Yes, I did too.

Yeah, it was crazy.

And now I'm like wearing hoodies every day.

It's like 90 degrees outside.

And like, what the hell am I doing?

Yeah, I wish for my jacket at this point.

And I'm like, no, no, no, no.

It's messing with us.

100% shows what have you been up to?

I've been up to a lot.

I bought a motorcycle.

Yeah?

A whole.

I've never really said anything about it.

But I've had it for a few months now.

Secret motorcycle.

But I bought a Suzuki GSX8R.

And it's like my first real motorcycle.

I had a grom for a few years.

I love that thing.

And it was like, that was my first ever actual motorcycle.

But this is like the real deal.

Yeah.

And so I went and got all.

I did the MSF course and everything like that.

And then I've just been riding it a ton.

Basically, any day it's not raining, I'm riding it to work.

Fully licensed.

Never to worry about it again.

It's awesome.

Bikes are such a good time.

And it's a different rush than driving a fast car.

Dude, it's crazy.

Because I've never had fast cars.

That's not an unknown fact.

But it's like my wife got her Civic Type R.

And it's like, I drive that every now and then.

I'm like, damn, man, this is good.

And then it's like I got on the bike.

And I bought it brand new.

I was like, I had to do the whole break-in process

and everything like that.

And now that it's all gone through that,

that thing's fucking fast, dude.

Oh, I bet.

Like for an animal.

Like I ride that for a week.

And that's like, I hop in like Maggie's Type R.

And I'm like, this didn't have the same kit.

Like, is there some wrong with this?

I was like, no, I'm already.

Just used to the bike now.

Yeah, it's a different kind of sensation.

The power to weight ratio.

Go dummy.

And yeah, you're not naked.

You're out in the wide open.

You're feet away from the pavements.

A different rush for sure.

Yeah, I've been so I've been enjoying that a lot.

It's been fun.

Game-wise, stupid as it sounds.

I love watching queso.

Yeah, me too.

He's the funniest dude.

And he's playing like the water parks him right now.

And I was like, it was one of those things

where I was just watching it like he's funny.

It's just like pisses me off sometimes

with the way that he does stuff.

And it's I'm like, I'm going to get this game.

And I'm going to do it the way that I would do it.

And that's what I did.

So I put in hours in this fucking water park

and it's ridiculous.

And then I actually hop back into Hell Divers

a little bit this weekend.

And that was a ton of fun.

A lot of new updates and stuff on there.

I really want to go play it.

I have not played since the mechs came out.

Dude, I really want to play.

Dude, there's so much new stuff on there now.

It's crazy.

It's such a good game.

And they open it up to more platforms now too.

So we have like the Xbox players and stuff in there.

It's cross-platform too.

Yeah, nice.

So I got to check that out again.

Yeah, ton of fun outside of that.

Like you said, winter kind of creeping in.

So I'm here.

We do the RC stuff as well.

And winter is usually kind of the same for car stuff.

Like here in Wisconsin, it's like, OK,

go fly as much as you can during the summer and nice weather.

And then winter, it's like, OK, I broke this.

We should maybe build something this winter.

It's like build season.

So I really want to get back into it.

I want to build an actual Balsa kit again.

I haven't done that in a long time.

Oh, that's cool.

I did that as a kid.

Yeah, they're fun.

They're fun.

So I think I'm going to look out to see like just

like a long term build here instead of something like,

you know, just like a buy it and it's ready to go.

So I like doing that.

Keeps me busy.

Yeah, we did the other weekend.

We went on a cruise with our motorcycles, which

you can do with your car too or your truck, whatever you got.

I suggest doing it.

Get a couple of your buddies.

Select a central meeting point.

Preferably like a cafe or something, right?

So we found a spot.

I think it's called Off the Rails.

It's right next to Road America.

Like directly next to it.

And my buddy lives south of us.

We live close to each other.

But what we do is we meet there and we grab coffee

and some breakfast and you can just sit there all day

because since it's right next to Road America,

there's just cool cars constantly.

Yeah.

Amazing stuff driving by and you're just

sitting outside this cafe.

But it's a perfect way to start the day.

And it's a nice ride out there.

Road America is obviously way out in the country.

So like getting to it, you get nice country roads.

But then from there, we have like the Kettle Marine

Scenic Drive.

We just go cruise all day.

And it has been so fun and so amazing that we did it

like twice back to back.

And then my buddy Neff, he snapped me.

He's still doing it like every weekend.

He hasn't stopped me.

Even though you guys aren't here, I'm going again.

That's funny.

So I totally suggest doing it.

Like find out, find some roads you haven't gone on.

Use maps.

Like you can literally, what we did is we,

there was a app.

I can't remember what it's called.

But anyways, it has like roads rated.

But you can just go on Google Maps too

and like switch it to satellite view.

And you can really see some of the like curvy roads

and stuff like that.

And you can find them and just find a meeting point

and then go out and like track it.

Because now we have that save too.

So we can always do that cruise.

That's been one of the most fun things

I think we've done this summer, just go out

and fricking drive for being cruise and ride.

It's been a ton of fun.

And it's been nice too.

Because it's like, obviously I sold the RX-8 a year ago

now, which is crazy.

That went by quick.

Coming up next year.

And the 240 has been down essentially.

It's one of those things where it's just like,

it was kind of like, while I'm in their mentality,

and then it's just ended up in a torn apart car

in my garage for the last year.

So working through that.

And it's just like, I kind of just needed something

to scratch that itch in the meantime, which

is why I picked up the bike.

And I'm really glad I did.

And glad I have the code to ride with.

And you've been riding for a long time too.

So got to share some pointers.

And we went in a motorcycle shop together.

That was pretty fun.

Yeah, that's fun.

I had a few comments.

It was like, when I had my bikes, oh, congrats on a bike.

That's so cool to see you start riding.

It's like, yeah, I've been riding for over 10 years.

You got it.

I'm on to 10 years on my arm.

Yeah, I love riding.

And I've had a CBR 600, CBR 1000, SMR 450 Supermodo,

Husqvarna, Ruckus, Scram, all this stuff.

And then I took a little bit of a break

when I moved up here.

I had to have some sacrifices.

So sold cars, sold bikes.

And came up, moved up here.

And then it was finally like, OK, I'm finally situated again.

I want to get back into riding.

I picked up the CB1000 Hornet.

And that's been a blast.

But it's just like cars like instantly I had to modify.

Instantly had to put an exhaust on her.

Yeah, because you said that was your first actual bike

that you bought like?

Brand new, yeah.

Every other bike I bought was modified already.

I already had an exhaust.

How was that process?

It's a lot more expensive than you realize.

Yeah, oh my god, dude.

You'd think with a motorcycle, the exhaust is like two feet long.

Yeah, be that much.

No, it's just as much as my super exhaust was.

It's crazy.

That exhaust you have on there is insane, though.

It shakes the building.

It's like relatively small.

It's so crazy.

Didn't it come with earplugs?

Yes, it came with earplugs.

Yeah, it's a race fit.

They're based in the UK.

And it's cool.

I like them so much because it's a small shop like us,

like Martin works.

Just a few guys really passionate about what they do.

And they're all the way across the world.

And one thing I learned too, and this again applies to cars too,

is if you buy a new make and model,

you quickly realize you don't have a lot of options

for aftermarket support.

But luckily, I didn't know much about race fit beforehand.

So I messaged my buddy that we ride with

because he's like a certified motorcycle mechanic.

And he's been riding his whole life

along with his dad.

So I was like, hey, have you heard of race fit?

He's like, yes, get that.

I was like, oh, thank god they're one of the only ones

that had an exhaust for the Hornet.

Easiest install in my life.

But it's a full titanium exhaust.

Titanium burnt etched logo in it.

It looks nice.

It was just super easy to put on.

And that was fun to do because normally, man,

installing something, something goes wrong.

But there was nothing to go wrong.

So it was just one pipe.

And it just slips on over the factory exhaust.

So like it doesn't, there's no clamps.

There's nothing to just over it.

But some.

Glad yours is easy.

Yeah, yours was another story.

Yours is the complete opposite.

Because mine, Mike, is also brand new.

It was a 2025.

And it's like a new model.

Like they had just come out with it.

It's only been out for like a year or two.

And the exhaust for that was like, it's so quiet.

It was too quiet.

I'm riding with these guys.

I'm like, dude, I can't even tell if mine's running

right now.

It's so freaking quiet.

All I hear is theirs.

I'm like, I need to do something.

And the problem is with mine, it's like the exhaust.

You have to replace the entire system, like everything.

Because it's all one piece and there's no slip on option

for it.

So I had to buy.

I went and got like a Leo Vince, like full system.

And had to take all the fairings off and really get up.

I actually had to basically remove the radiator

without removing it.

Because I don't want to deal with like read like.

Putting new fluid in.

Yeah, putting new fluid in and burping the system

and all that kind of stuff.

