“Le Mans weekend” is the busy time around the famous Le Mans race in France. Here, it’s why Toyota brought the special car along for the trip and photo shoot.
“Gen two” means the second generation of the GR Yaris platform. Generation changes typically bring structural updates (like stiffness improvements) and revised tuning, which is why the host says it feels more purposeful than the original.
“Chassis stiffness” means the car’s structure doesn’t flex as much when you drive hard. Less flex usually makes the steering feel more precise and predictable.
“Diff modes” are different settings that change how power is sent to the wheels. Switching modes can make the car grip and turn differently depending on the road surface.
Term
carbon fiber reinforced plastic rear wing
This is a rear spoiler made from a strong, lightweight composite material. It’s there to help the car’s aerodynamics, and the carbon fiber helps keep the part light.
“Seb mode” is a special driving mode on this GR Yaris edition. It’s set up to mimic the way Sebastian Ogier likes the car to behave, including how power is split front to rear.
This is the front-vs-rear split for how the car sends power. A 40/60 split means more of the drive goes to the rear, which can help the car feel more balanced and rally-like.
“Maurizio mode” is a named setting on the special GR Yaris. The host says it’s named after Toyota’s top leader, using a pseudonym, rather than being a track/gravel label.
This is a track-racing version of the Toyota GR Supra made for GT4 racing. GT4 cars are built to race hard but still feel more like a normal car than the most extreme race categories.
“50/50 locked” means the car tries to send power equally to the front and rear wheels. That balance can make the car easier to control, especially when you’re pushing it.
Torque split is how the car decides how much power goes to the front wheels versus the rear wheels. That affects how the car feels in corners—whether it feels more stable or more willing to rotate.
“Gravel mode” is a driving mode meant for slippery, loose surfaces like gravel. It changes how the car splits power front-to-rear so the car grips in a way that feels more natural on that surface.
“Track mode” is the car’s setting for driving on a circuit. It changes how power is split between the front and rear wheels so the car can stay stable but also get more rear grip when you accelerate out of corners.
A handbrake turn is when you pull the handbrake to make the rear wheels lose grip so the car can rotate. It’s a common rally-style trick, but the host is saying this setup isn’t meant to behave like an all-out drift car.
Corner exit is the part of a turn where you’re coming out of the corner and starting to accelerate. It matters because that’s when the tires and drivetrain have to provide traction to keep the car pointed where you want.
Concept
controlled forward drift
A “controlled forward drift” is when the car’s rear slides a bit while you still keep it pointed the right way and stay in control. It’s not a full spin-out—more like a deliberate, managed slide.
Concept
rally feel
“Rally feel” means the car drives in a way that feels like rally cars—more willing to rotate and slide in a controlled manner. The host is describing that transition between grip and a little rear slip.
Rotation is how much the car “turns into” the corner as you steer and apply power. If it rotates well, the car feels like it’s turning where you want instead of pushing wide or getting unstable.
The Toyota GR Yaris is a small, rally-inspired performance car. It’s designed to feel agile and “rotate” well when you turn, which is why it can feel different in tight corners compared with faster driving.
The Toyota Corolla is a very common everyday car. Here, they’re just using it as a comparison to explain what feels more fun or more engaging than the other drive they discussed earlier.
A vertical handbrake is a handbrake lever that points upward instead of sitting flat. Performance cars sometimes use this style because it can be easier to grab and use quickly.
“Aero performance” is the car’s adjustable aero setup—mainly the rear wing. In this segment, they’re saying one version lets you adjust the wing, while another version keeps it fixed.
A rear wing is the spoiler on the back of the car. Its job is to help the car stay planted at speed, and in this story it’s also part of what makes these special editions look similar.
A homologation special is a limited car made so a race car can be allowed to compete. The manufacturer has to sell/build enough road versions to “prove” the race car exists.
A premium means people pay extra money beyond what you’d normally expect. They’re saying these special editions cost a lot more than you might think, even if the differences are small.
six owners. I mean, it's alright, isn't it? It's not too bad. I mean, it's a 2012 car. So yeah.
