The Rise and Fall of the Stance Scene

All right, welcome back to the MartiniWorks podcast I'm here with.

Gell and Brent.

Hi, Brent.

Brent hasn't been on the podcast.

Well, Brent, give one fun fact about yourself and one lie.

I died last week and I came back to life.

That's true.

If my voice sounds a little raspy, that's why.

I'll start worshiping you.

All right, today we're going to be talking a little bit

about the rise and fall of this dance scene.

I thought that'd be interesting to talk about a little bit

because back in the day, I was obsessed with stance cars.

And I feel like everyone was like, it was like a cultural phenomenon.

And I feel like it just went insane.

And we really got to live in the peak of when stance cars were.

Yeah, because like when I was getting into cars

and started modifying cars, it was like, like you said,

it was kind of like at its peak.

Like it was in its heyday of this shit's going crazy.

And that's what I remember all the videos being

and like all the social media at the time being.

So yeah, I'd say like it had a huge impact

on like my taste in cars at the time.

Absolutely. My first few cars, the only thing I wanted to do with them

was lower them. Yeah.

I remember I had a Mustang GT and it was cool.

It was fun. It was a good car.

May not a good first car, but I wanted to lower it and slam it so bad.

And like at that time, there just wasn't like I couldn't find BC

extreme lows or anything for it.

So I was like, I don't even want this stupid thing.

I can't slam it on. It's not that I hate it.

And then I got Cobalt SS immediately.

I get BC's. I dump it as low as I can go.

And then like it doesn't go that low.

So I'm like, I'm doing the stuff where I'm taking the locking collars

out of my coilovers.

I would literally lower it, go drive it, like take some photos of it.

I'm like, it's not low enough.

I go drive it back in my garage, jack it up and figure out any way I could.

Like literally it got to the point where did you remove your springs?

No, not that bad.

We ran into some people in Gatt that we're doing that.

You might have to tell that story, Fred.

But I was tearing through my CV boots

because the coilover strut was spun all the way through the bottom of the mount.

So it was hitting my CV boot.

Sure. Oh, yeah.

So I just had them completely maxed out and then some and I wanted more low.

And Camber was always weird with the Cobalt SS.

So I couldn't build this dance car.

I really wanted.

But it just goes like I was just so infatuated.

It was the only thing I really, really cared about it.

And I think it was a lot to do with like

Crispy's after movies, honestly, like I remember getting off work

and sitting and watching those and maybe watch them two or three times

because I just loved them.

Yeah, those those had a stranglehold on everybody within the stance community.

I swear like 100 percent.

That's I feel like that's how I became aware of it.

Was the two videos between Crispy,

Halcyon, a couple others at the time doing it.

But like that opened my eyes to seeing like how people were modifying

these cars and stuff like that.

Because at the time, you know, Instagram was starting to become.

It was still like just like people taking cell phone photos of their food.

Right. Or like really bad filters over random photos.

The car scene hadn't taken over Instagram yet.

And you know where it did, though, where it just was starting to go crazy.

Where was Facebook groups and pages?

Oh, yes. Yeah.

Like pages so that he had like lowered lifestyle.

And I remember I shot for this one called Laced Up.

And it was just like all focused on stance cars.

Stance Nation.

I feel like that was a big one.

Stance Nation was huge.

Yeah, I remember even scrolling on Facebook and seeing my first car

with like excessive camber or more camber than usual.

And I was like, that's crazy.

Like, how did they even tilt the wheels?

What is that?

And I thought it looked so unique and so different.

So different.

So it really just transferred.

It's it's crazy to think about because like I feel like obviously

my dad, when, you know, he had a car back and no one was slamming them

or cambering them out.

If they were, it was just like they were lowering them.

But like everything was tucked.

Yeah, like they're tucking the wheel.

Like and I feel like though it still wasn't like excessive.

No, unless it was like low riders.

It was like natural camber, if anything, never added it.

Low rider, like a rat rod or something, you know, I feel like the

the later 2000s, like once you start getting into like, say, 2011

and up or is that too early?

I don't know because I was looking because we were talking about this

and I was just looking back at like H2O International.

Yeah, we've talked about it before.

But like that being the big stance shows that I remember seeing

all the after movies for and you asked question was like, was H2O

was it an actual car show or was it just like a weekend

that everyone just decided to go to Ocean City?

And it apparently was.

It was a car show that was at the article that I was a motor

trend article and it was written in 2014.

It said it had been going on for 15 years.

So that would put it in like 1999 or 2000 is like the first.

And I think it was just like Euro focused.

Like it seemed very Euro focused.

And then I think it got really stance oriented.

But I remember seeing, yeah, it was probably wrong.

Like personally for me, of course, like a little bit younger.

So like I started to get into cars a little bit later.

And Brent, maybe you can adjust to this too.

But like it was like 2013, 2014.

I remember seeing a lot of that stuff really start to come out.

Yeah, I think I came into it because I'm I'm 26.

I came into it right when I think Canberra was just noticed

as like a cool thing and a trend and people started actually going

and doing it more.

And that was about when?

That was I probably got into it seeing aftermovies and stuff in like 2015.

OK, so I'm a little bit later into it.

Sure. But yeah, at that point, Canberra

and everything was already established.

So I would imagine it would be like somewhere around like 2012

is when they started to do that kind of.

Yeah, if you guys haven't, I would say because me and Gels

are doing this right before we hopped on the podcast,

go watch one of Krispies or Halcyon's old

like aftermovie or event videos.

Man, the nostalgia just came like pouring in and seeing those builds.

We were talking about what was popular.

And I want to go through that a little bit because it it definitely

has changed to now, even like comparing stance card to stance

card, they're very different.

But there's some things that have stuck.

Yeah, 100 percent.

But like CCWs, Avant-Garde wheels, WCI, which was a bit

controversial, became.

Yeah, they are not even R.A.P.

They were they were sketch.

What out bags on everything?

Static cars, too, were big car clubs, car clubs.

Oh, my dude, we were seeing so many banners like Dapper,

Dapper, Lace or Fat Lace.

Fat Lace is a big one.

Elist. Elist. Yes.

There was and I feel like all of those things.

Can't forget all the mostly.

And like, sorry, I don't want to like call it.

I feel like they are all like Facebook pages pretty much.

Yeah, that's basic.

Now they're just like gone.

I just I do remember though, like watching those

and I'm like sitting in my like bedroom, watching these movies

with my bone stock, SXT, neon.

And I'm like, dude, I want a Dapper decal.

So I just remember like I want to be like a part of that someday.

How do I like our clubs?

Right. I believe so.

Yeah, there was like a like a brand.

But it was like, yeah, it was like a lifestyle brand.

Is that like that's so like one of them

that have probably made it, then would be vaded.

Right. Yeah, like vaded.

Was it violent?

So yeah, you know, a lot of those.

And they it seems like they're similar.

Yeah, but a lot of them, I feel like like died with the show almost.

Or I don't know. It just it changed a lot.

A lot of Euro cars.

And then there was like a couple exceptions.

I'd say one of the biggest exceptions though, it seemed like

everybody in that time frame was begging their Subaru.

And I remember that was such a conch.

Oh, yeah, it was like the the bug eye and blah by Subaru's like

and Hawkeye on this.

Hawkeye, you do that to a rally car.

Exactly.

It was like people were throwing them on air suspension

and then they had camber on them and they were like fender to lip

and it just broke people's minds of like, how dare you do that

to a rally car?

You basically took away all of its function.

And you know, at the time, I remember those cars were

like pretty expensive still.