So people are like, you can do it.

It gets a little tight.

So I spent a good majority of the weekend in my garage

one time doing that, but it sounds killer.

Yeah, they both sound good.

Like I hear them starting up and it's like,

I keep getting that itch, but I know it's a bad idea for me.

I can't do it.

Oh, you should do it.

It's so good.

I'm so scared of enjoying it too much.

Yeah, yeah, that's a thing.

I got too many hobbies.

That's a problem.

Yeah, yeah.

And they're all, why do we, why are hobbies so expensive?

Why can't I find a cheap hobby?

Yeah, I'm not convinced there is a cheap hobby out there.

I feel like you can spend as much as you want on any hobby.

But that's kind of what I wanted to talk about it

is like what we're doing on the outside.

Because I know car enthusiasts.

We all got our other hobbies on top of our car hobby

that just, you know, puts us in a pinch for sure.

But I'm thankful for, I mean, like automotive photography,

that was a big hobby of mine.

And that kind of led to where I am.

Kickstarted everything.

Today, so very thankful for those other hobbies.

You never know where they'll lead you.

Yeah, I agree.

I've made some really good friends just

through random hobbies.

I met Alex through playing video games back in the day.

That's crazy.

I don't know if people know that story.

Yeah, yeah.

We played League of Legends back in the day.

Oh, hell yeah.

We see Facebook group and Alex had made a post

looking for people to play with.

And back then I was super shy.

It was like a big deal for me to say, like, yes,

I'll come play with you.

Right, right.

And yeah, we did.

We hit it off.

We were just talking trash at the other people all night.

Just became friends to that.

Nothing brings people together like talking shit.

Especially in League of Legends.

Those who play it, no, it's a toxic basket.

You guys still play?

Dude, every once in a month, I think we get together.

Oh, really?

In the evening.

Oh, yeah.

Well, we'll just play like ARAM, which is like the non-competitive

version.

But yeah, we still play a little bit here and there.

That's cool.

Crazy how one decision can just change your life,

like the whole trajectory.

It's wild.

That's so crazy you met Alex just from like, hey,

you want to play League?

Sure.

Yeah, it's like some of the best friends that I've ever

had, I think, have been through video games.

We were at the Sim Racing Expo two weekends ago.

And I met a buddy called Eli there

that I've known for like three years now that we race

together all the time.

Like, I did my first 24-hour race with him

a couple of years ago now.

Yeah, it's cool.

I love meeting those people.

Absolutely.

Like, go meet your internet friends if you have any.

Go find a way to meet them.

100%.

And we'll have both Sim Rigs at Slamd enough,

so make sure you come by the booth and try them out.

Lars is usually there helping people out.

Because I think, too, if you never

have done like Sim Racing, you think it's like easy.

It's tough.

It's actually really hard.

So we have Lars there helping people out.

He does a good job instructing people.

Yeah, because we'll have both set up.

We have one set up more for like track driving.

And then we've kind of converted the other one

against Lars's will to a drift setup.

Yeah, it works pretty good.

We've had feedback on that a couple times now

between Riverside and Gatlinburg.

People keep asking for a drift setup.

So now we have the second rig.

We're like, why not?

Put a handbrake on it.

I think it's kind of cool, too.

It's like, we'll usually go to an event, right?

We'll bring the Sim Rig with.

And it's like, we load up Road America.

And it's like 30 minutes from here,

or about a 40-minute drive from here.

And then in 40 minutes the other way, it's US Air.

And so we'll have both of those courses loaded up.

I think it's kind of cool.

This is Wisconsin.

We're bringing Wisconsin to you.

Yeah, yeah, I love that.

And I've been whipping around on the Sim Rig, probably playing

it more than I ever really have.

And it's been so challenging.

It's so much harder than what you think it is.

But Brent's like, I got it drifting on the.

Dude, Rhett does unnatural good on log.

He makes it look so easy.

So then I hop on there and I'm crashing.

But it's so rewarding to progress with it.

We'll have to get Brent on here again at some point.

But we had a Midwest modified a couple of weekends ago.

Last week.

A couple of two weekends ago.

And that was an event that WCEC hosted at US Air with Martini

where it's kind of combined with it.

But we brought the GTT up and put it out

on the drift track again.

And it was actually Brent's first time actually

driving a drift event.

And we were both sliding the GTT around.

And dude, that was so cool.

We were bouncing off each other and how the car was

feeling, making some changes like tire pressures

because we had some really, really grippy tires.

We had kind of care 20s on it.

And it was like, it's just too much tire for that car

to do what we were doing with it.

But the layouts definitely helped because we

were doing some really big and high speed layouts for that.

We were doing full reverse advanced and things like that.

And it was a ton of fun.

But it was really cool to see Brent out there

because like I said, we watch him on the sim all the time.

And then getting him out there and actually letting

him loose on a real car was pretty cool to see.

Absolutely.

It's cool how that some of that can translate too.

And it helps you.

And I think with your hand-eye coordination and so on.

It definitely helped me a ton because it's like,

I don't have a setup like that.

I don't have a sim setup.

So it's like anytime I've gone out to drive,

like that is my practice, like that I'm taking the car

and that's what I'm learning right there, right then, now.

So being able to hop on there the last couple of weeks

leading up to it, it helped a ton.

Yeah, that's why I learned just like you

did in the truck stuff.

I just went and tried it out, fell in love

and just kept doing it.

And then I realized a couple of weeks ago

that I've been doing this for six years now.

I didn't get a sim until my fourth year.

So it was the same, like all the goofy stuff

that you're scared to try in real life.

You just go smack a car in the wall on the sim

just to see what it would do.

And sometimes you learn something.

So it's cool to watch the progression from now.

I think one of my biggest things when I was starting

to learn first how to drift and drifting

was I always stuck to the intermediate course

pretty much the whole time.

I was always too afraid to go over to advance.

I'm like, oh, my car's not good for that.

Like, it's scary.

A lot of elevation, a lot of walls are over there.

So I'm like, no, no, I'm not going to do that.

And then it's like, I finally did it,

but I never drifted the full course.

But then on the sim, it's like, OK,

we're going to go learn this corner.

Because typically where you start

is on the top of the hill, you go down

and it's like a big hill up in a corner.

And that we see in the corner.

Multiple people launch off.

We see literally a monster car over there.

And it's like, typically to do that in a lower horsepower

car, it's like you clutch kick out first.

Like you clutch kick off the track,

like opposite way of where the corner is going,

and then you flick it back around.

Really scary.

In the sim, not as scary, right?

You need to learn that.

And then it's like we went out driving.

And it's like, I just naturally, without thinking,

did it with the GTT.

And I was like, whoa.

OK, we're doing this.

And it worked.

I was like, all right, then.

And then I was able to do that all day.

I was like, I've never entered that corner like that

before.

That was terrifying.

That's so cool.

So it definitely does help.

Like you said, it's not one to one, but it's just getting

just that understanding of.

Well, I think that sometimes that's all you need

is just that idea of it.

It clicks.

Yep, 100%.

And I've even noticed just using the sim.

Certain things have clicked and started

to make more sense before.

Even the timing of when you pull the handbrake or use

the handbrake or braking in general while drifting

was so confusing to me at first.

But once you get to play around with it

and try it on the sim, it's nice to do that and not

have to send your car in the wall to learn.

It's just the concepts of drifting

aren't game-changing.

There aren't revolutionary or anything,

but the practice of it is difficult.

Yeah, how it all works together.

Yeah, because everything's going and flowing.

You never get a chance to think.

You just have to do it.

I made a post on, I think it was one of Alex's

or our post about how drifting is not as easy as it looks.

It's still good people telling me it is.

I'm like, it's not.

Do it then.

I think sliding around in a parking lot or something

probably is as easy as it looks.

But when you're actually drifting and connecting

turns and transitioning and doing all that,

it is a whole different animal.

It's not just ripping the car and smashing the gas.

You're doing a dance.

It's a balance, yeah.

And even then, power sliding is not the same thing.

The corner is not drifting.

I don't think I've drifted yet.

I never understood when a lot of people were saying,

oh, I'm working on my wheel speed and stuff

and keeping that up.

And it's like, I realize drifting the GTT, for instance,

versus the 240.

I feel like a lot of times when I first started

and I was going out there with 240,

a lot of it was kind of the power sliding thing.

It's like, OK, I'm just riding the e-brake around the corner

kind of thing.

And then it's like, OK, I'm lining up for the next one

because the car just doesn't have a lot of power.

So it's like learning how to keep the wheel speed up.

So it's actually like, the wheels

are doing what they're supposed to do versus just

like it dying on itself.

And feeling that in the GTT, like on the reverse advanced

course, like actually gaining speed,

like going up to a corner while you're drifting.

That's crazy.

That's a crazy feeling.

And it's like, we were getting pretty quick on that course.

And it was a lot of fun.

It felt really good.

