
We review the new 2025 Toyota 4Runner TRD Pro (and compare it to the Ranger Raptor, Wranger, and Bronco); Zack shows off the progress of his custom interior; take a look at Mercedes new electric super sedan (and the media event that debuted it); and answer Patreon questions including: How expensive is new air suspension? Can I make my old 5 series handle like a brand new car? When do you choose character over reliability? How cheap should an Alfa Giulia be before you buy one? Convincing your mom to race cars The best explosion we've ever seen Gas, steam, or electric? Is a Corvette E-ray the best used 4-season car? Dealership vs private seller: what do you do? How should OEMs pivot? And more! Recorded July 2, 2025 Houston Tickets: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-smoking-tire-one-of-the-worlds-biggest-car-podcast-coming-to-houston-tickets-1439944967159?utm-campaign=social&utm-content=attendeeshare&utm-medium=discovery&utm-te...
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Matt Farah
What up, everybody? Welcome to the Smoking Tire Podcast. Today's episode is brought to you, as always, by off the Record. We love off the Record over here at Smoking Tire, and you guys do, too. That's why you're always sending me emails telling me how off the Record got you out of a little jam. If you get pulled over and ticketed or arrested for a moving violation, don't plead guilty. Get off the record. Go to offtherecord.com to get 10% off all legal services booked through off the Record. What off the Record does is they will connect you to a qualified attorney in the jurisdiction where you got pulled over. They'll fight that ticket to get those points off your record. And if they don't succeed, you don't have to pay. It is very, very easy. Again, offtherecord.com TST offtherecord.com TSt that'll get you 10% off all legal at off the Record. We love them. Don't Plead Guilty. Get off the Record. All right, folks, on this episode of the program, Zach and I talk about the fact that tickets to our live shows in Dallas and Houston are now up on our Instagram bio and in the show notes, come see us with Christian James Hand. Hang out, bring your car. It's going to be a great time. And please come support the show. And if these go well, we're going to do more of them. But on this podcast, we are talking about the new Toyota 4Runner, which Zach and I spent a week with and went off roading giving our thoughts on Mercedes new electric super sedan. I have an update on my Myers Manx and Zach has a all new interior in his BMW M3, plus some fabulous Q and A with our lovely patrons over@patreon.com thesmokingtire that really keep this ship floating down the R. Uh, let's get right to it. It's the Smoking Tire Podcast. Um, speaking of, there's the silver spoons.
Zach Klapman
And then there's the sterling silver spoons.
Matt Farah
I was trying. I was. I was listening to AYG recently or episode. An episode that you were listening to as well. But you were napping in the car on the way back from the Forerunner shoot and they were trying to think of another brand from the 80s that started with an S. That wasn't Saab, it was Sterling.
Zach Klapman
Sterling cars.
Matt Farah
It was like a luxury brand. Yeah.
Zach Klapman
Really? Wow.
Matt Farah
Kamisa has one.
Zach Klapman
Really?
Matt Farah
Yeah. Never heard of a Sterling?
Zach Klapman
No.
Matt Farah
Sterling is. Yeah, that, that. So that's a good one right there. The 825 is a. The red one on from. Bring a trailer. That was a good one. I don't know where. Oh, that one. Yeah, that's. That's one. There was a couple different one. Oh no. Kamisa doesn't have a Sterling. He has a fucking. What's the other one he has.
Zach Klapman
Didn't he buy a Rover?
Matt Farah
It's a ro. He has a Rover. He has a Rover.
Zach Klapman
This looks like a Rover.
Matt Farah
Yeah. No, Sterling I think was based on Acura underpinnings. Oh. But it was like even. Even more upmarket Acura.
Zach Klapman
Oh boy. They made a sports car, I think. Yeah.
Matt Farah
I think that was a different company. The sports Sterling Sports cars. That was a Beetle conversion thing. Fiberglass body.
Zach Klapman
This is motor. The Sterling 825. A pseudo Honda and one of the worst cars in history.
Matt Farah
Yeah. I mean it wasn't like known for being good. It was supposed to be a better Honda, but it was actually like a worse. I mean think of it. Is there any, like, better? There's only like five cars in the history of cars that are better made than a Honda or Acura from the late 80s.
Zach Klapman
And how would you improve on them?
Matt Farah
You can't.
Zach Klapman
It's very dangerous.
Matt Farah
A late 80s Acura legend is a nearly perfect automobile.
Zach Klapman
Yeah, that's true.
Matt Farah
Like you can't. As far as like a car for regular people. That is like one of the best cars ever made.
Zach Klapman
Yeah. I wonder. I'm trying to find out what they did to it that made it so terrible.
Matt Farah
I mean, I think they just made it worse. I think they just changed the body and just kind of made it worse. It's the Fiat 124 of 80s Japanese sedans. Right. Like take a Miata and then just make everything worse.
Zach Klapman
Like this.
Matt Farah
This asks the question of like, what if a Honda had a Lincoln Continental interior? Nobody. That. Nobody.
Zach Klapman
Oh, Burlwood, look at the seats.
Matt Farah
Those are the most like 80s Lincoln seats.
Zach Klapman
Yeah. They're like eight feet thick.
Matt Farah
The barcolor seat. That's terrible. Yeah. No. Who wants that? The steering wheel I.
Zach Klapman
Very ugly.
Matt Farah
I think it also went into a. A bunch of Plymouths. It looks like a Plymouth Neon steering wheel.
Zach Klapman
Well, this. The T handle. Some of the Acuras had that too, I think.
Matt Farah
No, the Acuras. No, they had. They had a more bulbous one that resembled like what the Lexus LS had.
Zach Klapman
But it was a bulbous T. It was a.
Matt Farah
It wasn't a T. It was a big. Yeah, it was a connected bit. It wasn't just a Full T. Oh, that steering wheel is definitely a Dodge product.
Zach Klapman
Look, all I know is if someone says, hey, I coach built this Acura.
Matt Farah
That photo, that interior that you have up, that's more like what the legend shifter looked like. Not so tall and like, that looks like a Cobra coming from the desk.
Zach Klapman
I should have named it the Acura Cobra.
Matt Farah
Holy shit. May I never see a Sterling again. And I feel like Kamisa will be if he hears this would be insult. His Rover is really nice. I mean, rovers are junk. But he has like the most perfect rover and it's much prettier looking than the. The Sterling, which is no good.
Zach Klapman
Yeah. And it's a fun adventure for him.
Matt Farah
Yeah. Right. So a lot of things to talk about, important things. First off, the. The notice canyon in green is available to the public now. You don't need to be a patron to buy it. There's 20 or 30 units left on Notice's website as well as about 54 of the. The night sky left, the blue ones. So if you can go get those now, if you buy both, I will allocate you the Black Pearl. But you got to do it before the Black Pearl comes out, otherwise they gonna be gone. There's only 50 of them. Also, I hope I said it in the intro. I hope I didn't forget when I record the intro for the show. But we're coming to Texas July 24th and 25th with Christian James Hand. The 24th will be in Houston. The 25th will be in Dallas at the Shop Club. Both are at the Shop Club. We love that place. There's food and beverage and car storage. It's what I would do if I could own a restaurant without having a heart attack. I would not be able to own a restaurant without having a heart attack, but my other friend Matt can do that and in three different locations. And of course, we're bringing Christian James Hand, which is the only thing that gives me any kind of confidence to do live podcasts is that you should.
Zach Klapman
Have more confidence in yourself, my man. We've done a couple of them.
Matt Farah
I know we have. But like, I feel like when we're doing live con, a live show in front of an audience doing our show is great. Our show is a great show, but I think our show is a great radio show, not necessarily a great live show. We need to. We need to spice that bitch up. And. And the fucking. The judge is Christian. His live show is fucking awesome. And we get to watch it before doing our live show.
Zach Klapman
That's true. Selfishly, we Also get to do that. Mm.
Matt Farah
That is a real treat. And so July 24th and 25th in Texas. And if that goes well, if you guys come out, here's why it's worth driving to see that show. Because if those shows do really well, then we'll do more shows. Then we'll, like, run down the list of, like, where do people listen from? And, like, we'll go there and we'll do shows. Yeah, like, that's what this is. Is really about. I hope people understand that we want to come. And people have emailed like, hey, come to here, come to here, come to here. We would love to, but these have to go good first. So if you're like, ah, I'd like to go, but it's. I don't know, it's an hour away or whatever, you should probably come, because if it doesn't go well, we're never going to do it again. I don't want to fail twice, so. But the good news is the tickets have been on sale for, like, a day, and Dallas is 40% sold out, and Houston is 25% sold out. So I think we're probably gonna have a good. A good showing, but come on down.
Zach Klapman
And see us if it's an hour away. I was talking to a musician friend of ours recently who I won't name, and he was like, we would go do a show in, like, Boston, and we'd get DMs from fans being asking, when are you gonna come to my city? And he'd ask where they were, and they were 30 minutes away. And he goes, we're in your city. Yeah, like, this. This is you. You should make the trip. Don't wait for me to go to the.
Matt Farah
This wasn't someone who just didn't know about the Boston gig.