Like, you know, they were kind of like that age where

they weren't like cheap, but like they weren't like super expensive.

So it was like it was kind of like a thing where it's like

it was like a goal car for a lot of people.

Like, oh, man, I want to save up and get one of these someday

and then seeing someone do something like that crazy.

Yeah, there's a lot more clean ones at that time, too.

Yes, they had been ran through.

So it's like it's it's a lot tougher to go

and do that to a really nice Subaru.

Yeah.

And it's like it has all that potential to be really good off road.

Airlift's been around since like 1949, 1950, whatever it is,

when they were using like air to like help with race cars and stuff like that.

But then like airlift performance came out.

And I feel like this is around the air where like

airlift two, I don't even know what it was called.

Yeah, V2 and then three P.

Like that was like peak stance car culture.

I feel like and I feel like, I don't know, it's starting to die out

and maybe in the second segment, we can kind of get into that more.

Also, stay tuned, guys, if you want to win some stuff for free,

we'll be telling you how to do that shortly.

Stay tuned for that.

But early 2015, I'm calling.

OK. Peak. Really?

I agree. And I think after that, slowly declining.

Sure, I fully agree.

Yeah, we were kind of going through the videos and stuff too.

And it was I'm trying to like think back to

and like even I know like the shows and stuff here in Wisconsin,

you know, you had there like every now and then you have like

a really like stance car roll through like some of the shows up here.

It wasn't as common here anyway.

But you kind of saw this trend of like it.

Like the camber and stuff got like more accepted.

There's a lot of builds on like air suspension

or even started rolling through the static like kind of phase.

And then it like kind of evolved like you started seeing

like the big wings pop up and like a lot of the air heavy stuff.

And it was like 2016 2017.

I feel like evolved into that like combination of like time attack

arrow, but like still low as fuck kind of show billed.

Everybody had a way to buy everything was just loud.

Like there's it was like I refer to it like

twenty twenty covid like TikTok room with all the LEDs and shit.

Like that was a trend.

It's like that same vibe.

There was LEDs everywhere.

Loud colored wheels, colored wheels, big arrow like everything

that could be touched was removed and replaced with something carbon.

It all this.

It's like because you still have a lot of that now, but I do think

it's more dialed in because like, yes, we have big wings now,

but you go back and like you watch these videos.

There's two K's where the stands are literally like three feet

tall on these wings.

Like I remember big wings being like that's why I wanted when I had my

Evo 10 had one in I wanted to have my car as low as possible.

And I wanted to buy the biggest wing I could afford, which wasn't much,

but I still ended up.

I think I bought it. I did.

I bought it here when no, Vortex.

No, it was some like various.

No, I can't even remember the brand.

I remember I bought it from a guy on Instagram, though.

And I followed his Evo 10 forever and he had a Varis kit or

a Varis kit on his Evo 10, but it wasn't a wing like that.

But I remember he shipped it to me and it was quite the box.

And then I self tapped or self drilled it into the the trunk.

And I remember the first one because I had a mechanic and he was so cool

because he was willing to help me with anything aftermarket.

A lot of, you know, mechanics are like, no, I don't do this.

This guy, he's younger.

He was in the stance scene.

So like he would take my Evo 10 and he would put boards under it

and help it get on left and he didn't complain.

He didn't care. He thought it was cool.

So I called him and like, Hey, I got this wing.

I've never installed one. Will you help me put it on?

He's like, yeah, totally.

He's like, but I'm not going to be in for a couple of days.

I was like, oh, shit. OK.

No, get the drill.

Me and my friend are sitting there looking at it and we're just like,

fuck it.

So the first hole I go to drill just walks on the tree.

Oh, my gross.

My Evo 10. I dude, I wanted to fucking throw.

I was immediately because that was like, I was like, what year?

My Evo or what year I was doing here.

It was shit. Let me think.

It had to have been like, because I want to say that was a relatively

newer car at the time, still. I was 19.

So I know you had it in 2015 and it had the big wing and stuff.

2014, maybe 2014. What year is the car?

Twenty. 15, 2008, 2008.

So still like at the time, relatively like new because I look at

like when I bought my FRS a few years ago and like when that came out,

like that time difference was about the same.

And like that was a car like 13,000 miles on it.

Yeah. So it's like, I imagine like doing that to like imagine doing that

to like a new car essentially just 100 percent.

And luckily, though, I did go through with it

because the the like the plate, the mounting plate of the wing covered it.

All right. I don't know.

Brent, you had, I remember you showing me some photos.

Where was the Stancy Boy Stancy Boy?

Yeah, I had a stance card.

I didn't build, but I did have a mark, a red mark for July.

Oh, yeah. Yeah.

On airlift 2P, some three, three SDM wheels.

Oh, there were they?

They were silver. OK. And yeah.

Were they the big five spoke ones? Yeah. Nice.

Yeah. And had the kitchen trunk.

Oh, yeah. Oh, my God.

You know, love that.

That car was actually immaculate, though.

And I bought it as kind of a younger kid.

And I was like, this is going to be my daily.

And then winter came, which I shouldn't have daily that car in winter,

but I did. And the front passenger side bag had a leak,

only when it was like below zero, which is never should never drive

a car up bags below zero temperatures. You can.

But I don't know.

I would have to like go into work and I'd be watching my air pressures.

I'd be following my car.

I just. Oh, my God.

It was out of the least. Oh, it was bad.

So I'd like have to like hit the button to be like.

Just slowly go back down.

Jesus. And I did that for a couple of months.

And you were like Volkswagen kid. Yeah.

But as the car was like immaculate, not a spec arrest anywhere.

So I was like, I can't I can't do this to this car.

Yeah. So I had to get rid of it because I just felt too bad.

I was like, this car needs to like sit in a heated garage.

It was clean.

You showed me photos and it looked really nice.

Yeah. So I got rid of it.

The the person who bought it allegedly put it in a heated garage

in Minnesota somewhere. OK.

So if you're watching this podcast, let me know because I want to see that car.

I miss it. It's still alive. Right. You buy it.

So you had a stance car, Dakota.

You stance car.

Would you classify any of your builds?

Oh, 100 percent.

Even my my cobalt.

I mean, I was putting two 15's on nine and a half.

And I had it as low as I possibly could go.

Not really because I wanted it to be a stance car more than anything.

And then again, my Evo 10, I had it on MB battles for a while,

just absolutely dumped on Fortunato coilovers.

I literally had it like a half inch off the ground.

Now the ST and then the ST.

Yeah. But that was a bit later.

Yeah. So I stuck with it.

But what was interesting with that is when I got that,

I was starting to get out of it a little bit.

So I put Fortunato coilovers on it and I autocrossed it

and I took it to the drag strip and I was like, that was cool.

That was awesome.

And then I was like, but I've never had a car on bags.

So I had the opportunity and I worked a fuck ton of overtime

and I bought airlift performance three P and I got it and installed it.

And then I had some work wheels I had on it.

And arguably, I think I like those more,

but then I ended up getting three piece wheels that VIP modulars

and they popped up for sale and it was for a smoke and deal.

And I was like, the guy was in Oklahoma.

I'm in Wisconsin.

Yeah. I was like, hey, any chance you chip him?

He's like, I can't.

He's like, I honestly, I have a lot of people interested.

He's like, they all fall through.

I'll look at shipping, but I really don't want to.

I was like, OK, that's fair.

And then I text my buddy Neff and we're working second shift

at the time, get done at like 2 a.m.

And I was like, you want to go to Oklahoma?

And he's like, I was like, seriously?

Hey, he's like, all right, fuck it, let's do it.