The thing is, we were kind of talking about your tires

breaking traction, but if you don't want them to break

traction, you probably want to pick up a set of continental

tires.

Which just so happens to be one of the main sponsors

of Martini Works podcast.

So if you go on over to martiniworks.com,

filtered by Continental, you can

see a bunch of different options.

I'm going to recommend the DWS-06 for the all season

Extreme Contact Sport 02 for like a performance tire.

And then the new Viking Contact 8 as a winter tire,

even though we haven't got our hands on it yet,

which we will soon.

I think we're going to slap it on a car,

so we can test it this winter.

I have full confidence just because of how good the 7 was.

I'm excited to see what they improved on,

because I don't know what they could have improved on.

It's just an animal.

So if you guys want to go check that out,

you can get your wheels and tires mounted by us for free.

If you pick up new wheels and you get tires,

we will mount them.

So you don't have to pay the shop and have some Joe guy

do it and dent up and scratch your wheels.

Because I've learned about a 225 on a 99.5.

We'll do it.

And we'll do it right because we're enthusiasts

and we know how much your wheels matter

and how big of a purchase that is.

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If you will not have to wear helmets on the Nurburgring,

like do you not have to wear a helmet?

I feel like you should.

Yeah, you definitely should.

Do you have to?

I thought you did.

I'm pretty sure you do.

But the rules as a Nurburgring are very odd,

at least in the realm of what I'm used to with HPDs,

because they're usually driving schools.

At the Nurburgring, there's a bunch of weird things

that aren't rules.

For example, you don't have to point people by.

Gotcha.

You can pass each other as you go.

Like there's no, they mix skill sets.

I think just because of the scale of the thing.

Sure.

The helmet thing should be universal truth.

I would think so.

Okay, so Google AI, which I don't trust

as far as I can throw it,

but no helmets are not required for drivers

during public tourist drives on the Nurburgring.

Well, maybe that's what it is.

That's the ones that I think are more like parade labs.

But they're definitely not going slow.

And I know.

Yeah, because I know I see videos all the time.

People just ripping and they're like,

there's no gloves, no helmet.

Just like a T-shirt and shorts.

Please wear a helmet.

If nothing else, just wear a helmet.

It's freaking crazy.

I don't know.

It's one of the craziest tracks in the world.

You probably just throw a helmet on.

Yeah.

It's not that big of a deal.

Just rent one.

Yeah.

It's so funny talking from Brian from top rating.

He's like, oh yeah.

It's awful.

He's like, it's wild.

It's rough.

I've heard like beats the hell out of you and the car.

Yeah.

My God.

Man, being able to get to a point to drive that

is just got to be freaking crazy.

I wonder if it's like,

I want to do like the locals over there.

It's just like, oh yeah.

It's just.

Kind of like Road America.

I was like, oh yeah.

It's the track.

I'm sure you're numb to it at some point.

That's crazy.

I've seen videos of like craziest cars

that have been out at the Nurburgring this year.

And it's just like a tour bus is like on it.

Like they take out anything and everything on it.

Okay.

The buses and vans are the most fun at those things.

When Brent and I were at the Uvaldi thing with Continental,

they took us out in, the instructors took us out

to show us the layout.

And this guy started drifting it

because it was a wet skid pad.

Drifted a bus?

He basically was drifting.

Yeah, it's a van.

A van, like a 12 passenger van.

All of us in there, no seat belts, it's a van.

And he just starts like,

and then you go faster through here

and they just like go for it.

Like, is this thing going to tip over?

It was wild.

It was the same thing

because I went down there a couple of years ago

and it was so funny.

It's the same experience, the same takeaway.

Yeah, they have this massive,

like just insanely huge skid pad

that floods with like an eighth inch of water.

And it's like, they do,

you essentially do like a wet autocross with it.

So you give you like some Camrys

and they're like, okay, here's this huge autocross layout

on an eighth inch flooded skid pad, essentially.

Here's the layout.

So yeah, they like take you out.

And I shit you not 12 deep in this like bus.

And like, they're not slowly doing it.

Like he was putting down a better time in that thing

than we were in the camera.

That's like the game.

Like, can you beat the sighting?

That is so insane.

It's so funny.

And everyone's like hanging on for dear life.

It's crazy.

It goes to the show too.

Like you don't need a fast car to go fast, you know.

Dude, those Camrys were awesome.

Yeah.

I've heard good things about the Camrys,

the newer Camrys.

The TRDs, yeah.

Well, they had the TRDs and then the hybrids.

And I thought they were the, they felt the same

other than obviously the TRD had more power,

but they felt the same.

Like I would autocross either of those cars.

They're like 300 horse or something.

TRDs, yeah.

That's insanity, a Camry.

Like what the hell?

It was wild.

That is a properly good car.

I think I would honestly daily one.

Yeah, speaking of daily and stuff.

Yeah.

You switch dailies a little bit.

I did, I did.

I had the Jetta for a long time,

a couple of years as my daily.

You don't got a car anymore.

And I sold the car.

I do, my wife has a car.

Oh, okay.

That's true.

And that's been the worst experience

in my entire life.

I haven't seen that in a while.

You probably won't.

My God.

Don't buy a Mark eight Volkswagen GTI.

That has been hell on earth to say the least.

That is the worst car we have ever purchased

in our entire life.

And it was a one owner, like 40,000 miles.

Basically long story short dealership scam

the shit out of us.

And it was partially my fault.

I'd say it because I got too lucky, I think.

I bought the Supra site on scene

in a dealership in Texas.

Never went and checked it out.

Just like had them send videos,

had them send photos, all that stuff.

And then I flew down, picked up, drove back.

And it was amazing.

Best car I've ever owned.

Then I bought the forerunner.

Again, site unseen.

I actually did the Carvana thing.

It was okay.

I rate that experience like a five or six out of 10.

It was all right.

The forerunner's been beautiful though.

Absolutely love it.

Nothing wrong with that.

It was just like the communication

was kind of rough on Carvana.

But so that went great.

That was phenomenal.

So then we spend months and months

looking for the right GTI after the Golf R got totaled.

And we finally found one.

Dolphin Gray Metallic, which is really sick.

And bought it site unseen.

But we did have the dealerships on videos,

send photos, all that stuff like normal.

And then we had a transporter send it up and drop it off.

We roll it off the trailer

and immediately check engine lights on.

The tires are past the wear bars.

They're just completely cooked.

The brakes are shuttering.

It's just the whole steering wheel vibrates.

This is like a, it's a 2022 with 40,000 miles.

Yeah. And it's just like everything.

Then parking sensor light comes up

and then the EOS system, the emergency systems going up.

All of this is happening.

And we haven't moved the car more than 10 miles.

What the hell?

So instantly I bring it to a shop

and have them look over everything.

Cause I want everything documented

that's wrong with this vehicle.

Cause none of this was disclosed to us at all.

They said it was perfectly running.

Good to go. Everything's awesome.

Our manager drove it.

He loves it.

He wants a key because he loves it so much.

This bullshit is dealership in Kentucky.

And they're just, oh, it irks me so bad

cause they played it up so much.

And I take it, and it was about $3,000

and stuff that needed to be fixed.

And that's the last thing you want.

We just got a car off the trailer.

We didn't negotiate price.

We paid their sticker price because again,

we were looking everywhere and finally found the right one.

So we were okay to pay the sticker price on it.

Usually I'm negotiating like crazy,

but with this one, I felt good about it.

I was completely wrong.

And then on top of that,

we take it to Volkswagen to have them look at the parking

sensors and electronics and stuff.

And that was just the nightmare.

I don't know how many things they had to try and do

to get it fixed and get those off.

But it was just an astronomical amount.

And luckily though, it did fall under warranty.

So we were able to, cause the car was bone stock, thankfully,

we were close to it being out of warranty,

but they fixed everything now.

So that's been good.

Before that though, in the process of fixing it,

they tried it, they installed some stuff.

It didn't work.

We had the car and we had to,

we were going to go pick up my motorcycle.

So we were driving down.

We got to, from Appleton to Milwaukee

and all of a sudden.

It's about an hour and a half.

Yeah, hour and a half.

All of a sudden coolant light comes on.

I'm like, what?

You know, what?

But now, yeah.

I'm like, maybe cause like they,

they did a fluid change at the dealership when they got it.

Maybe they just didn't top it off fully or so.

I don't know.

I'm hoping for the best.

And then all of a sudden the car's like pull over now.

I'm like, Jesus, like this car has an alert

for everything by the way,

literally everything it's insane.

Pull over, there is just coolant water falling

just going everywhere.

Not a drop left of coolant in it.

By the time pull over shut off.

Luckily he was able to do that right away.

Look it up, try and find out some information

while we're stranded in Milwaukee.

And there's a recall on the Mark 8 GTIs.

The radiator fans come loose

and then chop up all the coolant lines in the car.

Which is kind of a detrimental thing.