Zach Klapman
No, no, they knew about it.
Matt Farah
They knew about it. Like, oh, no. But when are you gonna come to Newton?
Zach Klapman
Exactly. When are you gonna make the extra 30 minutes so that I don't have to make the 30 minutes now, if you live four hours away from Houston, Dallas, whatever, I get it. That's kind of a drive. But, yeah, you know, within reason. Good test case.
Matt Farah
But. But if you're on the fence, it's a good investment in the future to come, because if you come now, there'll be more of that if you get.
Zach Klapman
In early is what we're saying, right? You could be at the top of that pyramid.
Matt Farah
You could get in on the ground floor. Ground floor for the low, low price of Texas gas is cheap.
Zach Klapman
Here's Some Herbalife for you. Please. Sell it to other car people.
Matt Farah
Right. Leave with products. Do we. We don't have a giveaways. We're working on some fun exclusive. I was there Merch. It's gotta be. I was there.
Zach Klapman
I was on site first one, man.
Matt Farah
It's gotta be. You have. It has to prove you were there and it has to be a limited edition collab. You know, it's gotta be real and a drop. I actually think like this, that the. The fact that our musician friend who we were talking about when they. When they were. They're talking about merch and with how they, you know, their strategies for touring which some of which were very, very interesting. But it's sort of the, the, the. The swing back. The pendulum away from NFTs.
Zach Klapman
Oh yeah, right. Oh yeah.
Matt Farah
Like you could only get this by physically being there. And that's the kind of stuff that goes on your wall, you know, versus like I read an article, I think it was yesterday.
Zach Klapman
People, the pricing, the people art. That is awesome.
Matt Farah
You. You just love to see it.
Zach Klapman
What was it? 60 million now is $100.
Matt Farah
69 million to a Honda.
Zach Klapman
It's valid at $100.
Matt Farah
You know that. You know, I love that for Beeple.
Zach Klapman
Yeah, sure. Get your check.
Matt Farah
I hope that people. I don't know what that dude is doing right now. I assume it's a dude. I think it is. I think I've. They have the person's name and they do. If I was Beeple, like my version of that was like I won a huge hand of one of those blackjack side pots in Vegas and I turned like 20 bucks into 25 hundy in one hand. I fucking took my money straight to Guitar Center. That's a fucking victory for the day. Good night and good luck, sir. Same with him. This guy's never gonna have a fucking other scam like that. That's the greatest hit he's gonna see.
Zach Klapman
Oh, absolutely.
Matt Farah
I hope for him he does a tom from MySpace and just like bye, thank you for that. And I'm fucking off to sure he's.
Zach Klapman
Gonna whatever keep making art. And now you have all the materials you could ever want as you try to paint. He didn't have all the.
Matt Farah
Yeah, well. But now he. Now that digital art is valueless, essentially. What. What is the guy who's so great at at digital art? Because. Because this is a talented individual. What. What are they gonna do now? That's a good like road. That wave. And now it's over, I think.
Zach Klapman
Well, I'm looking at the Instagram. I can pull it up. They're doing. They've done some physical art. Yeah, I think so.
Matt Farah
Yes. 69 million is gonna. After. Before taxes and you have to buy you. A lot of.
Zach Klapman
You just don't want to be late to the NFT purchasing game.
Matt Farah
Is that a real sculpture or digital? The top left, if that's a real sculpture, that's like pretty cool.
Zach Klapman
Think that's digital, I think.
Matt Farah
Oh, that's definitely digital. Yeah.
Zach Klapman
Yeah.
Matt Farah
Okay. So they're still doing it.
Zach Klapman
It's hilarious.
Matt Farah
Still doing it, I mean, but now with. With let's call nicer shoes now. 30 million after taxes.
Zach Klapman
Yeah. Pretty good.
Matt Farah
Still a good haul. That's. That's for me. That's check the fuck out money, I think.
Zach Klapman
Yeah.
Matt Farah
Yeah.
Zach Klapman
I'm not. I'm not gonna film cars anymore.
Matt Farah
Well, you. You would. You'd find, trust me, that you'd have to do something.
Zach Klapman
I would do something.
Matt Farah
Yeah. No, not like videos. No, not that.
Zach Klapman
I have plenty of ideas. Yeah.
Matt Farah
We could do this.
Zach Klapman
Yeah, I would keep doing this.
Matt Farah
Yeah. If. If the. If you. Yeah, I would. I would do this for free if I was on that.
Zach Klapman
I would do this.
Matt Farah
Yeah.
Zach Klapman
And I would do stand up and I would just take any money ever made from that. Just give it away because you can't pocket it when you've won $30 million.
Matt Farah
You know, for the first funnies you mentioned stand up, like, I did it. I did one open mic in 2015, and for my first time, I did, I think what would probably be considered a pretty good five minutes. I got like, pretty good applause in multiple places and laughs and stuff. And I haven't been tempted or confident enough to do it since I was like this. No, I kind of wish, you know, I was like, this is too scary to continue. But for the first time, like two days ago, I wrote down two ideas for like, that could be like, really good five minute. You know, like, if I went to an open mic and did five, it would be one story. But it has like. It was. One of them is the panic attack while driving story, which can be told in a way that is actually funny now. And, you know, I have to take my blood pressure like multiple times a day. And I have a. I have a favorite new dessert which is at the farmer's market. They have these sprouted walnuts and when I tell you that these are so much fucking better than any walnuts you have ever tried in your life, including sprouted walnuts, that I get that you could get from, like, Whole Foods or Erewhon. These are massively better. They're, like, crunchy and airy, and they taste like they're roasted, but they're not roasted. They're raw.
Zach Klapman
Okay, I'm looking at a picture. They look like walnuts.
Matt Farah
They look like walnuts.
Zach Klapman
Okay.
Matt Farah
Yeah. You would know. You would never. The word sprouted is weird. I don't actually even know what the fuck it means.
Zach Klapman
Okay.
Matt Farah
But what it means to your mouth is that it tastes like a roasted nut, but the nutrients are still in it. They haven't been roasted out of it. Because when you roast nuts, they have less nutrients. Right.
Zach Klapman
See, sprouting transforms a normally dense nut into a lighter, easier to digest nut that is more alkaline and has nutrition.
Matt Farah
Right. Also, if you are prone to indigestion or acid reflux, one thing you shouldn't eat is a bunch of nuts, because they're hard and they take acid to, like, break down. Like, I'm not supposed to eat peanuts, although I can have peanut butter because they're really hard. The sprouted nuts across the board are softer and lighter, but the walnuts particularly, and they're fucking delicious. So my new favorite dessert is a little bit of whipped cream at the bottom of a bowl, a sprinkling of the walnuts, and, like, just a little tiny drizzle of wildflower honey and, like, bam. That's a fucking dessert.
Zach Klapman
Sure. It sounds really good.
Matt Farah
The story goes, though, the other night I finished the can of whipped cream, but there was still some fucking gas in there. And I decided to do a little science, and I did a whip it while doing my blood pressure, and my blood pressure went down by five points while doing a whippet. Interesting to know.
Zach Klapman
Yeah. I'm trying to figure out why.
Matt Farah
I don't know why that. I don't know how that works or why that works.
Zach Klapman
I don't either. I'm sure some of some EMT or doctors listening, and they're going, you're gonna die. Like, here's. Like, here's why it does that. You know, it's evacuating oxygen from your brain or something like that. Yeah, it is doing that.
Matt Farah
Well, it is doing that, but, like, only one breath worth. It's not like it's. You know what I mean? If you're huffing, if the. The. The. The starving oxygen from the brain is when people are, like, huffing balloons doing one, like, off a whipped cream can, that's not starving your oxygen brain.
Zach Klapman
No. I wonder if it pushes all the oxygen out of your Bloodstream. Then your blood pressure drops because the volume drops because of oxygen. I don't know.
Matt Farah
I don't know. Don't email me about this. I.
Zach Klapman
You know, I don't DM Matt at the smoking tire.
Matt Farah
Yeah. Although a couple people did mention about the. The biting in the lemon thing without. You don't have to car. What you do is you either carry, like, warhead candies.
Zach Klapman
Yeah, Someone messaged us about that.
Matt Farah
Warhead candies will do it. Or someone else said, like, the pickleback, like, juice. Like, the pickle juice will do it too.
Zach Klapman
Really? Yeah, man. We were drinking pickle juice at Lemons because it was so hot. Like, we ate all the pickles, and then I poured.
Matt Farah
What is this? Like, you're alive? You're, like, wandering in the desert.
Zach Klapman
It was 108 degrees.
Matt Farah
Drinking the pickle juice.
Zach Klapman
Yes.
Matt Farah
Like, there was no water left.
Zach Klapman
No, no, we had water. But I started doing this at Burning Man. When it's that hot and you're sweating and you're trying to just get electrolytes.
Matt Farah
Back in, that's your Gatorade is pickle juice.
Zach Klapman
Very occasionally, we also had Gatorade. We had finished the pickles, and I poured some in a cup. And when you were that hot, it tastes great. And Jeff Glucker looks at me and goes, what are you doing? And I tell him, and he's like, try it. And he tries. He goes, that's actually pretty good. Right? I think it's like your body is freaking out right now.