So we just drove straight to Oklahoma and we picked up these wheels.

And then the dude was so kind.

He had a Focus RS and they're perfectly fit to the car.

And he's like, damn, you guys really drove all the way from Wisconsin.

That's insane.

He's like, if you want it, you can like spend the night.

Imagine if you saw them.

Wow.

We're like, no, we're just going to head back.

So we literally drove to Oklahoma, picked up the wheels

and just drove straight back along the drive was that.

Let me let me look here.

I think Oklahoma for wheels is diabolical.

I know, but we were just back nonstop.

Yeah.

Did you have to work the next couple?

No, no, it was the weekend.

Gotcha. And I make up that over time.

Yeah. Let me see here roughly.

Yeah, it's about a 13, 14 hour drive.

Just one way, one way.

Oh, like a 16, 7.

So OK, you're done here.

OK, next.

Dude, I was dedicated to the game.

I loved it.

Like it was like my first stuff, right?

First time having bags, first time having three piece wheels.

Like I was just so you were working your ass off to get it.

You're like, I just want to get it all my money.

Every cent to my name, I was just spending on this fucking focus.

So what year was it because.

It was about 2016, 2017 that you got the VIP modules for it.

I can look. I'm trying to think I'm so bad with dates.

I'm trying to when we first got really like started working together.

It was around 2017, 2018, I believe.

Yep. And I think you had just gotten the VIP modules like that winter.

Because yeah, I was working at the DC when I picked them up.

But yeah, I didn't have them that long.

The reason I was asking because like, you know, you know, we're talking like

timeline, we're talking like 2015 was like peak.

You know, it's like 2017 or 2018 or so.

And the ST, like I remember being such a good looking like proper.

In my opinion, it was like car perfect.

It wasn't like a ton of camber, but it had really, really good for you.

Like the fender to lip fitment.

But at the same time, you also had like some of the aggressive arrow

that I was talking about started, but it wasn't overdone.

Right. It was everything was like a chassis mount wing.

It was just like some wing risers and some, uh, you have like some

canards and stuff at the rally innovations, um, wing on the back,

which I found I was super rare now and discontinued.

Um, and then I had a splitter on it, some canards.

And yeah, I tried to blend that because like I said,

I went from like taking it to the track and autocross, uh,

Drake strip stuff to kind of morphing it into a stance build.

So I kind of like combined them and I really liked how that looked.

I not like claiming that.

I think that was definitely a phase.

And we're still seeing is like this, like battle arrow style builds.

You know, um, it looks like, um, 2018.

Nice.

That's right around the time.

Yeah.

At that time, that's, uh, when I first met you, you had the ST.

And I had just gotten rid of, rid of my red GLI.

And I remember seeing your ST and being like, damn, this is like podium.

Like this is like, no, I thought I know.

Oh, thank God.

Yeah.

I was like, this is like a really, really proper.

I hadn't seen a build like that in person.

Yeah.

And I was like, this is crazy.

This is next level shit.

And that means a lot.

I just, I remember when I picked up the ST, um, I was

watching Mighty car mods and I was like in that phase of my life, I was

like, I want to do everything to this car myself.

I want to learn how to do shit.

I want to do stuff I've never done before.

And then that's what I did with it.

So I, I did every mod to that car.

I did every like event that I could.

I, I took it autocross for the first time and Drake strip.

Like I said, and then also I won a best of show at ST fast.

Oh nice.

Um, so it was like all these things, like just check off, check off, check off.

So that was, it was huge for me, but I think that's like when I was done

with it and ready to move on, I think I was ready to move on to the next step.

And I got the Supra and I lowered that pretty good.

I think that'll always be in, I like good.

It was dumb, but yeah, but I, I kept it more meaty fit men.

I didn't go, you know, I even had the three piece wheels for a while, but

I was like, man, at the time though, like, I think like the whole, like,

especially when you're, you know, talking about like getting the

Supra and stuff, it's like that whole phase had like shifted like culturally to

like, you know, people were like, how much tire can I tuck?

Yeah.

And I was like, you had 305s in the rear tucking on the Supra.

And it's like, that was pretty bad ass.

But it's still like, it was a good fit.

But like you would have showed that to someone in like 2013, 2014.

And they're like, Oh no, you need to go wider.

You need to stretch a tire.

You need more camber camber and that's what I'm saying.

And let's get into that, like the second phase of what we hit, like it was

like the, the first battle pass season of stance cars.

Like we had the OG game and then the battle pass dropped.

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All right.

Section two, chapter two, line two.

Season two.

Um, reload, rewind, stance, OG cars.

Where did they head after that?

I feel like it was a huge rush and like I'm not saying it's not

popular still because it is definitely run, but it's it's

different.

It's it's not like it was like, dude, we're going back to those

videos and it was like, holy shit, like I want to say, like

looking back at a lot of the cars from there, none of them

were like, for the most part, overdone by any means.

It was like super popular to get a brand new car that was

just released and either bag it or put on coilovers and just

dump it on the most expensive wheels you could get.

Like the AGs, for example, we were talking a little bit about

it to Avant Garde.

I remember those were on everything and they were like

the most baller, but they were on everything.

Cause like I feel like there's a huge marketing push for AG.

What they would do is give everyone, every single person

that wanted to buy AG was a sponsorship because that was

the big thing too.

Social media was getting crazy.

Those pages are blowing up.

So now everyone's like, oh, I want a sponsorship for my

car, blah, blah, blah.

Well, AG was smart and they're like, okay, we're going to

mark our wheels at $5,000.

And yeah, you get a partial sponsorship.

So guess what?

You get them for 4500.

Yeah.

What a deal.

What year are we talking about here?

That had been that was more in that first section.

I feel like, um, so now we're getting like past 2015.

We're on that start to decline.

So I'd say you're starting to get into 2016,

17, 18, 19, um, that car.

And that's like you were saying too, I feel like

that's where all of a sudden, like the meaty

fitments are coming in.

Everyone was like, okay, stretch tires.

That's kind of weird.

I'm going to just try to fit the biggest tire I can

while still begging.

So this is, this is also where too, I'm, I'm starting

to think like a lot of your, you know, you think back

to OG automotive YouTubers, like TJ, Adam really

started to like blow up.

It was like TJ's thing was like meaty fitment,

wide body bags.

I was just about to say known for that.

This is wide body era.

Yes.

Oh, absolutely.

Yeah.

Everybody was wide body, but it wasn't necessarily

extreme camber.

It was, it was a lot of just meaty, like straight

up and down, like from what I remember too.

And if any camber was in there, there was from

natural camber from, I feel like, yeah, some

people still did the camber thing, but it

was, yeah, it was down a lot.

Even in the beginning, there was that

crazy camber, but I feel like that really

got popular at like after the wide body phase.

It was like, everyone's like, okay, well, I'm

going to do stock body and then stock body

became cool.

But I still have to fit these 14 wide.

Yeah.

Yeah, it was kind of crazy to see that too,

because I remember hopping in like full

into like watching all that stuff.

I'd watch that like majority of the time

I'm like, I want to throw some on.

I'm throwing on, you know, something

like that TJ Hunt video or Adam LZ video

or something like that.

Dustin Williams.

He even did some sand spills and stuff.

Yeah.

So it's like, you know, in that, I'm

trying to think of like that era, like

Brent, I think, nailed it, like later

years turned to a lot of like, everything's

wide body, everything's on bags, meaty

fitments.

I'm trying to think of like eliminate at

the time they were doing some like more.

It was very, you know, it was very professional.

I feel like it was very professional, but

like still had like that taste of.