And actually, I've just seen the word rod bearings, complete service record, including
the all important rod bearings done at 64,000 miles. It's got its rod bearings done because
that's what I was going to say. I was like, yeah, you know, the rod bearings are going to cost a
horrific amount of money. Yes. But it's been done. Oh, ACL race. Oh, hello. Sorry. ACL race
bearings were used to replace. Oh, I mean, it's just tougher. It's not going to give you more
power, is it? So it's going to be, you can at least say you've got racing components in there.
There we go. I think, I mean, you know, these comfortable enough, they're good on the motorway
because it'd be very effortless. It's got enough cogs in the gearbox to settle that V8 down.
So I think in all but maintenance costs, this feels like an absolute
perfect match. I would have it in a heartbeat. And because it's had the rod bearings done,
it means it will never have a reliability related issue ever again. No, that doesn't
unfortunately, we've just been talking a lot about Porsches, but I'll try and skim over this one
because so there's obviously a lot of people suffer with IBS and a lot of cars from Porsche
of the naughty suffer from IMS. You wonder where I was going with that. The seats of this car have
really been stamed. Yeah. No, but I've done a bit of research and for my 997 Praira 2S Tiptronic,
it's auto. This is a cab. I wasn't looking for a cab, but it was the nicest, lowest mileage one
in budget. Ended up being a cab. I thought, why not? Might as well. Anyway, this, not only does it
have in bold capitals, just had major service and a ball scope. Oh, that's to check for the ball
scoring. I thought it was a typo, but they've done that. It doesn't say whether it was good or bad,
but it's had the inspection. But someone's seen it. We now know it's completely damaged. No,
I think it's good. But I did look up because obviously IMS being an issue and I know about
IMS because of my 986 Boxster, which is a few, a little bit older, but this was the era when
Porsche was using some very weak bearings. Anyway, this is an 06 car, which means it potentially,
although I haven't been able to confirm exactly, which means it's right on the cusp, but when
they switched to the stronger bearing. So this one might be okay. And it's a 56 actually. Sorry,
it's an 06. It's a 56, which I've just thought it means it's probably all right.
It's probably sorted. Yeah. So it's probably got the better bearing. And at 64,000 miles,
it's low-ish mileage, but by now you might have imagined if it was one of the, I think, 10% or
so that's tend to get the issue, it probably would have reared its ugly head by now. So I think
it's all right in that regard. Cheapish maintenance because apart from the hourly rate of a Porsche
specialist, which you're very familiar with, which I'm now very familiar with, they're not that
complicated. These cars, they're just, it's just, it's just the specialist hourly rate and the
occasional catastrophic engine failure from IMS related things. So other than that, they're
pretty solid. And it's a 911. Having seen what German service centers can charge for hourly rates,
it's, if I ever decide to change careers, that's exactly what I'm going into. You want me to
look at your car. That's 200 pounds, please. I'm just looking at it. Oh, you want me to open the
bonnet? 500 pounds. Yeah, it's a world of hell. But I mean, this 997, I think they're so beautiful,
they're, you know, it's narrow-bodied by modern standards. The wheels on this one, by the way,
are quite, for the listeners, are, I haven't, I don't think I've seen this wheel on a standard one.
Very nice. Yeah, they're multi-spoke, almost like a slim mini light. They are like a slim
mini reference. Exactly, yeah. And it's even got a reversing camera with its aftermarket pioneer
doubled in. So they didn't, they didn't spend 1500 quid on the Porsche system, not surprised.
Anyway, 64,000 miles, 24,950. So you've got your 50 quid back from your stretched budget.
And this one goes towards the hourly rate. So yeah, exactly. Yeah, 50, that'll get you 12 seconds.
Yeah, so it's great service history, full main agent service history. So as far as dangerous
buyers go, this is one of the safer options. The next option is a French car. Yes. And it's
got anything. And I realized I was completely ignoring the brand. I'm kind of annoyed you
picked this one because I looked at it and I was just like, that's exactly, that's a good car. That's
exactly it. Well, I mean, it's, it's, it's literally if you, if you like your Clio Auto,
the only negative for this is they don't ride great. Should we tell them what it is? Yeah.
It's a Magan RS, but it's the 2020, I can't remember the gen name, but it was the 300 Auto.