Matt Farah
You just did a good clutch right there. I saw him yesterday at Manx.
Zach Klapman
Hmm.
Matt Farah
Yeah. Went down to Manx to check in. Things are coming along. There wasn't really anything worth photographing, but the fuel cell, the motec, the dash were all in. The radiator was in. The fans were in. The oil tank was about to go in. The engine has. Was still there on the stand. Engines going in.
Zach Klapman
The last.
Matt Farah
No, engine's going in, like, right after the holiday.
Zach Klapman
Okay.
Matt Farah
But pretty exciting. And then Glucker wanted to drive one of the radials. So the gray one was having a new oil tank fitted. So we couldn't drive the gray one, but we drove the red one, which has these big, balloony, like, sand dune tires on it. They're not even, like, off road tires, you know, they're like the sand car tires, which is real weird on the street. Really soft. And it also had another exhaust on it. That sounded awful. Not. Not any. The one. The gray car that we drove had a really nice sounding exhaust on it. And right now that's what's scheduled to go on my car. But they just got a new design from Australia and they said like, the timing is right, that they could like test fit it on my car and try it. We'll see.
Zach Klapman
So far, but the red car did not have the Australian exhaust. Yeah, different. Third one had.
Matt Farah
The red car had the first original exhaust that I drove from like six months and it was not good.
Zach Klapman
Okay.
Matt Farah
Yeah, it sounded like. It sounded like a WRX that was missing a cylinder. Let's literally. Dude, that's the best. A WRX running on three.
Zach Klapman
That's almost like Volkswagen Beetle sound.
Matt Farah
Yeah, no, it was. It. Yeah, it wasn't great. And as we, we said before, the one that's on the gray car, as you accurately put it, it sounds like a Ducati at idle. It's much more refined. And then it sounds like a biplane.
Zach Klapman
Totally up top.
Matt Farah
That's the best one so far. So we're gonna go with that. Unless this other. We'll try this other one maybe. It sounds great.
Zach Klapman
Sick. Speaking of updates, I got a photo. Wait, where's the stupid app, man?
Matt Farah
Oh, it's your seat. Folks, we gotta take a quick break from the action because this episode is brought to you by iqbar, our exclusive snack sponsor. IQ Bar is the better for you. Plant protein based snacks made with brain boosting nutrients to refuel, nourish and satisfy hunger without the sugar crash. IQ Bars Plant protein bars are packed with high quality ingredients to help keep you physically and mentally fit. IQ bar is totally free from gluten, dairy, soy GMOs and artificial sweeteners for a natural anytime snack. With over 20,000 5 star reviews and counting, more people than ever are starting their days on the right foot with IQ Bars, brain and body boosting bars, hydration mixes and mushroom coffees. IQ Bars sent me a sampler pack, but one flavor really stood out to me and that is this Thomas Keller collab salted caramel chip. It's got 12 grams of plant protein and only one gram of sugar. With how many calories is it? It is only 170 calories. Nice. Perfect for after podcast before workout. They taste good and they give me energy for when I hit the gym. Right now, IQ Bar is offering our podcast listeners a special 20% discount on all IQ Bar products plus free shipping to get your 20% off. Text text Smoking Tire to 64,000. You got that? Text Smoking Tire to 64,000. That's text Smoking Tire to 64,000 thousand. Message and data rates apply See Terms for details. We're also brought to you today from Smalls. Smalls is killing it over here, but not literally because it's cat food. And if they killed my cats, that would be a huge problem. My cats are probably the most important thing in my life outside of my wife. They are. I have almost like Stockholm syndrome. I have to check on them all the time. I have to make sure they're extremely happy. We've modified our home for them. They are literally the most important things that we've got and I want to feed them the best food. That's why I'm so lucky to be talking about Smalls. They sent me Smalls cat food and these protein packed recipes have preservative free ingredients that you'd find in your fridge. They're delivered right to your door. And guess what? My four kittens love them. That's why cats.com named Smalls their best overall cat food. And right now they're offering you people 60% off your first order plus free shipping@smalls.com with promo code tire for a limited time only. I've actually been using Smalls to do some tests with my cats. Monty, my youngest, is a bit of a picky eater. And by making a little chart along with all the samplers of what Smalls sent me, I found out that Monty does not like fish. Monty only likes poultry. Fortunately, I learned that with Smalls. And so I've ordered a bunch more of the chicken and the cats love it. I put the two bowls side by side and the cats are going to the Smalls, which was started back in 2017 by a couple guys at home who were cooking their own cat food in small batches for their friends. Man, this stuff is good. The cats love it. My cats seem healthy, they seem happy, Their coat is shiny. And man, Smalls is awesome. So for a limited time only, because you're a smoking tire listener, you can get 60% off your first order of Smalls plus free shipping by using code Tire. That's 60% off@smalls.com with promo code Tire. Again, go to Smalls.com and use promo code Tire for 60% off your first order. Smalls.com and now back to the show. So I like how it has all these X's on it. That's like a plastic surgeon marking off some poor lady's fat.
Zach Klapman
That's what he did at first. When he started doing it, I was.
Matt Farah
Like, what's he doing?
Zach Klapman
He's like marking the things they're changing. So these Are my old seats very shiny? Leather's kind of cracked up. And the.
Matt Farah
This is 140,000 miles, almost 146. 146.
Zach Klapman
Yeah. And. And that's what they look like.
Matt Farah
Oh, yeah. And you. And you redid the outside leather or you. It's new outside leather.
Zach Klapman
It's new outside leather. So every. Every shop I talk to. I mean, I talked to two and.
Matt Farah
Chose this one that looks. That tartan is rad as hell.
Zach Klapman
Yeah, it's gonna look good with a notice.
Matt Farah
But also, dude, you got a matching scarf for that?
Zach Klapman
I think I'm gonna have a lot of leftover fabric.
Matt Farah
Yeah.
Zach Klapman
About 10 yards.
Matt Farah
It's not like you need, like, three for a car.
Zach Klapman
It's not. This. People said six to eight, depending. But it's not the softest stuff. It's. It's thick, which means why. It's like, automotive grade. It's 16 ounce. And when I brought it to the guy, he felt. He's like, oh, good. You got. He's like, the number of people that show up with a thin cloth clothing thing, and he's like, this will fall apart in a week.
Matt Farah
Yeah.
Zach Klapman
So I don't think it'd be that soft for a scarf, but I could order a matching one in a soft.
Matt Farah
What about.
Zach Klapman
If I wanted to.
Matt Farah
You can do. You could get some fitted luggage. You could get. You could have a. Have a suitcase that's, like, where you put it on the outside of it.
Zach Klapman
And then, like, strap it to the roof rack or something on the trunk. Oh, I don't think.
Matt Farah
No, I don't.
Zach Klapman
I don't. I just don't think that's me. And also, the budget for this is.
Matt Farah
Already getting near itself. Well, the sea looks amazing. This green and blue and yellow scheme.
Zach Klapman
Yeah. Shout out to all the people that someone messaged me because I was going through a bunch of different tartans, and they were like, I'm a color expert. And your obsidian green wrap is actually a bluish green. Not because I was. I had ordered, like, a. A bunch that were, like, yellowish green. And then I. When I held it up and thought about that, I went, oh, he's right. So this is the one I chose. And they centered it up nice. And they drew in the back seats, too, which looks sweet.
Matt Farah
Awesome.
Zach Klapman
Yeah.
Matt Farah
What about. And the armrest.
Zach Klapman
No, no armrest. I think. I think it's enough with the seats. I mean, I'll look at it and go, okay, well, I just changed something.
Matt Farah
Okay. I just didn't know how uneven the wear Would be. No, not put tartan on the armrest. I mean, redoing the leather.
Zach Klapman
Ooh, I didn't think of that. Yeah. They still have the car. I can.
Matt Farah
Well, I'll tell you what. You should have them send you a photo.
Zach Klapman
Yeah.
Matt Farah
Because it. It'll never be cheaper to do than right now.
Zach Klapman
Good point.
Matt Farah
You know, you're. You're already into there. The car's already there. The seats are out of it.
Zach Klapman
So do it. I mean, the armrest looks like this. You know, it's. Yeah, more like that.
Matt Farah
It'll. That'll drive you nuts.
Zach Klapman
It. That's true.
Matt Farah
Yeah.
Zach Klapman
I mean, text.
Matt Farah
You should. You should text him right now. This is so. I'll tell you what. Credit where it's due. Donnie was a lunatic about this. When I. When I had to redo my door cards on the Ferrari, he really, really insisted that I redo the seats also because the seats had the incorrect leather. And he was redoing the door cards and the dashboard in the correct Connolly leather. And I really appreciated that he wanted it to match so bad. You had to be pretty close to see the difference. It's not like, you know, going from a car with 150,000 miles to 100 with 1 to a seat with 0, which you would absolutely notice the difference. I didn't change my seats to the right leather because I wanted to be able to not give a fuck. And in hindsight, that was the right move. Get in that car after the gym. Fucking sweaty Huck. My book bag on there. Like, leave it parked out. If I did the seats, I'd have been a. I've been, like, insane about it.