Now that you're saying it, it was the the

shift in media changed with the shift

in cars too, because what it went from

was like car edits to like dubstep

music and after movies and it turned

into like vlogs.

I'm going to show you how I built this

car and then that exploded.

And then we've seen that new era of

cars.

But yeah, it's funny that you say, I

almost forgot, like you look back at

TJ and Adam and Dustin and all those

really big guys now.

But when they started, they were all

focused on sand stuff too.

I feel like at the very beginning.

Yeah, definitely.

Why do you think that is that more

people when they get into cars start

off with stands accessible.

It's it's cheaper.

You think so?

Oh, yeah.

OK, imagine.

OK, here's two different scenarios,

two different scenarios.

You're just first getting into cars.

You you have the option of OK, I can

modify my car, but like what's the

best route to go?

Do I make it look good or do I make

it perform good?

What's going to be cheaper?

I think making it look good is

going to be way cheaper.

If you want to go and do autocross

or if you want to drift it or

whatever motorsport motorsports

are expensive, that's very

pricey, where there's a lot of

stuff you can do cosmetically that

is just DIY.

So I think that kind of just leads

into the whole stance and more of

the just aesthetic route.

Yeah, I don't know.

I I almost think it's like it was

just less like there's less

videos about people aren't like

vlogging and doing autocross

really because like you could go

to an autocross event with your

car the way it is and you'd be

OK.

You'd be fine.

And then the same thing for

stance cars, you could spend as

much as you wanted to.

If you're doing airlift and these

five thousand dollar AG wheels and

all this stuff like that can rack

up really quickly.

But at the same time, it's like I

remember when I was first getting

into cars and I was like I didn't

have the money to go blow on stuff.

So like Brandon was saying is like

I I want I knew I wanted to do

stuff with my car.

How can I do stuff with my car

right now without spending a

ton of money?

Yeah.

And it's like, OK, are you

going to cut springs?

Are you going to put the car

and washers?

Are you going to go find some

third hand multi piece wheels

that are way too wide?

But yeah, I'll just lower it and

camber it with some eBay control

arms or something like that for

my civic and just right run it.

Dakota, you're totally right

about you can just go into

autocross with a stock car.

However, when you're when

you're like a kid just getting

into it, you want to modify

your car.

You want to you want to do

this. Yeah, I want to make a

different. Yeah, yeah.

It's just kind of surprising

like I don't know.

It's like I feel like everyone

just naturally kind of and I

know there's some people that

have like hated it since

being about a lot of us, I

think, gravitated towards

like stancing a car versus

sure, you know, getting heavily

into performance.

Now, I think I think a good

thing, too, is to kind of talk

about the cars that

we're having this done because

looking back on a lot of those

videos and it could have just

been the events, too.

Like, you know, we're looking

back at like solo videos, H2O

videos, all that sort of

stuff. Very, very heavy

Euro influence, like lots of

Mark fours.

Oh, yeah. Lots of things like

Mark six, Audi's, Audi's.

S2K's sprinkled in there.

We talked about those.

Talked about the WRXs and stuff

like that.

But now you can pair that to,

I would say, a few years later,

you know, FRSs are getting

thrown into the mix.

The newer like the newer age

of like Japanese stuff was

kind of coming through

and even, you know, a lot

of the older JDM stuff.

So now you start getting into

like some of the VIP

stance stuff, which I think

really kind of took over the

later years of

like the 2010s in the

stance scene, because people

started to be like, OK,

I want like camber and stuff,

but I don't want to do it to a

Mark four.

I want, you know, or I don't

want to do it to like an old

Mercedes. I don't like Mercedes.

They're unreliable, whatever,

whatever.

That

LS 400 is kind of cool, though

that GS 300 is kind of dude.

Yeah. Yeah, there is a GS 300

phase for sure.

Yes, there was.

It died out now, honestly.

I never, ever see.

But I think they look really good

slammed.

It's a big body car.

They're kind of they're unique

looking with those like the Lilo

and Stitch lights.

I always thought of them.

Isn't there someone from Monsters

Inc, too?

Oh, I think so.

I can't remember them.

I always think of the why can't

I think of his name from Lilo.

Yeah, it's like I died.

I go with the Jumbo.

I'm not going to remember his name.

Only you would.

I got a little stuff.

Yeah.

I feel like it was a pretty popular

movie.

Yeah.

But I think the FRS BRZ

that I remember was crazy.

The we were talking about this

earlier, too. The Gencoop and

the FRS BRZ.

Well, the FRS Gencoop.

Yeah, Gencoop and the FRS when

those came out.

I I remember going

to a WCC event here

in Appleton. I was living in

Wausau at the time and I was

like never really saw

those cars.

And if you did, it was like off

the lot. They're bone stock.

And it's like going to,

you know, one of the car shows

or something here.

And it was like, whoa, that one

is on air.

That one has a wide body

kit on it, you know, and it's

like it's wrapped like

an iridescent color.

Like that's that's the craziest

car I've ever seen.

You know, like I remember that

specifically kind of being like

a turning point for a lot of

stuff, too.

Those platforms did so

much. And that was a lot of

platforms like you look at like,

you know, you're talking about

TJ Hunt, you know, the BRZ

Miley, like that was like the

big car that I remember

watching him build back in the

day and like the phases that

that car went through and the

widebodies and all that sort of

stuff.

Like the aftermarket

just following and support for

those platforms.

I feel like blew up so much.

Huge.

Yeah, they were everywhere

and every single style build

you could do with them and the

Rocket Bunny kits and every.

Oh my gosh, it just went

insane.

It blew up.

I feel like the FRS BRZ

is partially responsible for

like widebodying becoming

so popular that the cool thing

was then to keep it stock body.

Yeah, 100 percent.

It was like every show you went

to there'd be four or five

widebodied FRS's.

His name was Jumbo, by the way,

and he is 100 percent a GS

300. Yeah, he's like ever.

He's a GS 300.

That's a GS 300.

Indistinguishable, actually.

Bring those back.

I never see them anymore.

Yeah, they're good.

Some different ones every now and then

or GS 400, either

are some GS's that drift every now

and then, but you start

getting into now.

Do you think stance is dying?

Yeah, we were just to get

and not relating it to get being

shut down because it wasn't like

it was shut down because no one

was showing up.

Too many people were showing up.

So at that point, is it like

more popular than ever?

Or do you guys think it's phasing

out? Because it's like, I would

say they're good.

Oh, yeah. OK, it's

a tough call, but I think the car

scene is becoming more

divisive, if that's the right

word. It like there's different

groups and those groups are

sticking to their groups.

So like there's the stance

people and there's motorsport

people. And I think that's

becoming a lot more divided.

Interesting. Yeah.

Why do you think that is, though?

Personally, like this is my take

on it is like, I think

stance is this kind of goes

back to the money thing, too,

where it's like it's easily

accessible to get into it.

So with that, you have a lot of

younger kids just getting into

it. And sometimes

the younger kids don't have that

experience of like, oh, you

shouldn't do these like hood

rat things because it's not

ultimately good for the car

scene.

And I kind of lost my train

of thought.

I get what you're saying.

And it is almost like to an

extent, this is a generalization,

but like age groups and stuff,

too. I feel like as you get a

bit older, you start getting a

little less into. However, I

disclaimer, there's, you know,

everyone from every age group

in every scene, whether you

have super young kids in

motorsport or older people,

I've seen in slammed trucks

and cars all the time.

So but in a general

aspect, I would say the younger

crowd is a little more into

the stance scene where as you

get 30 plus, where we're

starting to have, we get more

focused on your sport.