So it's the 1.8 turbo with the Auto gearbox. And I think the aluminium shift paddles,
quite nice paddles on these. They are quite firm. Yeah. And I've driven the Trophy R
Silly 70,000 pound one, which would be very firm. Yeah. And it had carbon fiber wheels. So I was
parking three miles from every curb. These are quite firm. So I accept that that might not
improve things. But for 23,990, you have yourself a fantastic hot hatch. These things are brilliant.
Did this one come with the rear steer? I think they did come with the rear steer.
I think they did. Yeah. So that's what I was going to say. So it won't mechanically kill you.
Yes. But it might literally kill you because you will turn into corners at high speed,
think you're having a big oversteer. All that's happening is the rear steer is
rotating the axle and you over correct and then you fire off into the nearest edge.
Once you get the hang of it though, these are fantastic cars to drive. It takes a bit of
learning. And I know we've actually said, uh, if you have to learn a car, that doesn't
actually come up on one of our topics. Is it a good car if you have to learn how to drive it?
But these are really, really quick and they're really capable. And I mean, you know, he was
saying that he likes having something that's good in town. It's small. It's not millions of miles
bigger than his Clio. Similar vibe in that sense, but just a lot faster. 300 horsepower. I mean,
this is a serious bit of kit. I've had an idea for a business idea, actually. Go on. Because
you were saying that it's, it's a bit firm. Every time you look at aftermarket, um,
suspension or coilovers or whatever, they're always hyper firm. Yeah. Why is no one making
comfort spec aftermarket suspension? I agree. And in fact, do you know what, there are some
coilovers where you can soften off the damping so much that they just about get comfortable,
but then they have ridiculously low, they just bounce up and down over all the buttons. I had
coilovers that you could slacken off. And I, it was the only way it was bearable on the road was
just in the softest setting. But did it, did it end up being under damped as a result? Because
I've had cars before where I've gone around a corner a bit fast with the damping soft and
then it sort of wallows around like a water bed. I think it was still considerably firmer than
what the, the stock dampers were. But yeah, good suggestions. Good suggestions. I think that
McGann is annoyingly the best one. I really, really forget regret suggesting that. Did I say
it was 34,000 miles as well? So it's a low mileage car, six years, six years old, and it's done 5,000
miles. Well, I, however, uh, well, I've gone, I've gone very German for mine, uh, and I've
thrown in American as well. So we're going to start off with a car that I think is actually,
I would quite happily have one of these to replace the four series. And it is a 2017 Audi S4.
So it's when they, it's, it's when they went back to the, oh wait, no, they had V sixes before this.
So it's kind of the, the last, not the current generation S4, but the one before. I can't
remember what the name of the generation names are because they are so many. But it's got,
yeah, it's got three liter V six, uh, with 350 horsepower, which is a lot for the, for the
kind of the milder version. Proper Q car sleeper car stuff. Oh, it's fantastic. It's black with
those multi spoke wheels. So it looks absolutely sublime, but you're going to have to tip your
local car wash with those. You are. If that's where you wash your car. Oh, absolutely. The
thing is with this is that it's not an especially exciting car, nor is it super duper fun to drive.
Yeah. The steering is a bit numb. It's like a Nintendo wheel wheel. Yeah. You know, it's just
kind of vague. It steers where you want it to go, but that's about it. But I think if you want that
fast, comfortable, and there's a certification when you look at it, I would look at that and just
kind of go because it is just that little bit more subtly aggressive. I just think they look
fantastic. This is one of my favorite generations of Audi S4 because as well, it's, they're quite
less spotted. I think they sold so many RS4s that you don't really see many of these S4s around.
These are in old money places. When you drive through posh parts of the country,
you see these driven by sensible, mature people, I think, which is no bad thing.
An RS4 is just frightfully expensive. It's a little bit, it's a bit gauche. And it's a bit,
they don't want to be seen in an RS4 like they're showing off. But an S4, it's nice and subtle and
all of the chrome trim has been painted black, which makes it even more
understated. But it has matte chrome, matte silver mirrors. Is that right?
It does. Yes, yes, yes, yes. Love them. Yeah, it has matte silver mirrors.
And gun metal wheels. I really, really like the look of that. That is a really lovely car.
I don't know why it's on a 64 plate. Oh yeah, it's private reg. Someone switched it.