Zach Klapman
Okay.
Matt Farah
Glad I didn't. But, like, I think, yeah. I mean, for whatever, $100, $200, whatever it is to do the.
Zach Klapman
What it will be.
Matt Farah
Yeah.
Zach Klapman
Yeah.
Matt Farah
Because he's doing the doors, too. Or.
Zach Klapman
No, no, the doors. Because it has an airbag. There's an oval in the door card. That is where the airbag lives. And I think they would have had to stitch around that. It would look weird.
Matt Farah
Yeah.
Zach Klapman
So I basically, after we drove the Singer, I kind of thought about what they do, and, you know, where do they put fabric that matches? What do they do? Everything. And I think this. This is what I came up with. If I do the back seats, there's a lot of color splash when you look in it, but the. All the pillars are just gonna be done OEM style. Because that would have been a bit too much.
Matt Farah
Yeah. Because there's two scenarios. There's. When you're. When you're standing next to it looking in, and then there's. When you're sitting in it looking out.
Zach Klapman
Right.
Matt Farah
And either scenario should have sort of a balance. And, like, how you would take a photo of it to, like, show off that you did your interior on Instagram is not how it would look when you're standing next to the car.
Zach Klapman
True.
Matt Farah
Like when I did a wide angle photo of the safari and you could see everything on the inside, but the photo was, like, from where your, like, right knee would be, people were like, oh, my God. But actually, if you saw it sitting there and looked in, you'd never see quite that much of it, and it was much less overwhelming.
Zach Klapman
True. What? I also wanted to do the, you know, the dash strip across the E46.
Matt Farah
That's pretty fun.
Zach Klapman
I wanted to do that. But this guy, as soon as I started talking, he goes, I don't touch the dash. I went, all right. He's like, they do upholstery. This place is literally a special, like, it's nachos. Upholstery. Shout out. They didn't give me a deal. They're just doing a good job. But he was like, we don't do dashboards. So that's.
Matt Farah
I mean, I bet if you took. Took him the piece, he would probably wrap the. You know, he'd probably do upholster the piece and give it back to you.
Zach Klapman
I already had the pieces off.
Matt Farah
Oh, really?
Zach Klapman
Yeah, so.
Matt Farah
And he wouldn't. And he wouldn't touch the piece.
Zach Klapman
You want to mess with it?
Matt Farah
Huh?
Zach Klapman
So maybe. Because I think that would be a way where someone, if they look in from the back of the car, they would see that and that would give a hint, and that would be a cool connection.
Matt Farah
It is.
Zach Klapman
So that's. That's on the list. Find someone to do that. Yeah, the.
Matt Farah
I like your. Your pillars, though. Let's wait and see how those look.
Zach Klapman
Yeah, you mean pillars oem, or are.
Matt Farah
You not doing the.
Zach Klapman
I'm just gonna. I'm just doing them. Oh, yeah.
Matt Farah
Oh, okay. I thought. I thought you were gonna do the guitar.
Zach Klapman
When I decided to do the back seats, I was like, that's enough.
Matt Farah
That isn't. You know, that's a lot in this. In with the centers. Like, that is a good bit.
Zach Klapman
I think it'll look sweet.
Matt Farah
Yeah, man, that looks awesome.
Zach Klapman
Yeah.
Matt Farah
Do they have to redo any of the padding of the seat underneath or anything like that?
Zach Klapman
I don't know. I. They didn't tell me. They did or didn't But, I mean, this all looks very, like, tightly fitted.
Matt Farah
Yeah. The bolsters look pretty good, and they.
Zach Klapman
Have a lot of foam there. When I went there.
Matt Farah
Sure.
Zach Klapman
Maybe they just. Maybe they just do that. I don't know.
Matt Farah
They probably do rebuild some of the foam. I mean, you're not heavy or fat, but, like. Like me, like, I'm. I beat up a seat a little bit. What are you gonna do? That's just physics, you know, but, like, in the. In the before photo, you know, it's hard to tell if the seat. Because it looks a little bit, you know, like, a little lopsided.
Zach Klapman
It's definitely squishy on the driver's left side. Bolster on the driver's side, for sure.
Matt Farah
Like, do they rebuild that or. It looks like. They probably looks like.
Zach Klapman
Yeah, I don't know. They didn't say.
Matt Farah
Cool.
Zach Klapman
But I'm stoked.
Matt Farah
How are. Can. Do you mind saying what it costs.
Zach Klapman
To do redo your 2200.
Matt Farah
And you bought the material, and how much was the material?
Zach Klapman
Like 450.
Matt Farah
So it was like 2200 plus the material. Okay, so, like, three grand we're looking at.
Zach Klapman
Yeah.
Matt Farah
To do it.
Zach Klapman
Yeah.
Matt Farah
That's pretty good.
Zach Klapman
I don't know. It's. I've never done this before, so, I mean, that looks.
Matt Farah
I mean, at least in photos, that looks like good work. It's custom. It's done, you know, it's done for you. It's done locally in Los Angeles, and.
Zach Klapman
I've never done anything like this, but I'm so. I'm excited about it because I've never modified a car to this degree. And, you know, the suitcase.
Matt Farah
A custom interior is so fun. A custom interior is a fabulous thing to be doing. I figured more people should do it.
Zach Klapman
Make the interior match the exterior, make it all look really good.
Matt Farah
Have you seen George's GT3?
Zach Klapman
No.
Matt Farah
Shout out to Moto Man TV. His GT3 touring, he had seat inserts, door cards, floor mats, and a trunk mat done in tartan and there. And it was just beautiful. It looks great. It's definitely somewhere on his Instagram, but he brings. He brought it out to. I was at Manhattan Beach Cars and Coffee last weekend. Shout out to those guys. That's a great, great little. I say little, but it's actually grown quite a bit. Cars and Coffee, I really like that show. Manhattan beach has some variety, like, because there's, like, rich people in Manhattan beach, but it's not like it's a different. There's also, like. It's like, Surf bum rich. So there's like, there's all kinds of weird shit down there that I don't really see in Malibu. And all kinds of like awesome beach cars. People have really neat beach cars. I'm sure there's a video, but we don't. It's somewhere. But just trust me when I tell you that that thing has a sweet tartan interior.
Zach Klapman
Yeah. It'll just make this car seem special, look really sick and.
Matt Farah
Yeah, it'll be very fun.
Zach Klapman
Then I can finally make a video with it.
Matt Farah
Sure. Oh, yeah. Have you been holding out this whole time? So it's totally done?
Zach Klapman
Yeah, because the interior looked like shit. I mean, all the pillar, like the pillars are gotten so bad. When I was driving in the canyons with Thaddeus, I was in. I was behind him. And he gets on the radio and he goes, I see you have the same curtain problem I do. He could see my pillars flapping from the road. He's looking in his rearview mirror through my windshield and he could see it. And so it would just look like the exterior with 405's wrap looks great. With the wheels, it looks awesome. And then you open the door and it looks like rats and raccoons had a fight.
Matt Farah
Dude, I. Yeah, yeah. As soon as I saw the outside of your car, I was like, oh, I wonder how long it'll be to where he's happy opening the door to that car that has 150,000 mile interior.
Zach Klapman
No. The moment I picked it up, I was like, I have to do something here. But it took a long time to find the right tartan, order the thing, find a shop. It was a process.
Matt Farah
Tartan is complex because it's a bunch of colors and there's tints and.
Zach Klapman
And then pictures online were pretty good from this place, but still when it.
Matt Farah
Shows up, it's from Scotland.
Zach Klapman
Scotland shop.
Matt Farah
True. Tottenham Tartan.
Zach Klapman
Yeah, it better be. It's called Scotland Shop. But who knows? You know, they had amazing customer service.
Matt Farah
Registered importer, White Plains usa.
Zach Klapman
They had really good customer service. They helped guide me through this.
Matt Farah
Well, I mean, listen, if it was the person in Scotland in their customer service, they had the accent.
Zach Klapman
I didn't talk, I emailed. So they didn't write the accent, but I read it with the accent every time. Yeah.
Matt Farah
Oh, dear.
Zach Klapman
It's going to look great in your M3. That's Irish.
Matt Farah
Yeah, that. That is definitely Ireland. But also a Scotsman or woman is. It would be. Is incredibly happy for anybody to be interested in tartan.
Zach Klapman
That's what I felt through the email, they were really like. They were like, oh, for your car, you need this weight. You need that thing. Really good guidance. And.
Matt Farah
Yeah, hey, that is. That is. That is their main export is. Is in Scotland. Other than the whiskey, there are.
Zach Klapman
You know any. There's like, thousands of tartans on the site.
Matt Farah
Well, they're. Yeah. You register them, you patent them. There's like, your family can own, you know, the rights to tartans, and then you. Only you can sell that pattern. It's fucking crazy.
Zach Klapman
If you. If anyone's listening, if any of you first graders are listening and you're like, learning to read is hard. I think learning to read tartan and decide and determine which clan is what clan will be way harder.