OK, so I kind of, I kind of

regain my train of thought.

He railed and railed.

Yeah, I'm railed.

What?

Hold up. Don't clip that.

Don't clip. I'm clipping it.

Canceled.

But OK, so

with that, you get the

the.

The kids doing the

hood rat things and

us, at least for me personally,

I don't want to be associated

with that. I don't want to be

the person who's getting these

shows shut down.

I love the shows.

I love stance cars.

I think they look sick.

But if the majority of people in

that group or maybe not the

majority, but if there's a higher

percentage of bad eggs in that

group, I don't want to be

associated with them.

So then that makes me

naturally gravitate towards

motor sports and things that

were involved.

What community is better for me

then? Exactly. So I think

that's where the dive where

people are like they're choosing

their lane and they're staying

to that lane.

Yeah, I also look at it, too.

It's like, you know, we kind

of talked about, well, people

weren't slamming their cars like

our parents were slamming their

cars and stuff like that.

It's like, OK.

And and that

turned out to be what it is.

And it's like, you look back at

these videos, you know, 2015.

That was 10 years ago.

Yeah, those people in those

videos are 20 some years.

They're in their thirties,

almost probably forties now.

Yeah, holy shit.

Yeah, what are they into now?

Exactly. So it's like, as you

get older, things change and

stuff like that. Or it's like

some people carry that with

you. I still know people from

those videos that still have

slam cars and stuff.

And I still love them.

I would still love to do

like a mark for GTI slammed.

I would love to do that.

I did. I did.

Yeah, I say it like I didn't do

that. Like I easy Mac.

Yeah, easy Mac with the cheesy

raps. That was such a sick car.

I such a sick car.

But I would love to have that

even now. Like I sold that car.

I'd still do it again.

I still love that.

But I'd say like as my main

vehicle, I'm definitely

right in a functional

phase of my life.

It's like, yeah, 100 percent

get it. But kind of coming

back to the question there, too,

it's like, you know, are they

dying or whatever?

I look back to the last couple

years that we've went to

Gallenberg.

It's like the kind

of addition and influence

of the motorsport scene having

on the quote unquote

show scene.

You know, yes, the cars were

still low, but it's like it

wasn't what we were watching.

You know, and it wasn't what

it was when I first started

going to get. And there wasn't

a ton of excessive camber

anymore. It was more

very, very dialed in stuff.

It was focused on like interiors

and trunk setups.

And yeah, you know,

you look at some like like the

Vaded cars for instance,

like Josh's like Chaser for

instance. It's like, yes, that's

a that's a 100 percent like

a show. I would consider

like stance here. But it's

also like so much more than

that. It's still like

functioning like imagine

seeing something like that in

one of those movies at 2015

like that would yeah

be insane. Not saying it's

not insane car already, but

it would have stood out so much.

Right, man.

Yeah, it's like still stands

up, but it's shifted.

It shifted from like

here's just a new like we said

new car on that's

lowest fuck and on some white

or like expensive ass wheels.

And that was, you know, really

all it took. But now it's like,

OK, how do we stand out from

that and get more excessive,

more excessive, more refined

because it was too accessible.

How do we dial it back?

But still do stuff.

But also, I think there is a

combination in there of

different styles like we took

a fucking Pro Formula Mazda

open wheel car to Gatlinburg

this year and an R.B.

swapped Datsun 240 Z.

I think.

But it like no one bad

at night. They're like that's

sick. Right. I love seeing that.

Yeah. So I think it actually

just got more accepting

like people are like, I've

seen the same mark for

on fucking three SDM's

30 times.

I want to see something different.

Yeah. And it's just opened the doors

of it. Yeah, I agree.

I don't I don't think it's

dying. I think it is

a little bit less popular than

it was.

And I think it was so popular

because it was so mind boggling

again, like taking it back to

when I said I've seen my first

cambered car online and in person.

I can remember both times

specifically because it stuck out

to me so much.

Yeah. Now you've seen it three

billion times, you know,

like I feel like we were in that era

of like when it really happened.

And that's why it was so everywhere

and everyone was doing it.

And maybe now it's a little bit less

because it's been done over and over

and over and over and over again.

So I feel like people are just

branching out and going back

to other things now.

I would like to see

like so

remember like when we were first

OK, maybe me, I guess in like 2016

area, 2017, whatever

looking in those days when I'd

look back and I'd see like a 2000

build, I hated it.

Yeah, I thought it was so gross.

Now I see that.

I'm like, that shit's sick.

Yeah, like it's so cool.

I would love to see that make a comeback.

Nostalgia is a powerful thing.

Yeah, it is.

Totally. I totally get what you're

saying. I relate completely with it.

You're like, oh, that's a ricer.

Like that's a ricer.

But now it's like you look back

and it's like, dude, that body

gets so fucking rare.

And it's actually in good shape.

How much at work it was.

Yeah, right.

And go on there and like a unique

how one off it is.

Like you really respect it.

Maybe that just that comes from like

time to like doing multiple

builds and stuff and working on

different vehicles that now you can

kind of appreciate what that person

did, even if it isn't your style.

You do it to your own vehicle.

I think you learn more about it.

But do you think like all those

cars that we're talking about from

like 20, you know, 2013

and to 2016, 2011, 2016

they out there somewhere or they

have been like redone like

they just been absolutely scraped

through the front of the shop.

Some of them stands cars.

Those fenders last long.

I was wondering when the day will

come when we go to a junkyard

and everything's just cut

fenders with wide body kits

falling off. I feel like it's not

that far. You see some of the

FRS is out there nowadays.

My God, all chopped up.

Oh, I've seen some people that

have picked up cheap

FRS's that have been modified.

Oh, my God. When they don't do

the wide body right.

And they like don't.

And there's so many

after they cut the fenders.

It's just because rotted out.

Yeah. Yeah.

It all takes us like especially up

here. One winter.

One winter.

That thing's going to start rotting

from the inside out.

And so those are bad.

So yeah, definitely.

Like if you're picking up a car

from an earlier era like that,

I would be very hesitant

to scoop anything because you

got to make sure it's done right

if you did it.

Especially if it's wide body

because like if you're not

cutting the fenders, you're not

doing it properly with proper

welds and sealing it back up,

which a lot of people don't do

because they're just doing it.

DIY.

Respect where respect is due

though. We talked about like

where where do these cars go

and like is it dying?

I'd say the Volkswagen guys

still 100 percent got to go

on the Volkswagen guys.

I feel like they started it.

No, and they're they've been

nor they've been the last ten

years in their fucking garage

with their car on a rotisserie

taking every little speck of

rust and dirt off of it,

making the cleanest engine

a known demand, hiding every

line wire.

Everything is about those cars.

What is it about those cars?

I don't like OK.

So my mindset with the cars

like you own it to drive it

and you drive the shit out of it.

The only car that I'd want to have

where I just let it sit in a garage

and make it immaculate is a Mark

four. Like what is it about those

cars? And I was just that's how

I feel like everybody feels that way.

Is that just what like we were

introduced to with all of this?

And that's how we've seen those cars?

Like you said like like a Mark

four was like your introduction.

You had a Mark four stance car.

Yeah, I don't know.

I don't know. Maybe it's just

because like again, nostalgic.

We remember going and seeing

them like that.

So we just we want that again.

We want to have it and keep it

pristine because it's Lord knows

how it is to pick up a clean Mark

four. I mean, that's a grail in

itself, right?

You know, you get a clean Mark

four. You almost just want to leave

it anyways. You don't want to do

anything. There is something with

those cars because you sold.