Yeah, it's kind of a big deal.

And it kind of pissed me off too

because we had a Volkswagen dealership

and they were doing this warranty work.

Never touched that.

Never did the recall.

So then it leaves us stranded.

So then we have to pay.

Oh, I call Volkswagen.

Cause like this car is under warranty.

And I'm like, hey, this recall thing just happened.

And there's coolant everywhere and we're stranded.

Can you like tow the car?

They're like, oh yeah, blah, blah, blah.

I spent an hour giving them the VIN,

the information where we're located,

how we want it picked up, blah, blah, blah.

And they're like, okay, that'll be $800

to have it towed back to the Volkswagen dealership.

I'm like, the fuck, what?

Yeah.

And they're like, yeah, so you're under warranty

but your tow warranty, the roadside assistance,

that's out of warranty.

So we can't help you, you'll have to pay $800.

But we'll tow it back.

I was like, fuck you.

So I hung up on them.

Was it like fourth of July weekend too?

Yes, yeah.

So everything was closed.

I couldn't get it to any shops in Milwaukee.

Every dealership was booked or closed.

And yeah, finally had a buddy up here

that we knew that was able to come get it

and tow it back.

Thankful for him for doing that.

And we dropped it back off at the dealership.

They had a fit since then.

And again, I'm not even going into probably

a half of it with this car.

I'm giving you guys the quick story here.

This is just the physical problems with it.

Dude, it's insane.

It's just absolutely nuts.

But we get it back.

Everything as of right now is perfect.

It's all back to normal.

Volkswagen did tons of work on it.

And it's back to work.

But now at this point, it's like,

how do you like trust it?

Yeah.

And it's close to being like out of warranty again.

So it's like, do I want to risk?

Because I've looked up a lot of information

on these cars.

And it seems like these are issues that are reoccurring.

So like the SOS light and the parking lights,

those are a known issue that kind of come back.

They just don't have a fix for it.

And I can't afford out of warranty

to have Volkswagen diagnose it for a month straight

and throw parts at it.

They replaced the ECM.

And that was like over a $5,000 job.

And that didn't fix it, by the way.

That didn't do anything.

Well, the next thing on the list

is the shark fin antenna.

So we'll replace that.

Which that fixed it.

What?

Did it actually?

They replaced the shark fin antenna on the roof of the car.

And that saved our SOS and our parking sensor lights.

That's crazy.

There is a lot of new stuff that they did in the market.

And I think it's too new.

They got too much.

And this is too the one with like all the touch buttons

and everything is touch screen and stuff.

And I don't know.

I would just stay away from the market.

I think that was a year of trying new stuff.

And they have a lot to learn.

And I've never had more of a nightmare experience owning

a car.

That's like the experience that nobody wants, like of any car.

Especially like you said, you're paying retail.

They have it shipped up here.

And it arrives broken, basically.

So we might just sell it.

We're torn between keeping it.

Because I will be real.

Honourable is not real with you guys.

When it's working, we both really enjoy the car.

We're like, man, this is fucking nice.

Like it does everything we want.

Like the full digital display and stuff is beautiful.

It has a really nice sound system in it.

It rides awesome.

It pulls hard like great car.

But then it's like, you drive it for more than 30 minutes

and we have some random issue pop up.

And I really don't want that with a 2022, you know?

So it's really tough.

So we might sell it.

We haven't listed for sale.

Again, we fixed everything on it.

We put thousands into it.

We did all new brake pads and rotors from EBC

and got that all fixed up.

And then Volkswagen did the rest of it.

So the car right now, as it sits, it's 100% good to go.

Not a single light is on.

It's just like, I don't know if I want to.

Yeah, it's like you've had such a bad experience with it.

It's good.

I just wanted to stay good.

Yeah.

Yeah, it's at that decision point.

And my experience, whenever I've had cars

that I've had issues with, it's

like I don't ever want to drive it more than so far away

from my house because I'm scared it's

going to leave me stranded again.

How do you drive that to Gatlinburg?

Yeah, exactly.

I'm thinking like, oh my god, please just make it.

Yeah.

What if the radiator fan comes loose again?

I don't feel it was like a 90s car.

Sure.

Yeah.

This is a 2020, what, two?

Yeah, 2022.

You're in that weird, the worst spot possible.

All the parts are really expensive.

You can't really do it all yourself,

unless you're an expert at it.

Yeah, exactly.

But it's not old and fun and everything.

And it's not like, except for the radiator fan,

a mechanical piece is breaking it.

There's so much electronic stuff

that's in it and being wonky and that.

There's no way I can fix.

I cannot diagnose.

It's too much going on.

It wasn't like, oh, they replaced the parking sensor

because the parking sensor was bad.

They had to replace the shark fin antenna, which I never

would have guessed.

Yeah, I'd never thought of that.

To fix your parking sensor.

So that's been crazy.

But the forerunner's been an angel.

Yeah.

Toyota, baby.

I think that I might become a brand door for Toyota

because I love the Supra.

Granted, there's partially BMW.

But the forerunner's been amazing.

I was going to say it because just talking

through all that now, it's like, it's quite the changeup.

Ever since I've honestly, I met you when you first

had the Evo yet.

And you always had some crazy builds.

Evo was very iconic.

I'd say even the focus was super iconic going through the Mark

4, like GTI and something like that, the Supra.

And it's like, now you've got the forerunner.

That's quite the changeup.

And it's like, what do you think led to that?

Yeah, it is weird.

And I find myself, I jump around.

It's not like the first truck I've owned

or something more off-road oriented.

I've owned a Duramax before.

I've had F-150s.

And I've always enjoyed that side of things too.

So I think it's just like, I do one thing for a while.

And then I want to swap and change it up

and do something different.

And then two, just getting a bit older

and needing something that has the space to do stuff.

Like, I hate to be that old head.

And don't get me wrong, I still love cars.

I'm obsessed with cars.

I'm glad that we can still do so much here.

And I think that's another choice in it too, right?

It's like an outlet.

We have an R34 GTT at our disposal at any time.

Every day I come to work and we're doing car shit.

So I'm so thankful.

So it's like, it almost gives me that opportunity

to have a forerunner.

I can still mod it and do it like I'm putting like,

I have TE-37s on it.

I still get to do that side of it,

but I can also take it to Home Depot

and put a butcher block in it

and have it stick out the window.

It's just like, dude, I was talking to,

I haven't had a vehicle that I could do stuff like that with

and like over 10 years,

I've been getting by by shoving shit in the Supra

or making the Jetta work and folding seats down

and like it just can't do.

And I hate having to bug people with trucks, you know?

Like, hey, can I get you out?

So it's really frickin' nice to have something practical.

And also, too, is like with the Supra,

I was like, oh, I can't go in this area

because I can't get in the parking lot.

Hey, I'm nervous to drive here

because I don't know how it's gonna be,

whether it's rough roads

or worrying about getting 93 octane

because we can't get 93 everywhere here.

So it's always just in the back of my mind.

No, it's not the biggest deal,

but it was always in the back of my mind.

Now I have something.

I will drive fucking anywhere and I don't care.

I don't even think twice about it.

It'll literally go anywhere.

And that's been just amazing.

One of the smallest, nicest things

about having a quote unquote normal car

is being able to put normal gas in it.

Premium gas is so insane.

It used to be like 10, 20 cents more than standard,

like 87 octane.

That's like a dollar, dollar, 50 more, yeah.

And I forget because all the BMWs take premium.

So I forget until I drive my wife's four-runner

or she has a little two.

And it's like, oh my God, this is so nice.

Like full tanks, like 45 bucks or something.

100% that's so under, and so funny you said,

I manually have to think about it

every time I'm at the gas station.

Like you don't need to put 91 in

or you don't need to put 93 in.

And I put the 87 in because the four-runners

are like specifically tuned to run off 87 octane.

So you're supposed to only put that in it.

And it is so nice.

Even though the fuel economy is not great.

It was horrible.

It's like 24 or something on the highway.

You know what mine is?

12.

Oh what?

Yeah.

Oh God.

Okay, it's not that bad.

Oh my God, that's terrible.

It's like, you know, it doesn't matter

because the gas itself is 30% cheaper.

Right?

Yeah.

Honestly, I haven't noticed that much of a difference.

I was getting like 24, I'd say in the super probably,

but then I'm putting in 93 specifically every single time.

And then this, I'm getting 12 to 15 in the four-runner.

I'm assuming oversized tires and stuff like that

isn't helping.

I'm sure, yeah.

And your roof thing.

Yeah.

Let's just say, so what have,

I don't know if we've talked about it on here before,

but like what have you all done to it?

You talked about the T's.

Yep, so I have the T37s

and then the BF Goodrich tires on there,

sized up, it has a leveling kit on it.

It has Fox suspension because I have the TRD Pro.

And I really enjoy it.

I love how it rides.

And it sits a little bit higher than the other four-runners

just with that Fox suspension in it.