Private reg to a 64 plate. But anyway, so that's suggestion one. For suggestion two,
I've gone a bit more sensible. If this was parked up outside, I don't have kids,
but if I did, and I saw this parked up outside the school, I would call the police
immediately. Are they misted headlights? It's easy to recover a misted headlight.
I think you just put a bit of Colgate on that and give it a brush and it'll be all fine.
It is a 2009 Chrysler, although this has been listed as a Chrysler hyphen Jeep,
300C Hemi V8 SRT8. Oh God. Yeah. So which is they've managed to get this a 6.1
litre naturally aspirated V8. Wow. Which is why they've only managed to squeeze a mere 425 horsepower
out of it. But what you lack in power, you gain in noise. Yes. The thing that stands out about
this one though, why it's like, okay, it really caught my eye. First of all is these are extremely
cool. I've seen them for ridiculous markups. I've never seen one on the road, by the way.
30s and 40s. This one's available for $14,950, $60,804 miles. But this is no ordinary 300C
Hemi V8, which is exceptionally rare in itself. This is the estate car. Yeah, that's what I've
never seen one of these on the road. Neither have I, which is why my mouth fell to the floor when
I saw this. And so by getting this, you have, you save £10,000, which will get you six months
worth of fuel. Yes. And get you out of any, you know, of bail, basically. Yeah. But I think it's
a really, really cool car. And it's just, it's one of those ones where you'll just go, is that the,
is that the V8? I had a look on how many left and there are fewer than 200 registered.
That's crazy. Registered. Hemi V8s in the UK. Of those that are estate cars, I don't know,
but it will be a fraction of a fraction. So you're probably like a dozen of these in the UK.
Yeah. Wow. But I think my final car is the best option. Oh, here we go. Because this is the one
that I would buy in a heartbeat because it's sporty. Sporty. It's, I know that they don't
need it to be practical, but I feel like this puts the emphasis on the passengers, on the drivers,
but will allow space for some passengers. It looks like a ClubSport S, but it is actually
a Golf GTI Mark 7, a ClubSport 40. Yeah. That's like a Dishon 40. No, it's called the ClubSport 40.
So it's got the wing of the ClubSport S. It's got the front, you know, assembly of the ClubSport S,
but it's a five door and so it has functioning rear seats and looks absolutely spectacular.
This one is in white. It has the flappy paddle DSG, which is a super duper gearbox. Yeah.
And as well, I believe it has the tartan seats. Yeah, absolutely. It's got ClubSport stickers
down the side and from a distance, it looks like the ClubSport S with that too, just missing the S
at the end. It's a really very lovely thing. These have always kind of had quite a substantial
premium on them, and that is still the case, but it just shows you that if you wanted to
sell it on in several years' time, you potentially wouldn't lose an arm and a leg over it at 17995.
Yeah, I don't know. It's a very lovely car. Do you know what? The 7.5, they say, is the peak,
but the 7 wasn't that different, was it? Oh, exactly. Just a bit less techy.
Yeah, you might not have Apple CarPlay, but that's it. So that is the car I'm going to put
forward. I was thinking, do I do that or the S4? I'm going to put this forward because I just think
it's a brilliant car. All right. Do you know what? Because then I want to have a proper, let's have it,
because it would be interesting. Yeah, I was about to say, it'd be interesting to see what the
pHers choose out of these two, because they both offer similar, but slightly different solutions
to the same, well, not problem, but scenario. And you can choose by, if you're on Spotify,
there'll be a vote for my ClubSport 40 or Sam's Renault Sport Megane 300 RS.
Slightly further oversteering, but you're good. You enjoy it. Yeah, about to say, yeah. It's just,
it's, once you learn the car, it's fine. Yeah. So you can vote on either one of those,
or if you think that our choices are rubbish, you can go into my article on the Pistona's
own page, click on the link to the topic and pop your suggestions in there. Now, of course,
you can always have a look at Pistona's options to see if something will fit the bill. But at
the time of recording, we are going through cars so quickly, but the written isn't actually
anything that's going to be available by the time this goes live, because we're doing this
couple of weeks in advance. So I just go and check back there in a week or two, well, don't
go do it in a week or two time, because you're going to be listening to this in a week or two
time in the future. I've really not thought this through. You're just a note to yourself.