Did you have the mark?

Did you have your mark for when

you had the ST still?

No. Yes, I did.

Yeah, yeah.

You got the Mark four.

And it was all of a sudden you

had every spare part.

You had different subframes.

Oh, you had so much.

So bad. Another Mark four.

Then I bought another mark.

Like, dude, it is like it was like

or your matter of like three months

and this house was just filled

with this was a Volkswagen guy.

Oh, my God is crazy.

There is something there.

It's a six.

There's something different about

Volkswagen. Maybe that's a whole

different video is like what

drug is Volkswagen?

You know, I'm like, should we

ban it?

I'd say that was you did

a really good for what that car

was. I think you killed that.

Oh, thanks.

Yeah, heritage wheels on both.

That's honestly, I think you pulled

off really well, but like that was

at the Stuttgarts that you got.

Yeah, the heritage Stuttgarts.

I love those on there.

You did the you did the subframe

so yeah, I had to get plates

engine mounts to raise the engine.

I had to get different axles.

I had to get R 32 spindles,

different subframe.

I had to notch my frame.

It's so much work to get them

to lay, but like it's so sick

when they lay out.

Some of those.

I remember like on the ground,

the Donald's over here.

The winter photo set.

Oh, winter photo set one so hard.

I'm glad I drove in the winter.

I got a lot of shit for that.

Like people are driving a mola

in the winter.

I have your car.

Yeah, it's like it's been

re-sprayed 30 times.

Exactly. And I don't regret it.

And that my only regret about

that car was getting that specific

one and not just saving and

waiting for the right one.

I impulse traded for it.

And I wish I would have just

got a clear example.

That one.

So tough, though, had a very

rough history.

And on top of what I did there

to get the look I wanted,

I did so much fixing

and fucking every single time

I got in that car.

There was a new issue,

something from the previous.

I hit a bump and my radio flew out.

And that's what wore you out of

that car, right?

Yeah, you're you're done

working on it.

Yeah, but like the way much

the way that it like came out

though with what you did.

Like, I feel like that was such

a Dakota Stone.

It was. That is the Dakota Stone

car for me.

I need to get one again.

I even the Moli yellow,

like I love the color.

I love 20th anniversary ones,

how they came with Rikaros

and the lip kits.

You just like leave for work.

And I think I'm like that.

That makes sense.

Like that's a that's his car.

I mean, absolutely.

The Harlequin or a 20th again.

Damn, maybe one day.

OK, I say that.

But every day that goes by,

I get further away from it

because another one goes to the

scrapyard or got to do it rain

gutters.

Yeah, funny story.

I might have said this before,

but like I'm in the mark for

pages because of that and mean

the shit you'd see in there.

But I literally seen our four

pages are.

Oh, my God, they're so bad.

They're a different level.

You have the most intelligent

people on the planet and probably

the lowest intelligent people on

the planet and the lowest

intelligent get ran through.

They do. It's so bad.

You post one wrong thing

and everybody's out to get you.

But there was a pose where I

open it and this person was

it was not a troll post.

It was not rage bait.

He was going to Home Depot

buying rain gutters

and making them into side

skirts.

And that is just the most

mark for Vogue so I can think

I've ever seen.

Here's the thing, though.

Aren't most like rain gutters

like plastic or fiberglass

anyway.

That's the same shit they're

making the side skirts on.

But it's on a mark for us.

You have to do it

absolutely perfect.

Right.

I can tell you this.

It didn't look good.

It was not shit.

I had horrible.

Maybe it wasn't like, oh, that was

cool, good DIY mod.

No, it's that being posted.

It's the Home Depot lips

garage door.

Oh, that was it.

I did that.

I tried to do it.

I wouldn't stick to my head.

Yeah, mine ripped off immediately.

Mine was called an easy lip.

So it was actually a market for that.

Yeah, it was.

I literally went to Home Depot

and bought the garage door seal.

It's the same thing.

It was the exact same thing.

They just had 3M on it already.

That's all it was.

And yeah, I ripped it off immediately.

But it seemed like a good idea.

Yeah, I saw pictures that looked good.

At least I thought they did at the time.

That's rough.

But Fortunato want to bring those guys up.

Those are rough.

They've been a popular choice

for a lot of stance builds.

And listen, you're saying from

stancing my Evo or my focus

because I slam the piss out of those

on those to going more functional in my Supra

to race in the GTT out on the track

and drifting.

They literally can do it all.

That's why I love Fortunato so much.

And it's just awesome.

It works perfectly

because they're one of the sponsors

of the Martini Works podcast.

So if you guys haven't had

a set of Fortunato coilovers,

you're looking to get a set

of really nice coilovers.

Head on over to Martini Works.

Take a peek.

We have pre-made ones that are ready to go.

Otherwise, if you need something

a little more custom,

we can definitely help you dial in

custom spring rates.

Or do a swish.

Valving, yep.

Tell them what you're going to do

with the car and they will dial them in perfect.

You can do a swift spring upgrade,

all that good stuff.

So if you guys are interested,

make sure to head on over to MartiniWorks.com.

Check out Fortunato.

Put them on your car.

Love them to death.

And if you have them in 15 years,

you can send them back out to Virginia

because they'll rebuild them for you

and get them all back to spec.

So sure thing.

We'll be right back.

So all that being said,

we're sitting in 2025,

almost coming up to a wrap now.

10 years since, quote unquote,

the peak of the stance era.

That's a trip.

Isn't it?

If it's made to come back,

if it is, what would you build?

If we're going to stance a car.

Yeah, again.

Lay in frame.

10 year anniversary, I don't know.

Oh man.

Like you say, hey,

I want to relive my childhood, essentially.

I mean, like we were talking about

Mark IV GTI 100% or a Harlequin

would be my dream to do.

But besides that,

I think a big body car,

I think they lay out so damn well.

So any like JDM import,

pretty much that you can get older.

JDMs are, oh my God,

there's so many that are just phenomenal for laying out.

I think a century would be really sick.

Those things are so gangster, dude.

They're just big and heavy and luxurious and look crazy.

So I think that would be fun.

Or just, I don't know,

it'd be kind of fun to just take a,

like how it was back in 2013, 14,

taking like a new model car

and just not doing anything else to it

other than just like lowering it super low

and putting on the nicest wheels you could find.

I think that'd be kind of sick.

And I don't know what I would do it with though.

I'm trying to think what's coming out.

What's the newest vehicle that's cool that's coming out?

Like the prelude's coming up.

I don't think that's a cool.

Yeah.

I've seen like a lot of people do it

with like the Type R's honestly.

Which is like, again,

like kind of that controversial thing.

Like the Type R's supposed to be

such like a track dedicated, you know,

just optional car.

I love that whole car.

So people like, you know,

putting them on air or like

stancing them a little bit with some camber.

It's like, what are you doing?

You know, not meant for that.

What are you doing, Brent?

Dude, I don't know.

I'm trying to think right now.

Give me some time.

When would do a Bugatti Veyron?

Honestly, I've always wanted to do

like an old school civic build.

I think that's a good one.

I think like doing like an EK or like a EG hatch.

I think I would have so much fun with.

Yeah.

Unfortunately, I know like the good parts

of those have gone fucking astronomical

for some reason.

Yeah.

But I think, you know,

Ooh, I got mine.

Just doing something like that would be so phenomenal.

That was a really good one.

And it's kind of like good, you know,

kind of same thing with like the Mark four.

It's like that sporty, just hatch.

Like it's just got that fucking vibe to it.

I don't know.

So there's a car that I will probably never own,

but I would love to.