Matt Farah
Yeah.
Zach Klapman
Because that's what it was for. And they're all named after different families. What.
Matt Farah
There's an app for that?
Zach Klapman
There is now.
Matt Farah
Yeah. It's called trtn.
Zach Klapman
But back in the day, you like. Oh, yours is the blue thread next to the red thread, but the hatching is slightly bigger. Oh, you're our friend. I stabbed you. I'm so sorry. Exactly, dude. The difference is especially. And when you're selecting one, it's hard because you go, oh, how big do I want these squares to be? I don't know how big. You know how. And then. And then when it shows up, you go, that's too many squares. That's too few.
Matt Farah
Yeah. I. When you look at a photo of a pattern, it's like, was this. I need a. I need a no banana for scale. Like, what are we doing here?
Zach Klapman
True.
Matt Farah
You need to have a banana in every one of these photos.
Zach Klapman
I don't think they have many bananas in Scotland. I mean, they import them.
Matt Farah
That's a good point. Whiskey bottle.
Zach Klapman
There you go.
Matt Farah
Cheap bottle of Macallan 12.
Zach Klapman
Yeah.
Matt Farah
Yeah. Oh, man, I can't wait to see that, though. That's gonna look fucking sick.
Zach Klapman
Yeah. Pick it up next week.
Matt Farah
Yeah. And then a new engine. Right.
Zach Klapman
Eventually, I'm gonna finally do the rod bearings. $2,000.
Matt Farah
Can't believe you've not done that. Wow.
Zach Klapman
I know. Considering how I've driven it, too.
Matt Farah
But someone's Q2 check is getting. Getting well used.
Zach Klapman
Yep.
Matt Farah
All right.
Zach Klapman
Yeah.
Matt Farah
Profit sharing. Here we go. That's awesome. That's going to be so fun. Oh, you're gonna. You're not gonna drive that. You're gonna fly to pebble, though, right? And then roll. Roll our tow vehicle.
Zach Klapman
While you're up there, we might actually drive up for our camping Trip and stay up there because Pebbles like four days later. Oh, so we might just stay in Santa Cruz and. And if you and I have to do shows, like, I might just take a southwest flight down and go back up or something like that.
Matt Farah
That's stupid.
Zach Klapman
We might just do that.
Matt Farah
We could do a zoom show or that.
Zach Klapman
But I think.
Matt Farah
I think they'd forgive us because we're all.
Zach Klapman
Because we're driving like to Yosemite.
Matt Farah
Yeah.
Zach Klapman
And we can just.
Matt Farah
You and I are physically in different cities for reasons that are can't be changed and we still deliver shows over. I think the Audi. The audience forgives that because we also.
Zach Klapman
Get to leave our dog with my parents while we go to car week, which would be nice.
Matt Farah
Oh, yeah. I don't think. Because our Airbnb is not. No Perros. I don't think.
Zach Klapman
Well, also, like leaving him there all day while we're out doing that.
Matt Farah
That's no fun. No, but they Manx is. They're committed. The car will be ready. We will have. We will have development miles driven in time for car Week. You all right there?
Zach Klapman
Someone says Zach said the R word.
Matt Farah
What?
Zach Klapman
Oh, Rod bearing, dude. Oh, I was like, did I just slip and did I just. Shane Gillis, real quick.
Matt Farah
Yeah, you are right. Rod bearing. Should we talk about the forerunner? Yeah, we should. Right. I don't have. I didn't post photos on the gram. Oh, you did. You did. Of the 4Runner TRD. The new 2025.
Zach Klapman
It's very dirty Foreigner. Don't Tread on me.
Matt Farah
But also this. I think this color is called like mud. Mud. Muds.
Zach Klapman
Mud. Something like that.
Matt Farah
Flash. Mud bomb. Mud. Mud bomb. Mud. Mud. Something. So finally, what is the first time in 15 years. Mud bath. Thank you. I'm in 16 years. We have a new 4Runner.
Zach Klapman
Yep.
Matt Farah
And honestly, like, probably more like 20.
Zach Klapman
Oh, yeah, yeah. If you drive one before 09, it feels a lot like.
Matt Farah
Yeah. Well, I mean, our good friend Timmy shout out to Timmy has an 06 and has had it since 06. Had it since new. Coming up on 20 with this thing and in. I don't know, 20, whatever. 15. He had it repainted in that modern. It was black in the modern desert tank tan color and had the post facelift nose put on it. And that looked like the new one up until a year ago.
Zach Klapman
The nose fit. Yeah. Yeah, it did. He facelifted. Yeah. It's supposed to be like a generational difference, but the facelift worked.
Matt Farah
Yeah, he facelifted his own truck and it totally worked. Just fine.
Zach Klapman
And they had Basically the same 4 liter V6 with 5 speed automatic. Forever.
Matt Farah
Forever. So now we have this one's a hybrid. There's a four cylinder turbo non hybrid and a four cylinder turbo hybrid.
Zach Klapman
Yes.
Matt Farah
This was the TRD Pro which is the top, top one.
Zach Klapman
There's the Pro and there's also the Trail, something that cost the same amount of money. They're both hybrid only. Trail master.
Matt Farah
Yeah. I think the Trail Master is like the more luxury version and the TRD Pro Trail Hunter.
Zach Klapman
Sorry.
Matt Farah
And the TRD Pro is the more like Baja Y version. So we went off roading in it and Zach also took it camping and drove it around the city. Drove it on the highway. Honestly, like a lot to like if you ask me. Like there would be people that are concerned that it's a hybrid, but like it's basically like a Prius hybrid. And Toyota has pretty much mastered this type of hybrid. I really have no concerns about this type of hybrid coming from Toyota.
Zach Klapman
I agree.
Matt Farah
These cabs I take home from the fucking airport have like 800,000 miles on them. They're all Priuses. I'm pretty sure this is gonna be fine.
Zach Klapman
It was a big factor in my wife and I buying a RAV4 hybrid instead of like a CRV because they've been doing it forever and they do it well.
Matt Farah
Yeah, it's that kind of hybrid. So it's got a whole bunch of extra torque. So it's 326 horsepower and 456 pound feet of torque, which is a gain of 178 pound feet of tor from last year. And it's 139 pound feet of torque extra from the current gen, the new one. That's just gas. I mean it's a second quicker to 60 than either the current gen gas or the top trim V6 from last year. Even though it's 800 pounds heavier and even though it's 800 pounds heavier, it feels much, much lighter on its feet because of the torque, because of the.
Zach Klapman
Hybrid and the suspension. I think the way they calibrated the steering and the suspension, it just, it doesn't roll in the corners or anything. I mean it feels like we drove it up a canyon road and it felt exactly like any other crossover you would drive today. But in terms of like body roll and stuff. But I think it actually rode slightly better than the Mazda CX50. We'll talk about that later.
Matt Farah
I was impressed with the ride on the road. I thought that was very nice. And I thought the Ride on the trail was pretty good too. I mean, for. For effectively a fixed suspension. It's these Fox QS3, which is a mono tube. It's not an independent reservoir, Fox shock, but it's nice. I think it was nicely dialed in. I mean, other than we learned with this hybrid four cylinder because we got the transmission really hot, it had enough power to get up some really challenging stuff seemingly easily without going into low range. And other off roaders that we've used have not necessarily needed low range in these particular section of trail. But we would advise, based on what we learned, to go into low range when things start to get steep and rocky a little earlier than maybe you would have before.
Zach Klapman
Yeah, we were surprised. We got stuck on an obstacle and we did it over again with low and it was totally fine. But it was. And then the transmission got hot also. Well, the transmission got in four high.
Matt Farah
Not high, when we were doing some rock crawling. And it didn't seem like the engine was working very hard.
Zach Klapman
Right.
Matt Farah
Nothing else seemed like it was out of place. But the trans temp went up. And then we did it. We went back around and we did it again in low range. And it was. The transtemp didn't move at all. So I guess that's the lesson there.
Zach Klapman
And we also. We didn't have. There's so many gauges available on this like three pod digital system. We didn't have the transtemp gauge up until we got the warning.
Matt Farah
Well, it took you a while to find it.
Zach Klapman
It did also take a while to find it. So we might have noticed it. We weren't sure if the temp was creeping up because we were using 4H the whole way. Or did it spike suddenly on that one obstacle, which we were there for like 20 seconds trying to get up this thing.
Matt Farah
Yeah.
Zach Klapman
And then it spiked.
Matt Farah
Yeah. And other than the warning, nothing bad happened. And the temp went from like 50% to. It's. There's not a degrees, but it went from 50% to 80% and we went into low and just continued. And over the next few minutes it came back down to where it should be and then it stayed there. So, you know, nothing bad happened. But in the video, because we did it in real time, you'll see, we kind of think something is wrong and then we'll have to figure out. I think we're gonna do a voiceover bit that'll explain exactly what happened. But like at the time we were unsure about why it did that.
Zach Klapman
Yeah.
Matt Farah
But we thought about it later. This Is why like articles are better than videos sometimes.