Yes, exactly. It's an extremely hot day. It's, we have been in the studio for a long time,
and it is warm. Go check out Pistona's options, because we've always got really cool stuff coming
up. Something that has sold recently that has got me extremely excited is the green Alpina B3S
Touring. That was extremely out of budget at £44,000. But I don't care, I would re-rollage
my house for it. They ride lovely. How do they put such massive wheels on them, and yet they ride so
beautifully? It's marvelous. Look at that. It's so good. Green touring and a cream interior. Yeah.
Perfect. Those are, however, that is a popular opinion among car enthusiasts. What's not popular
among car enthusiasts, or popular opinions, is the contents of Starsky ATEEZ topic,
unpopular automotive opinions. I feel like we've featured Starsky ATEEZ on the pod before. So
even though they don't think they've interacted with us, you are a friend of, everyone's a friend
of the pod. But Starsky ATEEZ, good content. So they say, I have a few long-held automotive
opinions that are probably unpopular slash controversial to get off my chest. So whether
it be styling, driving, or just outright desirability, what are your unpopular slash
controversial automotive opinions going from mild to heinous in no particular order?
Now, their list was extremely expansive. So I've only picked three, but they've said,
modern Audi's look better than modern BMWs and Mercedes, and I would have a modern Audi RS
over a modern BMW M slash Mercedes AMG car. If we're talking about modern, modern, modern,
is it like the stuff that's just come out? Yeah. Yeah, RS5. RS5 is a really, really good-looking
car. Exhaust aside, but I mean, you know, who cares? I think that's a brilliant thing. So yeah,
most BMWs are overrated. We've had this one before. I disagree.
Yeah, I'd say anything that's... He says it's BMW owner.
Yeah. But anything that's actually iconic and people go, that's iconic. And then you drive it,
you're like, yeah, I get it. But there are a lot of overrated cars. But M140i of current gen,
or M135i, sorry, isn't it? It's not actually overrated because nobody actually rates it that high.
Exactly. So what I'm saying is they don't make only brilliant cars. There are some
average cars, but there are several iconic ones. Yes, exactly. They have a good hit rate,
the only thing that lets them down is the chubby steering wheels at most of the time.
It honestly is like someone throwing a towel over the wheels in some of those cars.
Yeah. I'm going to throw one in there actually and just say
BMW manual gearboxes are underappreciated. Quite rubbery. They're a little rubbery.
It's a lot of people don't like them. I personally do like them. But I'm just a weirdo.
Toyota's Lexus are boring and overrated, which is then refuted by Ezra, who says Lexus aren't
boring. Quite the opposite. They're extremely idiosyncratic, but not in a good way. I wouldn't
have another, but they're not boring. The Vauxhall Sofira was also a great car and was
all a family with three kids ever needed. That's a kind of a good point of, I think if you've got
children that are known for wrecking things, it's just a Vauxhall Sofira. It's a Bentley
Bentayga and you turn around and they've cut the leather open and kind of started ripping
the stuffing out. Then you'd be like, I wish I'd bought that Sofira and not spend a hundred
grand on this. The last one that they say though is they say manual gearboxes are a pain in the
ass. Autos every day and the Porsche BDK is almost telepathic. It depends on your use case.
That is, I tell you what, the only good thing about that is that it was, it was an unpopular
opinion. Well, I mean, PDKs are telepathic. They're brilliant. They are. That's not the thing.
I'd have the manual gearboxes are a pain in the ass. I guess it depends because like,
if you just sit in traffic all day, then yeah, they are a pain in the ass. But in all other
scenarios, they give you more control. We can often be much more fun. Maybe Ezra just lives in
Oxford Street and just, and they're commuters from there to, I don't know, freaking marble art.
Too much traffic. This damn traffic. And why did I have a manual gearbox with such a heavy clutch?
Collecting brass says gentlemen who use the left hand lane are considerate lovers.
Interesting. Yeah. Collecting brass as well. That's a slightly, yeah. Anyway,
it's an interesting username. I don't really know what. Yeah. Just just just use the left hand
lane. It's totally fine. Fifth, that's FIF, the Peugeot 205 GTI 1.6 drives better than the 1.9.
That's going to all shots fired. Yeah. I would love it if they explained why.
I guess he's going to say what everyone says, right? It revs higher.