It's like one of those where I just wouldn't invest

the money, but if I had to,

if I had to build another stance car,

absolutely an RSX.

Ooh, dude, there was a couple in my hometown

and I always drilled over them

and I seen some really good ones.

Dude, that is a good call.

I remember there was a,

and I think it was like kind of later,

like, you know, 2017, 2018,

the RSX platforms came like pretty popular again.

But like people were doing like the turbo builds on them.

And I remember there was one,

like it was all like gold plated,

like engine bay, like super shaved.

And then there was one that was like Riverside

a couple of years ago

that reminded me a lot of that.

The way like the turbo would just sit in that engine bay

was so fucking crazy looking.

And I just loved those cars.

Also, my cousin had a RSX back in the day

and I honestly say that's what got me into cars.

Damn, it was like going for a ride in that.

And I was like a big nostalgia bone for RSX.

RSX are dope.

I like them.

I would do a caliber SRT-4 too.

Caliber?

Yeah.

Again, hatch.

Yep, exactly.

Yeah, any wagon or hatch gets a free pass

I can't tell if those cars are really ugly or really cool.

It's a little bit of both.

Honestly, as they're clunky.

I think it's one of those that's like

if you do the right stuff to it

and it has to be the right stuff,

it could be really cool.

If not, it's like, oh my God.

Yeah, they're weird.

They're definitely weird,

which is why I like them so much.

I feel like they look like a van just downsized.

100%.

It was like the first like a kind of like crossover

kind of thing.

I might be wrong, but I'm almost 90% sure

the Dodge Caliber SRT-4 has the same steering wheel

as the Dodge Caravan.

I would imagine.

I think it does.

I'm almost sure.

Is that the weird like, it's ugly as fuck?

It's force broke, right?

It's ugliest and I think it's force broke.

It just has that big blocky middle in it.

Yeah.

I remember like Dodge having like the worst

like green LED like interior stuff.

Oh, it was horrible.

They had the really cool though,

the like Viper style seats that SRT-4 came with.

I love the seats and those things.

They hugged you.

Yeah.

I probably wouldn't fit in them.

Did they do an ACR SRT-4 Caliber?

Not that I know of.

That would have been sad.

I mean, I'm going to look at it.

I don't think they did those.

Because they did the SRT-4 Sion's ACRs.

And those are cool.

It came with like factory BBS wheels.

Yeah.

Really tiny.

Talk about another car that went through the absolute ringer.

Yeah.

SRT-4 Neon.

Oh, yeah.

Yeah.

For sure.

It's hard to find any of them though that are nice.

I got so excited because I'll hear it first before you see them.

And then we were driving down town the other day

and saw one coming up.

I was like, oh, SRT-4.

And then just the whole side was just lost.

I'm not even kidding.

From the rocker to a back around the wheel arch

was just gone.

I'm like, that poor fucking car.

I promise you, I will get excited every time I see an SRT-4.

I get so it.

Yeah, me too.

Even the clapped ones, I get a little excited.

And then I get close.

I'm like, God.

One thing I've wondered is like, did Dodge purposely

do something with the valve train or the head

to make it sound aggressive?

I don't know.

It is one of the gnarliest sounding.

It's a great sounding force.

But if you have 500 and have our sounds the same.

Yeah, that's also a Chrysler product.

Oh my god.

What is this?

I just farted in shit pants.

Car so fast.

Yeah, what the hell is Chrysler doing

with their turbo four bangers that just sound like.

Everything right is leased from hell.

And then they released the Dodge Dart.

Yeah.

It did not sound like.

It did not.

I was really excited for that car when it came out.

I was too.

Because I was like, this is the new Gen SRT-4.

But then they didn't do that.

Yeah, because we missed up.

I might never forgive my parents for choosing the SXT,

the red SXT over the blue SRT sitting in the lawn.

That would have been crazy if your parents just picked up

an SRT.

My dad wanted the SRT because he had.

So his thing was he had a Dodge Shadow back in the day.

And he thought it was the coolest shit

because the hell did they.

It was turbocharged.

I remember saying he's like, it always sounded so sick.

But I was like, oh man, that must be a really cool car.

Then I'd like to look up like what a Dodge Shadow is.

Dude, they were like the ugliest fucking little cars.

Look at this.

Let me see.

Dude, I don't know.

I think that's kind of cool.

It's got like the hatch in that dump.

Yeah.

It's got like the Fox stance car.

It's almost like a Mark II Volkswagen,

but just a couple of different angles.

Like it still has a little bit of angles,

but like a little bit different.

So the Dodge Shadow ES Turbo.

Well, that's turbo.

It does.

It gives me Fox body vibes.

It honestly does.

It's the great value Fox body.

So it was a shadow of a Fox body.

This is a 2.2 liter turbo, 146 horsepower.

Yeah.

What the hell do you need to keep that?

Well, what horsepower was that without the turbo?

Christ almighty.

Jesus.

How big the turbo was.

Probably like 67.

Yeah.

Oh my god.

Rent's on 6, 7K.

Yeah.

Help him.

He's young.

But yeah, I remember they were looking for the new car.

And it was the SXT Inferno Red, which we got.

And then it was like the blue SRT4.

My dad's like, oh, man, it reminded me a lot of the shadow.

We make the turbo noises.

Yeah, yeah.

He's like, ah, it's manual though.

I don't know.

Damn it, dude.

I don't know if your mom wants to drive manual all the time.

Now we'll go with the red one.

Damn, that SRT4 could have been yours.

I know, because I ended up with the SXT, Ian.

And the trajectory of your life would have changed,

because you would have started with a turbocharged

talk about the fucking butterfly effect.

How different my life would have been if they chose the SRT.

I could see your lineup of vehicles

if you would have started with the SRT.

They would have all been turbocharged.

100%.

I mean, realistically, I can't talk and share right now.

But realistically, I feel like it would,

because when I went from my Mustang to my cobalt SS,

and I got the turbo, and I did my first bolt-on mods in a tune,

and I got those turbo noises, I was like,

there's no fucking way I'm ever going back.

I love turbo four cylinders.

That's interesting.

I bounce back and forth.

Like, I've owned, like, I think 12 cars now,

and bounced back and forth multiple times.

Because the biggest thing was like, you know,

kind of like inherited, like, the neon, essentially.

It was like, OK, you're 16.

Like, yeah, you can drive the car.

Here's the family car.

And I was like, well, can I do something?

They're like, well, just don't fucking break it.

I'm like, sick.

You know, so it was just kind of like one of those things.

And it's like, but the whole time I was like, man,

how can I make this an SRT four?

You know, like, what's the swap look like?

What's the, you know, a dumb, like,

dumb 16-year-old kid, 16-year-old kid, shit.

But it's like, yeah, what if it already was that?

Man, you'll swap wouldn't be that, man.

The literally, yeah.

It's like, how hard is that, you know?

It goes through everybody's thought process at one point.

And it's like, OK, well, no, I'm going to go look

for a different car then, and I ended up with the Eclipse.

Because it's like, well, I wanted an Eclipse really bad.

And I just took the first one that came to me,

which was a free blown-up GS, which, again,

was a base model four-cylinder NA.

Essentially, just a glorified neon,

because it was the same motor, essentially.

But yeah, it was, I think it would have ended up a lot

different, because I feel like probably

would have stuck with the neon for a lot longer then.

Brent, do you think there's any car

owned that changed the trajectory of what you got after it?

Like it was that good?

OK, I can tell you that the car I own now

has done that for me.

That's crazy, because you own a Genesis Coupe.