So I wanted to retain that.

Even though Fortunato makes some four-runner suspension,

which I really like, have me on the-

Wanna try it, yeah.

I love how that Fox suspension,

it's perfect.

So I didn't wanna mess with that too much.

Like again, I don't wanna ruin the practicality

of my practical vehicle I bought.

So there is like these leveling kits you can put in.

So it raised the rear up just a little bit

and then it leveled out the front

and it rides amazing.

It still rides completely like stock.

And the stance you have is great

because it's assault maybe like an inch or two inches

taller than the stock one that we have.

And I think it looks awesome.

And it fits in my garage by a finger.

With the TRD Pro roof rack that's on it,

it's like double stepped.

So it just like a finger length fits in my garage

and I didn't plan that,

but luckily it worked out something for that.

I put a little Waddo on it because it's just easy

to get to the roof rack then.

And I think it looks cool.

Put in some Morimoto tail lights.

Those are dope.

I changed out the, it has like a manual,

I don't know if that's the right word for it.

Cause some Toyota four-runners have the digital gauge

to change your differential.

This has like the manual to go from low to high.

That was rattling when I got it.

The stock shift knob on it was like loose

and it would rattle like crazy.

So I got some aftermarket ones.

So I changed out both of like the gear shifter one

and then that, the differential.

And then I have some headlights and fog lights

I need to install from Morimoto.

I'm super excited to get those in.

I'll be getting them in shortly.

I found out that to install those,

you tap into the fuse box,

but on the 2020 and up year, which I have a 2021,

it sits higher so you can't close your fuse box lid

when you put in that fuse tap.

So I found a guy, any 3D prints,

a riser for your fuse box cover.

So I ordered that.

So I've been waiting for that to come in.

It's custom.

So it like takes a little bit.

That's cool.

That'll be a little bit.

What a niche product.

Yeah.

It's so niche.

It's honestly kind of expensive.

And I tried to look for a file

so I could just 3D print myself,

but I couldn't do it,

but it allows you to do that.

So that's cool.

And then yeah, I think,

I mean, other than like rain guards and a bug deflector,

that's been about it, but it's cool.

It's really cool to see because it's like,

I mean, I ain't gonna say you got really good taste in stuff.

Thanks.

I feel like you've always had super good taste in stuff.

Like you're not throwing shit on your car

just for the sake of throwing shit on the car.

And I think that's really cool.

And it's like cool to see how that translates

from like a car build to something like the forerunner.

It's like, you know, no, I want the TEs.

I want to get the TEs.

I'm gonna save for the TEs.

You know, we're gonna figure out how to do that.

And it's like, you know, very specific things

and everything has a purpose.

I think that's cool.

It's almost like, like how we look at VIP builds

where they're relatively like low key,

but then all the parts are really nice.

It's like you took that to an overlanding level.

And I think that's really cool.

I appreciate that.

Yeah, I just thought it was so cool

and it really blew up.

I think during COVID there's a big spike

in like the overlanding scene

and people going out camping and doing that.

Get out of the house.

So the market went crazy for that.

So now it was like all these brands

like wanted a piece of that.

So you see a lot of brands like Work, I believe SSR,

Raze.

Raze is huge.

All going after this overlanding.

And I just thought that was so cool

that I could get fricking TE 37s, Raze,

Forge wheels for my forerunner.

I was like, I got to do it.

That's so cool.

Actually, when you bring that up,

I see them all the time

when we're cataloging new wheels and stuff.

Brands you would never think

they all have off-road segments like Vossen, HRE.

Yeah, everyone wants it.

Kansai does it.

It's why.

Like I suddenly started seeing six lug things pop up.

I'm like, what are they doing?

It's because it got so big.

I remember before the hype, honestly, Kansai did it.

And I thought that was so weird

that they were going after that.

The comas and everything.

But it totally made sense and it's cool.

And it's nice.

I love that I'm able to blend

what I know from like the car scene

and modifying cars kind of into like this overland.

Kind of offer it up.

Something different.

So it's been fun.

And practical.

Yeah, it's really fun to be able to mod something

and it doesn't make it.

And I'd worse to drive if I tell you the word.

The jealousy that I get

when we roll up to the flying field

and I'm trying to un-puzzle peace

the planes out of my BMW three series

to him just whip and open the back

and dump in five airplanes out like it's nothing.

Dude, do you have the full down seats on the rear?

Yeah, but like it's still it's still very limited.

My E 90 didn't have that.

Oh, really?

So the back seats were just like locked up.

Yeah, it was a skiing option for like the cold winter.

The cold winter.

Yeah, that is interesting because my E 36,

like the seats that they didn't weren't passed through.

But this one is.

And I think I remember you saying

when I first got that car, you're like,

oh, you got the cold winter package.

That's cool.

Because it's got like the heated cold winter package.

And you have thicker rubber hoses and stuff like that.

Oh, whoa.

BMW did a really good job with it,

but one of the weird things they put into that package

was the seats.

Yeah, I lucked out with that.

Yeah, for real.

I just figured like, I don't know.

You wouldn't have been able to haul anything

if you couldn't put your seats down.

Yeah, that's a big thing.

We've been flying some gnarly RC planes and stuff lately.

Yeah, they keep getting bigger.

I can't transport them anymore, so I need to play.

I keep looking at like JDM vans.

Dude, that would be so sick.

JDM vans are like, wait, there was like a,

the hell did I show you this morning?

It was like a Mitsubishi.

It's like a 90s.

It was like almost like if you take like a VR4 Galant,

but put it into a wagon.

But then it had an actual VR4, like a twin turbo,

like V6 in it.

That sounds rad as hell.

Buy that.

What was the name of it?

Do you remember?

Yeah, I kept telling them buy it, too.

It was so sick.

It was one of the sickest things I've ever seen.

It's for sale in Milwaukee.

And I really fucking bought it.

Because it's so sick.

That's cool as hell.

It was like minty, too.

It was like imperfect.

I'd never even heard,

I didn't even know those things existed.

It looks like, I'll show you in a second here,

but it's sick.

It's got a weird name.

It's like,

Is that one of the hell?

Yeah.

Give me one second.

It looks so good.

People are starting to import all kinds of wacky stuff.

That's what I said.

Facebook Marketplace is ripe with that.

Dude, it's going crazy.

Cause I think it's like,

people have now had them for a while.

You know, like there was like a,

like the late 90s, a bunch of weird shit came in.

And I think people have had them for a while.

And now they're like,

okay, I'm ready for something else.

And you just, oh, okay.

The Mitsubishi Legnum.

Yeah, I think it's an L or Iagnum VR4.

Look at this thing.

That's so sick.

Dude, it's so sick.

And then twin turbo V6, dude.

Oh my God.

So it's like the 3000 GT, a drivetrain in this wagon.

It's like black leather interior, dude.

It's sick.

Is it manual auto?

No, it's auto.

But it's like, I think it's like 70,000 miles.

Like it's super low miles.

Dude, you have to buy that.

I don't, I don't.

Man, imagine you get that

and you just start spraying some quick wax

from Melko detailing on it.

And you shine it up real good

and get it looking nice and clean.

Get some new wheels, put that nice tire shine on it.

Yeah.

Which it's even, we have kits on the website

at Martini Works.

So like if you were to buy a car,

you could have a cleaning kit ready to go.

True.

To shine it up or show season too.

I mean, we got that coming up here

in Gatlinburg or Severeville.

Bring that to the show.

Head on over to martiniworks.com.

Check out Melko detailing.

One of the sponsors of the Martini Works podcast.

We've been using it for pretty much everything

and we use it pretty much every day too.

And it's trying true.

We love it.

Those guys have been around for a long time too.

They are not new to the scene by any means.

And for a long time, they just sold through Melko

and that was it.

But now they're expanding

and we're honored to be able to sell Melko

and get it on our website.

And they came here and they taught us

like how to use certain products,

how to buff, how to polish,

all the things.

Why it is the way that it is.

Yes.

And it was so cool to see all that.

And then before we even did the sponsorship too,

we used it on our cars for weeks.

And we were like, yes, we like this stuff.

We enjoy it.

So check out some of the Cherry Flash.

That stuff works phenomenal for quick detail in your car.

Tiger Shine, like Gels said, works phenomenal.

Makes your tires look like they're brand new again.

You put that on the sidewalls

and it doesn't look like they're wet

and then you drive it for 30 minutes

and then they look dull again.

It just makes them look like they're new

and they stay looking really nice.

So make sure you head on over.

We have kits pre-built

or you can buy this stuff individually

over on Martini Works.

And thank you to Melko

for being a sponsor of the Martini Works Package.

Be right back.

That's got me thinking then, right?

Talking about where we're, you know,

kind of where we're all at now vehicle-wise,

probably even just like a couple of years ago

or even when we first got started in the cars.

Dakota, like what was the cars

that really got you into everything to begin with?