Less torque, but it revs higher. That fixes everything. Yeah. Actually,
you know, it's a lie because we've talked about it before, EP3 Type R revs extremely high and is
underwhelming. Unpopular opinion. Flying a kite says buying a car to save the planet whilst
making 80% of journeys alone only saves your ego. Tuba ladder says carbon fiber trim looks
awful in any cabin. Yes. No, not if it's gloss. If it's got gloss finish on it, I think it looks
great. I know what you mean if it's just matte and it's just exposed. If it's glossed, I love it.
Matte carbon fiber does look pretty rubbish. It does. It's very, it's very chintzy and cheap. Gloss
carbon fiber. I love that. I feel like, I feel like I've just been in so many cars with so much
gloss carbon fiber that when you're, when you're in a cabin and there's a lot of
luxuriousness to it and then they're like, here's some glossy carbon fiber. You're like,
it's just at odds with everything else that's in here. However, if it's a, if you're in a cabin
and there's gloss that's exposed carbon fiber tub or something, that, that is very. That's cool.
That's, that's saucy. Well, in an I8, it's not gloss as well, isn't it? You can see the tub and
it's cool. Yeah, that's really cool. That's, that's practical. That M is another BMW. That
M2 CS I took to Le Mans. That had lots of gloss carbon inside and I thought it looked great.
I tell you what, actually on that note, I think it was the M3 CS that I drove last year that had,
it's, it's flappy paddles that were red. Yeah, they've got the rubbery red. They've got the rubbery
red flappy paddle with then like a carbon fiber insert for at the front facing. So the front,
you see the, it's carbon fiber with the kind of plus cut out of it. And then you can see the red
back. Yeah. It looks a bit cheap. Do you? Because the thing I like about the red on them is the
fact that when you're outside the car and you're looking in, they sort of had, they add something
a little bit. I think they feel really good. This was not on my, this was not my plan, but yeah,
okay, I'll say it. The red on current BMWs is godawful. Yeah, I agree in general. So it's the
red flappy paddles. Don't like them. The red M1 and M2 buttons. What is this? Fast and furious?
Were you going to like push it with your thumbs? Stupid. Just why does it need to be red? Yeah,
fair. Okay, fair point. I like the functionality of them, but I agree that they probably don't need
to be red. They could be black or silver. Silver would look good. really,
oh, you just fixed it. And the red nostrils on a CS or a CSL. No, don't like it. Well, it's all
gone now. Thank God. In the next gen stuff. The nostrils. Yes. You can complain about it because
it's going and it was just awful. Ben Z now says the Nissan micro should be illegal and all owners
imprisoned. What's wrong? The new, new one as well is a Renault five basically in this great car.
Yeah, I don't know. I guess I was talking about old ones. Maybe, but the, but you know, like
think about it, the poor people that are driving Nissan micros, you put them in prison, they're
not going to be in prison for very long. Who's going to deliver you pizza if you live in the
countryside? In the city, it's always on a moped. Or, you know, you'll never see your gran again.
Yeah. Do you want that? Deidre's in jail. Oh my God. But they've really gone in for it because
they've then followed it up with and the our bath 124 is far superior, capitalized,
far superior than any MX five. Well, I mean, the latest gen with the high revving two liter,
I would argue that I prefer the, I prefer the higher revving two liter in the new,
new ones. Well, I say new, new, sorry, in the 180 horsepower one.
It's 180 horsepower, isn't it? Yeah. Well, 124 No, that's sorry. In the MX five.
In the MX five. Yeah. I think in, I think the 11 point five MX five is great and a lot of
people go, it's kind of like the one plus it. Yeah. They rev high and they're really fun,
but I think the two liter is a really great engine. And I do like the turbo 1400 in the
124 I think so. Yeah. It's got a lot of character, exhaust note,
but I think I just prefer the naturally aspirated delivery of that two liter all the way.
Yeah. All the way naturally aspirated. So I, I'm not sure I agree with that at all.
Hammer 19 cyclists, the most considerate being the ones on racing bikes wearing
Lycra and wrap around sunglasses. This is definitely sarcastic. This has got to be sarcastic.