Zach Klapman
Yeah they are. I mean this is why you gotta revise it. I do think the ride is impressive for the the breadth of abilities for a fixed compression shock. Like you can adjust it manually but versus like rangeraptor has fox live valve changes all the time. Adaptive, blah blah blah. Colorado does not have that. So that's more like this one. But this is a piggyback reservoir. So it's not like there's no tube to a reservoir like over in the trunk. But these things were really good. It felt like you could do more, more Baja type stuff with this than old four runners. But it still rock crawled great. And that's really. This thing's bread and butter.
Matt Farah
Yeah, I would now every. The biggest question so far is Forerunner versus Land Cruiser for kind of the same money. I think I liked the Forerunner a little better. I think I just liked. I think I liked how it drove on the road a little better than the Land Cruiser. I think I like the steering a little better. I think I liked the shape of it a little better. I like the roll down tailgate. I don't need the third row.
Zach Klapman
What about sight line? So I haven't driven the Land Cruiser but in the 4Runner we both complained about the view over the hood. It's a huge. It's a big truck. Hard to see. Yes, you have forward facing cameras and they have guidelines for your tires but you have to use them a lot or just get. Maybe we're just not comfortable with.
Matt Farah
No, I'm tall. Like I'm six foot three. Like you're not. There's not a lot of people that are taller than me that are going to be driving this like it's okay on the road. You'd still, you'd still run over a four year old straight up in the first eight feet in front of the car. You're going to run over a four year old. You can't see that. But it's fine to drive most of the time off roading at even mild uphill inclines you cannot see the trail.
Zach Klapman
You can't. And this doesn't have like the Bronco has those clever corner markers that are also tie downs for shit on the roof. And that's a great way to know where your wheels are. And this didn't have. There's like a hump. It's small but it's just not as obvious.
Matt Farah
You just have to rely. You have to use that camera. And although the tracers for where your wheels are going to go Are cool. The camera itself is pretty wide angle. And outside of that center, two or three foot wide band. It gets warpy, like real fast. So considering how much you have to rely on it to do any kind of crawling, it's mildly annoying that it's not a little better.
Zach Klapman
Yeah, I agree with bronco, Colorado and wrangler. They all seem to have a much better physical indicator on the hood of where your tires are.
Matt Farah
And the land cruiser just has a lower hood Relative to the driver's seat. Like, you can just see better straight up.
Zach Klapman
Yeah. This is a very tall hood. It has like the fake hood scoop, which.
Matt Farah
Yeah.
Zach Klapman
Maybe just to make room for everything that's under the hood.
Matt Farah
Yeah. Now maybe if you don't get the TRD pro and it has the less meaty hood it has, the less it doesn't have 35s, maybe that somehow is a little better.
Zach Klapman
Well, the pro is also slightly taller than like one of the other 400 off road. So everything about your sight line gets taller and worse with it.
Matt Farah
But the actual, like, you know, the trail we did was pretty challenging. Like, there was a place where you had to like reverse and adjust. It's not just pick a line and go anywhere. You do have to make adjustments, and there are places to damage the car.
Zach Klapman
Well, we had spots where like, you had one wheel in the air. You know, you're on three, teetering on two, doing like a wheelie up the hill. It was pretty legit.
Matt Farah
And it got up this trail really, really well. And it got back downhill as well. It's very good at going downhill safely. The. The hybrid system with the engine braking in the right in that mode is really, really good. But the whole time I. Because the last time I was up there was in the electric g wagon. I just like every other than the range, man. Electric off roading is just so, so pleasant. It's so nice to have either way, Especially if you can have four motors. If you've got a g wagon or if you've got a rivian quad, or to a certain extent, the tri, you know, and you've got this infinite torque work and oh my God. And it's just quiet. You can hear every bit of gravel, what every tire is doing. Oh, that's the best. Just windows down. Yeah, that's great.
Zach Klapman
I agree. What did I say? It's like the closest to hiking, but you're motorized, you know.
Matt Farah
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. It's like a hike. A hiking motorized wheelchair, basically.
Zach Klapman
Yeah, it's really nice. I didn't have Many complaints about this. It's expensive. And that's a financial question for people. I mean, it's 70 grand. And the last TRD Pro, even adjusted for inflation, I think I calculated was like 57.
Matt Farah
Yeah.
Zach Klapman
So this has more stuff, but that's a big jump.
Matt Farah
I mean, it does have some pretty. Pretty serious. It's got the disconnecting sway bars from the Land Cruiser. It's got all the different drive modes from the Land Cruiser. Those shocks, it can tow £6,000. It can. The Bronone of the Broncos or Wranglers can tow that much.
Zach Klapman
True. It tows the most. Yeah.
Matt Farah
Does tow more than that. It's. It. I don't know. Like, I recognize that I'm like a little bit separated from maybe the average 4 runner purchaser. But like it doesn't, it doesn't feel that expensive considering it's the top. Top trim. There's basically no options. This is it. You just pick a color and that's the price basically. And I think it does a lot of things really well. Yeah. And I think four Runner people, I mean, it remains to be seen. Right. Will it be durable? We don't know yet.
Zach Klapman
Right, True.
Matt Farah
But like for the first new 4Runner, I think. I actually think despite some people bitching about it being, you know, the hybrid and more tech and whatever, I think like forerunner people will actually like it a lot.
Zach Klapman
It's super usable. We took it camping. And the highway driving is great. All the ADAS stuff works really, really well. It's better than a bunch of other SUVs we've driven lately. I like all the cubbies. The storage.
Matt Farah
Storage is really.
Zach Klapman
You open the tailgate when you're camping. Like we. The trunk is very tall because of the battery, but we use it as like our dresser, which is awesome. But then you've got cubbies in the back. You can put like water or gear or paracord or whatever. Like, you know, you can use it as an organizational system.
Matt Farah
And you buy a bunch of like stuff through Toyota.
Zach Klapman
True.
Matt Farah
Like the Dometic fridge and like YETI storage boxes and coolers and like ARB stuff and rigid stuff and, and that. And like roll that into your financing, which is sweet. The one thing I really didn't like is the sound of it, like the exhaust sound. It clearly has some type of TRD performance exhaust on it that I sort of wish it didn't have. And in the, in the. And there's your on road drive modes. It's like normal sport, eco. And then there's like the five or six off road drive modes of gravel, sand, snow, rocks, blah, blah, blah. And like so many sports cars now, it defaults startup to normal mode. You drive around in normal mode on the highway. If you're going like 60, which, you know, in LA sometimes, whatever. If you're going certain speeds, it's crazy droney and you have to click it into sport. So it keeps the engine above of the drone. Yeah, like all the time. Pretty.
Zach Klapman
It was like 1500 RPM it droned.
Matt Farah
Yeah.
Zach Klapman
Now it still sounds. What's funny is I think the V6 powered forerunners had a drone most of the time. Because it's a V6.
Matt Farah
Yeah.
Zach Klapman
But this is almost like reminds you of that. And it's not very pleasant.
Matt Farah
It doesn't sound great on the inside or the outside. Like when I was standing out, you know, standing outside and you were driving past, like. Oh, it's not. It's not great.
Zach Klapman
Yeah. It's just. But like Ranger Raptors. A V6 doesn't sound great to me.
Matt Farah
And it doesn't sound.
Zach Klapman
Nothing in this class sounds good.
Matt Farah
No. Only 392.
Zach Klapman
Yeah. V8 sound good.
Matt Farah
Yeah.
Zach Klapman
So this is okay.
Matt Farah
But I would. I would like take that exhaust off. Just put the regular Forerunner exhaust back on.
Zach Klapman
But I would want it 2 horsepower.
Matt Farah
If it could be quieter. It's not. Someone would trade you, you know, find another 4Runner owner and be like, I will trade you your stock exhaust for this droney thing. But in general, I liked it. I thought it was pretty nice. It's definitely like. Like the Tacoma, the Forerunner and the Sequoia are real, like meaty, like UFC interiors. Right. Like the interior looks like the UFC Octagon. In, like, those things, everything's like big and chunky.
Zach Klapman
Yeah.
Matt Farah
Whereas in the Land Cruiser line, it's a little. It's less of that. It's a little more. Not dainty, but like.
Zach Klapman
Yeah, but we can look at a picture the. But some of the buttons in the Land Cruiser are literally smaller.
Matt Farah
Yeah, yeah.
Zach Klapman
And the buttons in this thing, it's.
Matt Farah
A little more like dainty.
Zach Klapman
An inch wide.
Matt Farah
Yeah.
Zach Klapman
So that you can always hit them with your big paw or whatever.
Matt Farah
Yeah. Like the Simpsons. Is it the Simpsons where you get these, like, mash palm on foam? Yeah. Yeah. So let's see the Land Cruiser interior. Land Cruiser interior is more. No, like the full one. Yeah, that. That is definitely a little more dainty than the.
Zach Klapman
I need.
Matt Farah
Huh?
Zach Klapman
I just want higher res. This is only like 600.
Matt Farah
Oh, that stinks. Still. Like, it's pretty. It's pretty trucky, but it looks like it's trying to do lean a little more towards what you might have seen from. It looks actually like a two generations ago Range Rover but with a bigger screen.