Oh dude, I have this like memory locked in.

If you go past Fast and Furious

and Need for Speed Underground 2,

which I would say is like the first thing that got me-

It's like sparked it.

Like interested in cars really.

I was in middle school

and we were crossing the street outside

to go to like our outdoor,

like we had like these basketball court type things.

I just heard a blah, I felt for the first time

and orange SRT4,

which I didn't know what it was at the time,

went flying by it.

And I've never heard a car like that, ever.

Those are distinct.

That was like the moment that changed.

I was like, what was it?

Like that was so cool.

I've never heard a car sound like that.

That was insane.

Like they rumble and backfire like crazy.

It was just like, holy shit, that is so sick.

And I think that was the moment where I was like,

dude, I fuck with cars.

This is sick.

And I remember too,

then once I started getting into it,

we went to a Culver's in Wopan

and this dude there, just random guy was parked

and we were walking in and I seen a slammed,

20th anniversary black Mark IV GTI.

Roof rack was on its winner setup

and he had like the wheels painted

teals like fat fives were on it.

And it was lowered, it had yellow fog lights.

And that was the first time

I seen a slammed car like in person.

I've never seen one like it was just

scraping the ground.

You know, I never seen someone do that in person.

That was another like pivotal moment.

I think that's seriously where my infatuation

with Mark IV GTIs came from was that moment there.

And that really changed everything.

And then I would say the car that,

I first modified it was my Mustang GT,

but the one that solidified everything

was my Cobalt SS.

Cause that was the first one I put bolt-ons on

and I tuned and I felt the difference

of what I did with my friends in my garage

where that was like where I like fell in love

with cars.

That's what made me fall in love with cars.

So if you were to say like back in that era,

looking at like the, the Cobalt

and then that timeframe, what would you say?

Like what was like the driving force of behind like

the choices that you made for like modifying those cars

or like the cars that you're even like interested in?

That's such a good question.

I'd probably have to say a lot of it was

I didn't know what I was doing.

I didn't know what to look at.

So I think it was some trial and error,

but the same time I say I was just influenced

by the people around me, like who I was hanging out with

and what they did to their cars.

I was like, oh my buddy Dylan put some new charge pipes

and stuff on his SRT-4.

The fuck is a charge pipe?

I should probably do that too, right?

And then just being too on like the Facebook pages

and you see someone modify and post something in there

and then be like, whoa, that's really cool.

And I remember too, I followed a bunch of Cobalt SS guys

right away when I got mine and seeing them

and what they did because I didn't know what to do.

It was like a big learning curve.

That was like my source of like, oh, they did that.

I should probably do something like that too

because I don't know what else to do.

But I wanted to do something, right?

So I would say just that.

What I surrounded myself with was the biggest influence.

And I think a lot of it too, as bad as it is for me.

It's not bad.

I don't know as influenced.

It was like I copied in a sense what they were doing

because I didn't know any different

but that's what truly made me fall in love with cars.

And then I was able to do my own thing after that.

So like, I remember, it's funny,

the guy's name was also Dakota.

He had a white Cobalt SS

and I made my car look so similar to his

because I loved it so much.

I wanted to do every mod he did

because I was so inspired by it.

So ours looked really similar.

And I remember he was so cool about it.

He didn't care at all and he'd help me.

We're still like Facebook friends to this day.

And he was such a cool guy.

So I'm very thankful for that community too

because I think it was a lot of like-minded people.

The Cobalt SS was an entry-level car

and we're all kind of in it together.

We didn't really know what we were doing.

We were doing modern cars for the first time,

figuring stuff out.

Obviously you have some diehards in there,

some older guys and stuff that bought them

and they keep them bone stock and all that.

So how would you compare that to like today then?

How many years later,

what are you looking to get out of like your vehicles?

Modifying-wise, like daily driving-wise,

how would you compare that to like a 20 year old self to now?

How has that changed?

It's a great question.

Now it's so different because before I get the vehicle,

I'm usually thinking what I want.

Before I even get it, I have it modified in my head.

I know exactly how the whole thing's gonna be built.

I know exactly what I wanna do to it.

Obviously there's probably a few things

I learn once I get into the community

and I see parts I didn't even know existed.

But for the most part, I have a good visualization.

Like when I got the Supra,

I knew exactly what I wanted to do to it.

When I got the 4Runner, I knew I wanted to put T,

like I did all that stuff ASAP

because I knew instantly.

So I think modifying cars throughout the years

allowed me to really think about what parts I liked

and what parts I didn't like over the years

and what to cheap out on and what not to cheap out on.

Yeah, that's an important distinction.

100%.

So I think younger me was influenced by a lot,

where now, I mean, I still like seeing other people's builds

but I very much still wanna do my own thing.

Do you think it's like a natural progression

as car enthusiasts?

I mean, it's no surprise.

It's like, we're sitting here, we're getting older, right?

Like do you think it's a natural progression?

It seems like to go for something

that can be a little more practical.

You're not having a wrench on all the time.

Like the 4Runner, for instance,

and Lars, I would even say with the M5.

It's like you wanted something that was comfortable

to take on these long distances.

You went from the M2 coupe to the big M5

but still had the sauce when you wanted it.

Do you think it's like a natural progression

for most car enthusiasts out there?

Or do you think there's some people that are like,

ah, whatever it is, I'm just gonna keep.

I think there is some people that get locked

into the same mentality and run with that

or they even, they start getting into the hobby later

and that's perfectly fine.

But for me, I think it got less and less.

Cause again, I was in automotive photography

so I just wanted to like build a car

that looked really nice and like take it to car shows

and I wanted to win awards.

Like when I first started really getting into it,

that's what I wanted to do more than anything.

Right now, I could give a fuck if I won an award.

I don't care at all.

I've done it, I have a bunch in my basement.

I keep them, I'm super proud of those.

But now I don't care about it.

So now I want something I can drive

and I can take to Gatlinburg when we go

and I don't think twice about it

or I take out to the field or I go visit my parents.

I want that more than I want to like take photos of it

or take it to a car show cause I've been to so many.

Yeah.

Would you think that, do you think you'll ever get back

into something like that again though?

Like still, like to the point where it's like,

say if you had the option of like,

hey, I'm gonna keep the forerunner, it is what it is.

It's like, do you have that itch to go back and be like,

man, I'd love to get that Cobalt SS again

or like that SRT-4.

100%, absolutely.

I think about it all the time.

I scroll marketplace every single day.

And I think that's part of the reason too,

like after I got the forerunner,

I bought a motorcycle so quickly

because I needed something to fill the void

where I can be a hooligan, I guess.

I definitely, and now it's perfect, I love that.

But still, like if I had some fuck you money right now,

I would buy a golf harlequin and I would lower it,

put it on some wheels and it would be my Sunday cruiser

and that's all it would be for.

Or I'd get like a really clean Mark 4R 32

or 20th anniversary GT.

I'd love to get one and just simple mods

make it look really nice and just a Sunday cruiser.

I would really, really like to do that.

In other sense too, I've loved to see

what you guys do, like tracking or drifting.

Again, if I had some fuck you money,

I would like get a drift car or a car to go learn time attack

and stuff like that.

Experience something new with that.

I think that would be really cool too.

So I'm always torn and I think it depends on the day

you ask me if I want one of those.

So that part of me is still there and it's active

but it's just expensive and time consuming

and there's other parts of life coming up

and it's like, do we want to upgrade our house soon?

It's like, I gotta think of that.

But I think I will.

Whenever that happens, if it ever happens,

I can get to a point where I'm like comfortable.

I would love to have a car that I don't need to worry about

driving every single day.

I can set aside and just do stuff to it

when I want to do stuff to it.

Hell yeah.

I think you already answered kind of my next question

cause this is something that I've been thinking about.

It's like, look at my, you know,

like our parents for instance, you know, my dad,

he would talk about, oh, back in the day

I had a Mercury Cougar XR7, you know, had the Cleveland in it.

He's like, I fucking love that car.

I'm like, that's so cool that like, you know,

he used to have like a dope car like that.

You know, and it's like knowing my dad,

it's like he was never really like super like into cars

but it's like, I think it was kind of the thing

where it's like, you're getting a little older.

You gotta like prioritize stuff, right?

Start a family, like doing like taking your house,

working, doing business stuff, like all that sort of stuff.

And it's like, he always talked about wanting to get

an old, he's like, I'd love to get another

Mercury Cougar XR7 green, you know?

Like that was what he always wanted.

It's like, he's kind of looking at like that generation, right?

Like, oh, those are like the boomer cars, right?

It's like, what are our boomer cars?

Like when we're 40, 50 years old and like, man,

I used to have a bagged, wide body RX-8 back in the day.

Love to get into one of them again.

And our kids are gonna be like, what the fuck?

It's gonna be funny, the concept of like a barn find

of origin, they're gonna find some like Rocket Bunny BRZ

in a part somewhere.