So I used to be a four-cylinder all-wheel drive,

like four-cylinder turbo all-wheel drive car.

Like I had a bunch of different Subaru's and whatever.

Really like that formula.

And then I got the Genesis, and then I got into drifting.

And now I'm like, rear-wheel drive is just the way.

Front-engine rear-wheel drive is just, that's just,

that's my jam now at this point.

That's so interesting.

That's quite the change-up.

I will not go back to front-wheel drive,

unless it's like my third vehicle.

Are you one of them guys?

I don't even hate on it.

I think front-wheel drive can be so fucking good.

It can be, and I love it.

After like three pulls, it gets boring.

Meh.

I disagree.

I think you can have just as much fun with any drive train,

just depending on how you drive and what you're doing with it.

They all have their pros and cons.

Otherwise, the Civic Type R would not come in front-wheel drive.

True.

I think that's a pinnacle of front-wheel drive honestly.

I love those cars.

I don't know what really beats it for a front-wheel drive.

The Laster N, maybe?

No.

No, I wouldn't take that.

Wait.

Our N's all-wheel drive?

No.

Oh, they're not?

But I would think Civic Type R is at the top of the list.

Yeah, I think it is, too.

I'm just seeing what would even be competitive in that same formula.

Coldball SRT4, GTIs.

What about the Integra Type S?

That's all-wheel drive, isn't it?

No.

No, they're front-wheel drive.

The Type S?

Yep.

I seen one the other day, like literally yesterday.

We went to Target, and dude, they look good.

They look awesome.

I got some big old brakes on them, too.

Holy shit.

I could see the caliper from across the parking lot.

I was like, whoa, Laster N's front-wheel drive.

I don't know why I was questioning that.

It's front-wheel drive.

You had me tripping out for a second.

Yeah, I don't know why I was that.

I think it was all-wheel drive.

That car would be way more possible.

I think I was getting the same.

I was getting confused with the.

It would also be really expensive probably.

It's probably why they went front-wheel drive.

Confused with the GR Corolla for some reason.

I'm addicted to the.

GR Corolla's over-hyped.

Four-cylinder turbo front-wheel drive cars, I think, are some of the most fun vehicles

you can drive.

I'll stand by that.

They handle really well.

I still love rear-wheel drive and all-wheel drive.

I do, but I don't know.

Front-wheel drive handles really well.

That's fun.

If you're an autocross and stuff, front-wheel drive is fantastic.

Yeah, right.

Yeah, it's situational-based.

Honestly, I think the more modern front-wheel drive has gotten, the more boring it has

gotten, too.

I don't complain.

They've gotten better like time-wise.

So there's less torque steer and less exaggeration.

Yeah, there's so many like assist and stuff built in.

Exactly.

Dakota, what's your like drivetrain layout?

What's your favorite?

What's your formula?

I'd say, oh.

Or what car?

Okay, actually, let's go back to the.

Six-cylinder really is the sweet spot, I think.

Let's go back to the other question.

What car made you switch your mindset on your favorite layout?

It was the Kobo SS, like I said, honestly.

It really is, because that changed everything.

I did my first ever mods, the Mustang, and it was cool doing an intake and hearing it

when you did it.

I was like, holy cow.

And then doing an exhaust, and it was so different.

So that got me hooked on modifying my car.

So now, back to the other one, now what is your preference?

Yeah, I want to say forbanger turbo, front-wheel drive.

But like, the Supra was almost like the perfect platform in my eyes.

And that's rear-wheel drive, six-cylinder turbo.

Like, I don't think I can name a con about it.

Literally, I can't name one bad thing.

Ha-ha, BMW, ha-ha.

That was the best part.

It's also a reason why we've seen, you know, like the 335s and like those like

35 series cars get so fucking expensive.

Popular is because of that setup.

Yeah, it's a little bit more juice because you got the six cylinders.

It's turbocharged, so it can get a little rowdy.

You can do the same upgrades and mods and actually get like good benefits from it.

Yeah.

Yeah, I think six-cylinder turbo might be like the pinnacle.

Unless it's a new Nissan Z.

I would.

Yeah, I would agree because like there's so many just robust inline six-cylinder engines

that can beat out lots of V8s.

So I mean, it's such a good middle ground because like a four-cylinder turbo,

you can make them fast, but it's all going to be high-end power

because the turbo takes a while to spool because you don't have that displacement at the low end.

The six-cylinder, you have that displacement.

It's not quite as big and bulky as a V8.

And it still can make just as much power if you have the right engine, too.

So I mean, yeah, that's a good formula. That's a good pick.

That's why I like it.

I'm not picky, though. I like them all.

Because I'm like Lars's M5 V8 twin-turbo that pulls a fucking freight train.

Yeah, that is a unique experience, too, because we got to drive M5s on the track.

I don't know why, though.

That isn't it for me, though.

Like that's fun to do, but that's not what I want all the time.

I don't really know why.

Maybe because in my head, it's not achievable.

I'm not going to be buying an M5.

That's crazy.

So maybe I'm just automatically, subconsciously downplaying.

It is insane.

That shit literally gives you tunnel vision.

That shit head is giggling like crazy.

The R35 GTR is another car that I think is just perfection.

Six-cylinder, dude.

Yeah, exactly. That's what I'm saying.

V6.

I actually have never driven one.

Anyone have R35 GTR?

I got to ride my buddy Mario's a bunch of times.

And even I've had friends in the past I did photo shoots and stuff for him,

getting to ride him.

That feeling, that sound, everything combined, it's like this is it.

Those things just hook to tunnel vision, rip your face off.

Stomach in your throat.

It's so good.

Well, that's that.

Well, last sponsor of my team works podcast.

You know how you put that part of the ground, baby?

Continental tires.

Oh, yeah, that's a good choice.

Yeah, sir.

Whether you want extreme Contax Porto 2s or you want Viking Contact 8s for the winter

or you're just doing all seasons, you can get the DWSO6+.

Continental literally makes a tire for everybody,

whether it's a daily driver, an enthusiast car, whatever you have,

whatever size wheels you got pretty much,

they come in a million different sizes.

They have a bunch of different warranties.

I run Continental on every car.

I get the chance because those are my favorite tires.

I even have a Continental tattoo.

That's how much I love them.

I got Conties.

Yeah.

Rip the tail of the dragon.

Yeah.

Yeah, I just went on the tail of the dragon,

a couple during Katlinburg.

Yeah.

Lars and I went.

I got some ECSO2s.

My God.

Were they good?

It was really good.

It was really, really good.

Was that your first set of Continental?

Yeah, it's my first set of Continental.

So I've had many tires on that car.

And I will 100% without a doubt say that my grip has increased

by two times.

Look at that.

For sure.

There it is.

It was fun because after the first run we stopped

and I pulled over and there was rubber tire beating

because it was really hot.

It was like, yeah, whatever that term is.

And feeling the tires with my fingers,

they were noticeably softer after they got

that heat cycle on them.

So sick.

That's so cool.

Well, I mean, there it is.

There's the plug.

So if you guys are interested, head on over to Martina Works,

pick up a set of Contennals,

and then in the notes of the order,

put Conti, Conti, Conti, because that's what you do.

So thank you to Continental for being a sponsor of Martina Works

podcast.

Brent, Joe, thanks for being on the podcast.

Absolutely.

We ate Alex, so he's not there.

But good luck on the giveaway for Melco.

Make sure you drop that comment.

And we'll talk to you guys on the next one.

Have a great weekend.

Bye.

The Rise and Fall of the Stance Scene

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Toyota GS 300

Dodge SXT

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