Zach Klapman
Yeah. Oh, you know what, like I think these volume buttons and H vac buttons are the same as what you get in the four Runner.
Matt Farah
Those three are. But everything else around it is much softer and more like you would see in a Lexus.
Zach Klapman
Gotcha. Same steering wheel for sure.
Matt Farah
Same steering wheel but different exterior to the steering wheel. The wrap is different.
Zach Klapman
Oh yeah, yeah.
Matt Farah
The climate controls and like certain things are the same but like all the surfaces are different.
Zach Klapman
Yeah. Four wheel drive is different and they.
Matt Farah
Just make the four Runner and the Sequoia TRD like way like chunkier.
Zach Klapman
Yeah. It's all, it's all like some hard plastic but it feels durable.
Matt Farah
Yeah.
Zach Klapman
Everything needs. If your hands are covered in mud, they're like. We want you to be able to operate the buttons. Yeah. And wash it out with a hose.
Matt Farah
Yeah. But we'll have a video of that soon. But it was pretty good.
Zach Klapman
It was, it was pretty good.
Matt Farah
I just got dropped off the Can Am pulse electric motorcycle, which is kind of neat.
Zach Klapman
Let me find it.
Matt Farah
And we don't. Yeah, we drive it for a second.
Zach Klapman
Okay.
Matt Farah
Yeah. Look at this thing that. It's like a sporty sort of city bike.
Zach Klapman
It's a street fighter style.
Matt Farah
But it's electric. It's electric. Yeah. And it's pretty cool. It's fun to ride. It's light and agile and it has really neat brakes. Like it has regular brakes, a right hand brake and a foot brake. And obviously your left hand isn't doing anything but steering because there's no clutch. Right. But in addition to the throttle, you can twist the throttle forward away from you to regen brake which when you're going into a corner hard is the natural motion of your hand. So it's pretty cool.
Zach Klapman
Does well. Okay. Because when you're like when you're braking on a motorcycle into a corner, you do more front brake than rear brake. But when you use the regen, that's rear brake. It's rear brake.
Matt Farah
Yeah.
Zach Klapman
Okay, interesting.
Matt Farah
I mean look, I haven't like mobbed canyons yet with it. And it's easy to break gently without activating much regen at all. And there's a 3, 1, 2, 3 off for a regen so you can toggle it not infinitely but like, you know, in some kind of way. I put it up to max and at max, if you really do it forward like you. I don't know if you can lock the rear wheel but like it's a pretty hard.
Zach Klapman
You probably can't because they probably program that out. But it gets close around the city. That seems really cool though. I would use Regen. And then you go to the canyon for a minute because it runs out of juice and then you just turn it off.
Matt Farah
Right. So the juice is the problem. I filled it up, I charged it, you know, at my house and it charges in about an hour, which is nice on a level two. But it says 48 miles to empty when it was full. And last night I rode it from my house to Venice for dinner and back, which is like 12 miles. And it said 30 miles when I got home. So it seems that the, you know, it's light and it's agile, which means it doesn't have a big heavy battery. Which means with someone that's tall and fat on it, it's not going to go very far. Which is sort of the downside because this thing costs $13,000. You know, it's too bad because it's actually like fucking awesome to ride. If you had a commute, a regular commute of like 15 miles or less, this would just be kick ass. It would be so awesome. It's like flying a glider. It rips off the line, you know, I think it maxes out at 85, but it is comfortable to ride on the highway and like it pulls pretty hard from 70 to 85.
Zach Klapman
Cool.
Matt Farah
And with the regen, the display screen is really, really clear. The gauges are really clear. Like there's little different stuff you can do.
Zach Klapman
I bet it feels like Star wars pod racing because you have just that instant torque of it.
Matt Farah
It's fun and it is. I don't know the exact. Can you look up the weight of it? I don't know the exact weight, but it feels light and agile. It's probably not like 390.
Zach Klapman
It's like a Harley.
Matt Farah
It's. That's funny. It does not feel 390 pounds, man. They really. Maybe because it's all just in the battery. So it's concentrated like down low. But it really does not feel. It's got, yeah. 8.9 kilowatt hour battery. Oh, it's 80 mile an hour top speed. Speed. The speedometer goes above 80.
Zach Klapman
Oh, maybe yours has a little extra.
Matt Farah
I don't know.
Zach Klapman
Yeah.
Matt Farah
But it's. It is like maybe it's just because it's a shorter wheelbase or the, the weight is down low because of the batteries down there and there's not much weight up high. I don't know. But it does feel very agile and fun.
Zach Klapman
So I bet it's a cool way to get around it. Yeah, I know that, like, and I used to do this too with electric motorcycles. I go, oh, the range is so limiting. That's really dumb. But there's plenty of cars we love that are only good for one thing or two things, so. All right, if you have a good amount of money or you have a really consistent commute, you could buy this and just. I bet it's a really fun experience. Yeah, it is. Paying for the experience.
Matt Farah
Yeah, it's super fun like it is. It is. In terms of urban riding, I think it is more fun than a regular motorcycle. And it's not that powerful. I mean, you can. You look up 47 horsepower, like, that's not that much. But if you're, if you're getting 47 horsepower at, you know, at zero and whatever the torque number is, assume it's probably the same. You know, you're ripping off the line and no one, you know, you're silent. So you're just gone. By the time anyone thinks anything of you, especially lane splitting. Like, dude, half throttle. I am out on this thing. It's awesome. I, for me personally ride it the.
Zach Klapman
Way model three drivers drive.
Matt Farah
Yeah, for me personally, though, like, I. I don't. I think I would need to be able because it's electric and because, like, I, unlike a car, like, I just don't want to be stopping in my day to day life. Like, you know what I mean? Like, my electric car does not have the longest range, but I'm certainly not stopping in days of running errands to charge, you know what I mean? Like, but like, if I can only really go 40 miles, like, I can't get to Pasadena.
Zach Klapman
That's true.
Matt Farah
Going to Malibu and back is pushing it. Like, ooh, that's like, you know, I.
Zach Klapman
Don'T think you could do. I think you'd have to charge in Malibu.
Matt Farah
Well, I'm gonna find out. I'm gonna go out there this weekend. And fortunately, there is a charger.
Zach Klapman
Yeah.
Matt Farah
You know, the Livewire Stor.
Zach Klapman
That's funny.
Matt Farah
That's chargers. So I'm gonna. I go out there confidently knowing I can charge. But like, when I rode the Livewire, like this was a thing, like, the livewire was awesome too. The Livewire was the same feeling of flying a glider, but the whole bike was built Like a Harley, meaning it was made of metal and like that. It had just an amazing solid feeling about it. It was a beautiful thing to ride and use. It was awesome. But I could only get like 60 miles out of it. It was like $18,000 or something at the time.
Zach Klapman
I didn't really. Yeah, it's really limiting. You have to live in an area where the metropolis that you use is 20 miles. Basically. Yeah. Because Pasadena is another city, it's in the county, blah blah, blah. Like, but LA is a big sprawl for sure. But.
Matt Farah
And there's people whose use case doesn't include. I need to go 60 miles. But like my use case for two wheels is like I have to go to somewhere that's far, not that far, but LA far at a time that is deeply inconvenient. So like Vespa or any other motorcycle, you know, if I have to go downtown at rush hour, I have to go to the Valley at rush hour. Motorcycle is my only option. I don't have time for that bullshit. So like. But I need to be able to go do that without also just like sweating the range, you know, which sucks because like I hate. It's not. It shouldn't, it, it shouldn't be about range. It should be about efficiency. And this bike seems to do about 3 miles per kilowatt hour when cruising. Which. Do them, do the math. 8.9 kilowatt hour times 3.
Zach Klapman
It's 27.
Matt Farah
Yeah, that's not great.
Zach Klapman
That's not great.
Matt Farah
I bet if 120 pound little Italian man or whatever, you know, rides it, it's probably much better, right?
Zach Klapman
They test it with a jockey. It'd be funny if the EPA test for this is a very small, you know, weight, minimum rider weight.
Matt Farah
So I'll have like an Instagram review of it and maybe I'll talk about it later if something really interesting happens. But like so far it is really, really fun to ride, but I just have to really pay attention to the, to the thing and, and it's. You got to get the cargo box for this because you don't want to ride this thing around without being able to carry some groceries, you know, or put your helmet on there when you're doing errands because that's what this is for. This is like a step up from, from, from a high end scooter, which is fine. It's like cool. I would put. If this was, if that was cheaper, I would potentially like switch from my Vespa to that, you know, But I, but I got my Vespa for $5,500.
Zach Klapman
Right.
Matt Farah
I could sell it today for 5,501.
Zach Klapman
Yeah. You know, and the fuel efficiency is so good.
Matt Farah
70 miles a gallon.
Zach Klapman
Right. You know, like, it's pretty clean living.