That's what it's gonna be.

That is really weird to think about is different.

My dad's was a, he had a Ford Mustang Mach 1.

It was the first car he ever bought.

And he brought it home, he's cheesing.

And my grandma's like, what the hell did you buy?

And she's like, let me drive it.

She got in, drove it with it, just burn out,

spun the tires, made him sell it on the spot.

And he never, he never got it back.

So I'd love to have one of those two or get him one.

That would be the coolest thing.

But do you guys think like Camaro's Mustang,

stuff like that, those muscle cars

will carry the same weight that they did back then?

Back then they were iconic.

And now I feel, and I'm not trying to throw

anyone under the bus here, but they almost feel like

they're just so common now.

That's like, it's like traffic almost.

So do you think like in 20, 30 years

when we see a Mustang from this generation right now,

will we have that like nostalgic feeling towards it?

It's hard to tell, right?

Like I really don't know.

I think the iconic ones we will,

like I think, I'm gonna offend some people,

but like the New Edge Mustangs for example,

like I don't think those will age very well

because they haven't in my opinion.

But the iconic ones like the S650 that just came out

or maybe the S550, right, the older one.

Well the Camaro when they facelifted them

and brought them back, the Chargers,

I think the Challengers for that matter,

I think those like complete revamps of bodies entirely

when they had the big V8s again,

manual transmissions and all that.

I think those will age fairly well.

I could totally see in 15 years or now

being like, I wanna V8 in my life,

when everything's electric and all this stuff.

And so you go back and you're like,

this thing like shook the ground with it, you know.

I could rev it with the key fob.

Yeah, I think stuff like that will age well.

If you have the taste for that kind of thing.

Absolutely, I can tell you in 30 years,

if I seen a bone stock black Supra,

like a GR Supra, I would want it super bad.

I think that car will age extremely well.

And I think it'll be sought after in the future too

because like pretty much every single one now

is getting modified as it should.

But I think those stock really clean low mileage ones

in the future will be a big deal.

I always bring it back to like the FRS for me.

Oh yeah, that's another one you have.

I was cleaning out some stuff in my office the other day

and I came across a gift from something

that we used to work with when we parted ways.

They made me a really nice metal print

of a nice photo of the FRS.

I was like, damn, that was such a good fucking car.

And it's like, I look back and it was kind of thing.

I was like, man, imagine like 15 years or so,

like start like a family or something like that.

And kid comes to me and is like, dad, what is this?

I was like, oh yeah, your dad used to be cool.

I had cool cars back then.

It was like, we got to learn about the old muscle cars

and stuff growing up and go to a car show

and it was all Mustangs and Camaros and Chevelles

and stuff like that.

And my mom is like, oh yeah, I drove a charger for a while.

And I'm like, what?

That's a family and a half.

One of these, what is that?

So it's like, imagine like that reaction coming

from like a 12 year old version of me

like you used to have an FRS.

You know what those things are worth on it?

I was like, I don't want to think about it

because I sold it, you know what I'm like?

Yeah, I remember in Little Town Beaver Dam

there was a car show at the bowling alley

that they'd host, I think it was like every other Sunday.

And it was all classic cars that would show up,

muscle cars and stuff, but there was this one guy

and a 240SX old guy, bone stock,

the cleanest 240 I've ever seen in my entire life.

And I remember I talked to him like, what the hell?

Like why do you have this?

I'm so confused.

I was like, bought it brand new off the showroom floor.

And the second I bought it, I knew it was gonna be special.

So I just never drove it and I kept it nice.

And now I can't get people to stop offering to buy it.

Every time I go to the gas station,

every time I bring it out, people want to buy it.

But that just tells me how special it is.

And I'm glad.

I think he still has it.

I think he does because he had,

when I talked to him that time,

it was many years ago now,

but he had absolutely zero intent.

He's like, I want to keep this car forever.

I love it.

It's a fantastic car.

And again, it was bone tight.

There was nothing changed on that car

other than the oil and that was it.

That's crazy.

So you think that car for you,

that'll be like the Gulf Harlequin?

Mm, it's like, you know, that's the car

that you wind up with having for like a long, long time.

It's like that's your-

I would love to buy that and keep that car,

but I don't know if it's that car

that like I look back is like nostalgic on

because I've never owned it.

I don't have any memories with it.

So that's why it's like,

I think it would probably be the GR Supra.

That was a car that probably I had

like some of my most favorite memories in.

Like that's the car like I got married in.

We had in our wedding photos and stuff like that.

So like it has a lot of sentimental value with it.

And the Focus ST too, that was a car of first for me.

It was the first car like Drag Race and Auto Cross.

And I did like all the mods myself on it and all that.

So like that one is,

I just can't see myself being like 60, 70

driving a Focus ST.

Maybe, maybe I wouldn't say no,

but it was a fantastic car.

But I don't know, maybe an RS.

Lars?

Oh man, I have,

I want another M2 one day.

Yeah.

I regret, I don't say I regret it,

but I miss that car so dearly.

I get memories popping up all the time

because I did so much with that car.

I had it for four, five years.

I put 80,000, it was nine miles.

Like literally just going to get a gas

and stuff at the dealer.

That's all it had, brand new.

On the truck for me.

And when I sold it, I had like 83,000.

Wow.

And like it was literally every first you can imagine

was with that car.

And that wasn't the car for me to keep forever.

Frankly, I abused it a lot.

Yeah, those are hard miles you put on.

Yeah, and the car was an absolute champ.

I had no problem driving.

I did drive it to Chicago to sell it,

but at the same time,

I would love another M2 competition

or an M2 CS, like the slightly better version of it.

Just bone stock, like 10,000 miles on it.

And that would be like my weekend cruiser.

I craved that car really, really bad.

It just felt so good.

I know everything about those things.

It sounded, for me, it sounded really nice.

But the other one, like you talked about earlier,

a little bit about having like a slow cruiser car,

like a something or something.

Alex and I, when we first met,

we used to talk about having like fast cars someday.

And then we'd like have the complete opposite,

which is like an old, like a 70s or 80s car.

And it was always the Mercedes,

like the 280 for him.

And I really want an old six series,

like from the late 80s.

Sharknose ones.

I just want one of those on like some nice

BBS three-piece wheels and just dump to the ground.

Oh, that would be so sick.

Like automatic transmission.

I don't care.

Like you're never going over the speed limit in it.

Just like going to get dinner.

It's a walker.

Yeah.

Dude, there's some cars, even though they're piss low,

for some reason, it is just super enjoyable to drive them.

Like the E30 was a great example.

I don't think I've driven a car slower than that,

but I love driving it.

That's another one that actually before,

I've shared the story about the E46,

and I love that car somewhere.

Before that, the very, very first car,

I was like, what is that?

Was it like a baby blue E30 convertible back in Germany?

And I've never,

I don't think I ever even drove our E30, the old one.

So I've, I really, I want one of those someday.

And it's another one of those,

like meet your hero car.

So I'm scared I won't like it,

but I feel like I have to own one at some point.

As long as, I mean, as long as you know,

it's just slow as piss and you don't mind that.

Everything else is perfect.

I love it.

Like, I don't get it.

You get in and like you feel nostalgic.

And I never had an old BMW like that, really.

My brother had like an old M3 back in the day.

And maybe that's where I got some of it.

I don't know.

I would get in that car and I'm just instantly like,

yes, I love this.

And I think a bone stock one, just minty would be.

That's the thing.

I would need to find one that's like, like,

and I know they're going to be stupid expensive.

That's how I do this.

But I would want like a,

I don't care about miles necessarily

because we know everything's going to get fixed

at some point on these, you know,

they're 35 years old now.

But I want one like that's completely clean,

like zero rust.

Like I want a new dash in there

because they all crack and all that stuff.

And I think I'd really enjoy that.

Yeah.

Another one for me would be the Honda S2000.

Cause my buddy Neff had one and I don't know,

we made a ton of memories in that car and driving around

and I'll never forget it.

Like he let me drive that car a ton.

And then also, yeah, they're fantastic.

That would be a phenomenal Sunday.

Like there's a reason the demographic is so widespread

on S2000s, like you have guys that are slamming them.

You have guys that are drifting them as we've seen.

And then you got like 60, 70 year old guys

and women guys and gals driving these.

I always see a bone stock, you know, yellow S2K

and there's an older lady driving downtown with it.

Just smiling.

Dang.

I want that to be me.

There's at least two in my area.

There's a black one and a red one.

Yeah, I see the red one here all the time.

Yeah, by two old different older gentlemen.

Like they have to be 60, 70 years old.

I love it.

I just cruise in it.

I love that.

I think that car is so perfect for that.

It's a good cruising and drop the top.

One of the only cars that pulls off a convertible well.

And it's just such a good driving experience.

And again, not fast.

They're not quick by any means.

But the feeling it gives you while you drive it,

it's hard to put a word on that.

How it makes you feel.