Just the next one. Legacy WR. You just need to know how to drive them means they're not a very
good car. What do you think about that, Sam Sheehan? Well, it wasn't that you don't need to know how
to drive them. You just need to know how to not crash them. That's the point. That was your
point. Actually, you were saying you can drive them fine. You could drive them as much as you
want. Just here's a tip how to not crash. All I'll say to refute that is that a Porsche,
one of those older Porsches, if you were to drive it on track, there's a way of driving an old
Porsche fast as fascination at the ring would suggest that where it is much, it was very much a
using its arse to steer. Yeah, essentially. The pendulum effect because they want to naturally
understeer, don't they? Yeah, exactly. Yeah. And does that mean that they're bad to drive?
No. Unless you drive them like a conventional car and then you will probably kill yourself.
Yes. And then lastly, stewart. This is my favorite star comment of the week. The Defender
Octa is the thinking man's BMW M5 Touring. It's lighter, shorter, has the same BMW S68 powertrain,
doesn't crack wheels for fun, and is more capable, albeit not as fast, but far more fun. It's also
cheaper and has a nicer interior. Agree on the interior? Yeah. Definitely. I have driven both.
Yeah. And I had way, way, way more fun in the Octa than I did in the M5.
I mean, I did too. I've not driven the Touring. I've driven the Saloon. I agree. I had a lot
more fun in the Octa. But the only counterpoint I'd say is thinking man typically means like it's
the sensible option. Yes. And having the plug-in hybrid M5, I know obviously it's a ridiculous
2.5-tonner, but it does save you a lot of money on tax. So there is an argument to be had that the
M5 Touring is the thinking man's Octa because you don't have to spend a fortune on tax. But then
again, think of it like this. At this end of the month, what's the most expensive tax bracket now?
It's what, 760 to 80 odd pounds? Is that what it is, plimey? It's shy of 800, right? Wow.
But in the grand scheme of things, in the world of car tax, it ain't that much, especially when
you're dropping what, 140 odd grand on a 2.5-ton Dakar style Defender? I mean, I'd do that every
day of the week. I love it. I don't know what effect it would have on fuel economy because I
know that the Octa drinks, but who cares because you'd get to the filling station with a big smile
in your face and just laughing, crying when you see how much you've just spent on fuel. But you'll
be laughing and having fun. And you could do it via the local fields because it is a go-anywhere car.
Exactly. So that's not an unpopular opinion. I actually think that that is a genius move.
And on that note, we are ending this episode of the Gassing Station podcast. Thank you ever so
much for listening and or watching. If you liked what you listened or watched, please give us a
five-star review and leave us some nice words on your podcast app of choice because it helps just
get the name of the Gassing Station podcast out to more people. And also let us know that we're
doing a good job because otherwise, no one else tells us. That sounds really sad. We're doing okay,
Sam. Anything you want to end up before we head off? Is this one going out before Goodwood?
Oh, God, I can't remember. If not, then no. It's going out after the British Grand Prix.
Oh, I'm not going to that. Fingers crossed. Fingers crossed for a Lewis Hamilton win.
Yeah. Oh my God, imagine that would be amazing. Well, yeah, we've got a bit this a busy old calendar.
So if you bump into us at any of the upcoming events, because I'm sure you'll be a couple like
I am, tell us as well in person that you're enjoying the pod or that you hate it. No,
don't do that one actually. I had a couple of people come up at Sunday Services recently and
it's just like, oh, it really does make my day and it's just fun to chat. So we are approachable
and we are nice. I promise. So yeah, if you see us at Goodwood, say hello. And if not, see you next Tuesday.
About this episode
Toyota’s GR Yaris Ogier edition gets a deep dive, from its tiny production run and barely-used press car to the subtle but meaningful rally-inspired tweaks in its drivetrain modes and chassis setup. The hosts debate whether the special edition’s premium is justified when a standard GR Yaris or Aero Performance model delivers nearly the same experience. The conversation then pivots to Porsche’s Taycan eShift, a pricey optional system that adds simulated gear changes and paddles, raising questions about whether EV theatrics are worth the money.
It’s been two years in the making, but we’re the first in the UK to get our hands on one of only 200 examples built worldwide. Are pair of special diff settings and a carbon wing enough to justifying spending £80k for one on the used market?
Also in this episode of The Gassing Station, Sam drives the new Porsche Taycan e-shift, hot hatches, sports saloons and fast coupes go against each other in a £25k challenge, and the two dig through your unpopular car opinions.
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