What about you, Gels?

I've been thinking that.

It's like, initially I was going to say like the RX8

because I always, I do want another RX8 at some point.

But now that I'm more like, I think of it,

I honestly might want to go back to like a 2G DSM.

Like finally, like I never had the GSX.

I never got the turbo version.

Like it was my first car that I learned a ton of stuff with.

But it was the GS, right?

And it's like that whole time I was like,

man, I'd love to boost this thing.

I'd love to get a GSX.

I'd love to get a GS, like even GST.

But like, I think like, if it was like, yep, I made it,

is when I have a minty clean GSX in my garage.

That's when you'll know.

It's a great choice.

I've, you know, it was kind of,

you brought it back to like,

oh, it was a car we had in our wedding.

It was a car we did.

Dude, that was the car that,

like I had in high school and, you know,

I got to know Maggie like with that car.

Like she had her lights,

she was riding before me because she was a year older than me.

So it was like, she saw me like go through

and like kind of like fall in love with cars

at the same time and like see that transition.

And it was like, and the journey with like the Eclipse

and like, you know, the places that we would go

like on dates all the time with that car.

We went to homecoming or like prom in that car.

Right, right.

Like that kind of stuff.

I love to get back into one of those.

And it's like, I've always tried to keep an eye out for,

you know, just like a stupid clean second gen Eclipse.

They're out there.

I know they are.

They are few and far between.

They're climbing.

They're either climbing in price

because they're staying nice or they're just rotting away.

Yeah.

So many of them rotted away.

Even the ones that weren't like abused.

It's just like, they were prone.

Yeah.

So it's like sitting and rotting.

Cause that's essentially what killed mine

was just the rot and the rust.

It was just like, I don't feel like I hated working on it

because anything I touched just disintegrated.

And it felt like any, anytime I worked on it just made it worse.

And then eventually it was just like,

I don't know if this thing's structurally set.

Like the subframe feels like it's rotting away.

It's like the strut towers on those are known

to rust out and it like was.

And it's like, I had already cut out stuff

and like welded plates and shit in there.

And it's like, it's only a matter of time

before the whole thing just fucking, you know?

So it's kind of like a sad end to that car.

And it's like, I think that's why, like I think about now.

It's like, I'd love to redeem it in a way.

I'll be like, this is a car that I always wanted

when I was in high school.

And it's cool to have like, cause you know,

when we were younger, you know, didn't have,

don't have any money yet or anything.

You get like, you get what you think is cool.

Yeah.

Knowing that, you know, you have to explain

all your friends why you didn't get the better one.

Yeah.

That's fine.

But so like, I think going back and getting like,

same thing with me and the M2, right?

The M2 comp was an amazing car,

but the CS came out six months after I bought the competition.

And I was like, damn, if I just waited.

Yeah.

And those are way more expensive.

So I still wouldn't have done it.

But now going back, getting a CS would be such like a,

it would like close that chapter.

Yeah.

Yeah. 100%.

Cause it was like, I kind of fell into the car

cause it was like, I wanted the clip so bad.

I want a second gen of clips.

I want a second gen clips.

I wouldn't shut up about it.

My mom was like, finally, she was a school teacher.

She was like, well, I taught a kid

that had one of those damn things at some point.

She's like, I'll message him on Facebook

and see if it's still, I'm like, yeah, that's not going to.

Sure shit, he still had it, the timing chain snapped.

Oh.

And so, or the timing belt snapped, sorry.

And he just parked it and he's been sitting in the garage.

He's like, yeah, he's like, I was just going to junk it

if you want it, you can have it.

And I was like, I'm not going to pet.

Like I want this car so goddamn bad.

I don't care what it takes to fix it up.

I want it to free clips.

What are you talking about?

I'm going to take it.

Not even realizing that there were different versions of it,

you know, that the GS was a front wheel drive,

naturally aspirated, basically glorified neon.

But, you know, it was what it was.

And it was like, I was always chasing that like,

man, the GSX would be so cool.

And it's like, I know that they're not.

It's kind of like a Mark IV super, right?

It's like, they're not crazy out of the gate, factory wise.

I got a chance to drive in a maculet,

like probably like the one that I would have kept forever.

It was stupid.

GSX got to drive it and experience it.

And it's like, it wasn't fast.

It wasn't, it wasn't like groundbreaking

in the terms of performance,

but it felt so fucking right.

Like it made the sounds that I always wanted.

Like it felt the way that I always wanted it to,

the, this sounds stupid,

but like the dash on the turbo versions,

it was like, I always wanted the fucking two gauges

right there because that meant that you had a GSX.

And it was like, I was like, this just feels so right.

And it's like, I'd love to get,

I'd love to chase that

and eventually have that to my own one day.

It's a little stuff like that that matters so much

because I always want it.

And this is, I thought I was getting it in the M2,

but I didn't.

All the M3s always have this thing

where the around the tachometer,

there's little lights like red and orange lights

that tell you basically don't rev it past

where the lights are when it's cold.

And as the car warms up, the lights turn off.

And I was like, I want that.

I want that because the 92s have it and the E46s

and the M2 didn't have it.

So I still was craving it

after I was daily driving in an M car.

I was like, I want that.

I want that so bad.

And then the M3 had it.

I was like, yes, there it is.

I made it.

Those little quirks that just like make the car remember,

the grass is always greener.

You can always find something better.

But even like, I had a 2009 Cobalt SS in the 2010s.

Well, one, mine didn't come with that like classic

Cobalt SS high rise spoiler.

I always thought that was the coolest thing

when I was younger, mine had the low rise.

So I went wingless.

I always wanted that high rise spoiler.

But the 2010 Cobalt, the turbo ones,

I made the turbo charge ones.

I had a factory boost gauge in the A pillar, which is sick.

That's cool.

Yeah, but the 2010 ones had a digital display,

like a rectangle that came out of the A pillar

and you could go between like different settings

and it would showcase different stuff.

It was like, man, I wish I would have got a 2010

because that's so sick.

But it's so funny how like those little things

stick with you and you're like, damn,

I just wanted that one.

It's like what I hyper fixated on so much.

It doesn't change anything.

But it's what you wanted.

That's what you like.

And that's right too.

It's like the 20th anniversary GTIs.

I fucking, I love the lip kits on them.

I love the Ricardo seats.

And it's like, do those change anything

from any other GTI?

Not at all, but I just, I love them.

And I need those.

It just completes the picture in your mind.

And that's how you end up at a car show

in 40 years with a board out front

of your basically stock car.

Yeah.

Exactly.

So guys, down below, I want to hear all of your

like one cars that you need to get one day.

I want to hear what they are.

If they have a weird quirk or feature,

make sure to include that too

or something that's got to be with that car.

I'd love to hear it.

I'll go through it.

I'll make sure to read these

because I find it so interesting and fascinating how

everyone's is a little bit different

and they all have a story behind it.

So thank you guys so much for listening.

If you need coilovers, Fortune Auto

is the final sponsor of Martini Works podcast.

And they've been phenomenal

through the many, many years.

I've had them on all of my vehicles

and I've just enjoyed the hell out of them.

So huge shout out and thank you to Fortune Auto

for sponsoring Martini Works podcast.

You can head on over to martiniworks.com,

select the ones you want.

And if you have any questions

or you want to work on maybe customizing them,

we can help you do that

because Fortune Auto hand builds,

hand assembles all of them here in the USA.

So that way they can customize them

to any spec you want.

And if you want to upgrade to Swift Springs

or anything like that,

you're more than welcome to do that.

Otherwise they have them off the shelf

ready to go to for you.

And we can ship them out nice and quick for you.

So, Jels, you got anything else?

No, I'm looking forward to a future now, man.

Yeah, I want to eclipse again.

I started out of another savings

at Columbia, get that car.

Lars, thank you for coming on.

Do you have anything else?

Yeah, no problem.

It just reminded me the next thing I want

is like the car,

like one of those little quirky things.

This one may sound really stupid,

but the the CS cars

and a lot of the Porsche GT3 cars

have the little cloth that you guys use

to pull the door shut.

Oh, yeah.

Little pull tabs.

That's the next thing for me.

I really want one of those.

Those are cool.

Absolutely.

Well, thanks again, guys.

I hope you have a fantastic weekend

and we'll see you guys on the next podcast.

Absolutely.

The Real Reason I Sold My Supra For a 4Runner

About this episode

BMW M3

Mazda Rx8

Hudson Hornet

Toyota Camry

Volkswagen Jetta

Volkswagen Gti

Toyota Supra

Ford F150S

Nissan R34

BMW E90

Mitsubishi Galant

Ford Mustang GTD

Toyota 4Runner

BMW M5

BMW M2

Mercury Cougar

Mustang Mach 1

Chevrolet Camaro

Dodge Challenger

Scion Frs

Chevrolet Chevelle

Dodge Charger

Nissan 240SX

M2 Cs

Honda S2000

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