Matt Farah
Yeah, it's cheap. There's no. There's no. Like, because this. This. That's a really fun experience, the electric motorcycles. But like. Like most motorcycles actually have a very good value proposition, whether it's dollars for speed, dollars for fuel efficiency, dollars for time savings, because you can park it fucking anywhere. Like, they're. I mean, they're dangerous. That's the flip side of all of those things. But the other.
Zach Klapman
No risk, no reward.
Matt Farah
The other side of being dangerous is like, there's a lot of good reasons to use a motorcycle for stuff, but if they're too expensive and you can't. And you can't. You know, they're also so fuel efficient that why make them electric?
Zach Klapman
Yeah. You know, it's fun, but it's a niche thing. Yeah.
Matt Farah
But we'll have. Hopefully I'll have some more. Do we want to go to the people or is there something else you want to do?
Zach Klapman
I just want to show you this. Mercedes. Mercedes for their new amg gtxx.
Matt Farah
Yeah.
Zach Klapman
And we're not amg.
Matt Farah
We're not copying Ferrari xx.
Zach Klapman
Right. We're gonna. We're gonna play a game called did they make this with AI? Or did they actually make this?
Matt Farah
That is. AI. No, sorry, that's. Oh. Oh, this. Oh, that was it. I was just. People dancing, DJs and shit. Oh, this is the. Oh, okay. Wow. What's. What is going on?
Zach Klapman
So much is going.
Matt Farah
There's a lot of things happening here. For a car, for audio.
Zach Klapman
People go on Instagram and go to Mercedes Benz AMG and look for their thing called Moments Made in Motion.
Matt Farah
Yeah, it's quite. Amg. Family came together. Here's what it looked like. Wow. So many influencers were there.
Zach Klapman
I don't know who any of them are.
Matt Farah
So that's why I thought I just saw Alicia Keys. Okay, that's George Russell. That's Roger Federer. Federer, Kimmy.
Zach Klapman
Yeah.
Matt Farah
Okay. So. And the car. So we've got. It's got the side profile of an elongated GT63. It's got the mouth of a Maserati Gran Turismo, and it's got the rear end of a Nissan Z is what I see.
Zach Klapman
This was just like.
Matt Farah
This was a lot.
Zach Klapman
This is such a crazy event. It looks like a rave that was thrown for a car.
Matt Farah
Fireworks Fire, shooting, influencing. What I really want to do is pause. I want to pull out. I'll find a photo and pause the aerial view to see what's around their little party. Cause it looks like it's factories. It looks like it was held at an industrial park.
Zach Klapman
They do it on a budget. Yeah, yeah.
Matt Farah
Let's just see some still photos of the car. So do you think. Are you saying that that event was AI?
Zach Klapman
When I first saw it, I thought it was AI. Cause I went, there's no way they did this. I mean. But then I saw Russell's face. I'm like, that's obviously him actually there. But in the first snapshots, and this is, I think, me being old man shouting at the cloud. I was like, I don't know who any of these people. So is this just AI? And then there's like fire on a stage and the zoom out. And I went, this can't be real. But for releasing a car, Right.
Matt Farah
The question is, did they have a real party or was it a vid? Was it a video shoot that their ambassadors were at? I like, do you think they had a party and filmed it or that they.
Zach Klapman
I think they had a PR event and they filmed it and, you know, and people were there for an hour.
Matt Farah
And then they probably had AI edited. Maybe that could be why.
Zach Klapman
I think AI is getting very good. So I go, is this real or not? All right, here, let's look at this car.
Matt Farah
Oh, God. Okay.
Zach Klapman
It's.
Matt Farah
Yeah. So we've got.
Zach Klapman
I think it's weird looking.
Matt Farah
It is weird looking. Basically, it looks like Mercedes has built a Taycan with a Maserati mouth.
Zach Klapman
Yeah.
Matt Farah
Yep.
Zach Klapman
And Maserati headlights.
Matt Farah
And Maserati headlights. And in the back, it looks like a Nissan Z rear end. It looks derivative. Oh, excuse me. Not Nissan Z. More like a Hennessey Venom gt.
Zach Klapman
Yeah. Three round tail lights on either side, flanking a digital screen. How you can say things. It says, so amg.
Matt Farah
Yeah, it's a cool car. So electric hypercar sedans, do we care?
Zach Klapman
Well, how do we defi. You know, how do we define hypercar sedan? Because the Panamera. Sorry, not Panamera. The Taycan Turbo, which is insane and super, super fast. Like, is that a hypercar sedan?
Matt Farah
I mean, I think it probably counts. Taycan Turbo gt. It was. It puts up numbers on a racetrack that are in line with what you would be considered supercars. It certainly accelerates. It runs nines out of the box. I think that counts. I think the Sapphire would as well. But at the same time. I don't give a shit. I don't personally lust for a Taycan Turbo gt. I want to try one when it comes out. The new one. Yeah, let's have a go. Let's try it. But like I bought the slow tyc, right? I didn't. I don't. And not because that's the one I could afford. I could afford a nicer Taycan, but I think they're all. It's kind of a waste of money. That thing's like 400 horsepower. I fucking put my foot on the floor yesterday. Scooted around a bunch of people. That would have been a three gear downshift in the LC500. I was driving, you know, the week before cars.
Zach Klapman
Quick, here's what I think is happening. Yeah, the eqs and EQE flopped because they looked dull. Yeah, I mean they were the ugliest thing Mercedes has made in a long time because a lot of the cars, AMG GT great looking. They're SUVs. I think they're pretty good looking and.
Matt Farah
They look like back to the future two cars.
Zach Klapman
They were bars of soap that were 40% down on life. I mean it was just so ugly. I bet this look, it's 1000 horsepower. So that's basically in line with Taycan Turbo. Yeah, they're going to have this. That's going to be the number that gets everyone's attention. And then they'll sell more of the ones like you bought which is like they'll have the normal AMG GT just not the xx.
Matt Farah
Yeah. And then it says charging time 5 minutes for 400km which probably means it will be able to accept like 500 kilowatt charging which is great if there are any 500 kilowatt chargers if you can find it. Yeah.
Zach Klapman
Top speed over 360 kilometers per hour. That is, is well over 200. So I think this, I think this is them relaunching their electric cars because they have sunsetted.
Matt Farah
Yeah.
Zach Klapman
Eqs.
Matt Farah
But it has like the butterfly steering wheel like the a, like the gt, the AMG one. And I mean look, I think the back looks cool. I don't think it's ugly. I don't think, I think it's derivative. I don't think it's ugly.
Zach Klapman
I think the front is kind of just. Okay, not that into the front.
Matt Farah
Like I, I really wish, I can't believe I'm saying this, but I really wish they would retro future the 90s Mercedes like the W124. I wish they would retro Future that.
Zach Klapman
Design have some blocks.
Matt Farah
The W124, the W129. I wish they would do that like Hyundai with that, with that. You know, this, this. I mean, it's not ugly, but like, do people want this?
Zach Klapman
Is this.
Matt Farah
This is a thing that people, that they think people want? Like a thousand horsepower electric sedan? Like, have you seen how are Taycan sales GTs? Yeah, I mean, I don't think they sell enough that we would just like see them around. I've seen zero customer owned cars. No, I've seen one. I've never seen a customer owned Sapphire.
Zach Klapman
Yeah. And Rimac. You know, they have not. I don't think they've sold out. Like, I think, I think the.
Matt Farah
I think they have now because it was a key to getting a tourbillon. Oh, yeah. That was what. That was smart. Yeah. You had to be a preview. Yeah. The. The loophole. You had to be a previous Bugatti or remotes customer. Oh, by the way, there's still a few of those.
Zach Klapman
Way to write a contract, mate. Damn genius.
Matt Farah
Yeah.
Zach Klapman
All right, we'll go to the people.
Matt Farah
This doesn't do anything for me in concept form, meaning the concept of a thousand horsepower super sedan I just don't really give a shit about. Now, if they build one, would I like to test it for a couple days? Yeah, sure.
Zach Klapman
Because it'd be fun. Get out.
Matt Farah
Because it'd be fun, but I wouldn't spend my money on that. Let's see. Let's go to the Patreon. Our patrons, of course, get exclusive early access, among other things, to tickets to live shows. They get a 24 hour head start on buying all tickets to live shows. They got early access on the notice watches, early access and exclusive access to our tactile turn pen collab, among many other things. They get extra podcasts, live shows, ask questions, ad free shows. You get a whole lot for your money over there at the old patreon.com to them questions. Granny shifting, not double clutching like you said. Oh. If you and Zach were patrons, what usernames would you select when asking questions? Now that is very good.
Zach Klapman
It's a good question. It's tough.
Matt Farah
I'd probably. It depends. Would I want to be like something like disgusting or would I want to be something that was like probably related to my cats?
Zach Klapman
Pop to mind was in check engine light, which is like incel. Wait, oh, in cell I could do incel or I could do in check engine light. And you know, people. Only two people would get it.
Matt Farah
But yeah, no, the incel. That. I mean, that's very funny, but also.
Zach Klapman
I don't want to. I'm not.
Matt Farah
You can't joke about that. It's like, you can't joke about doing a Nazi stuff. Absolute. Like, it doesn't matter if you joked.
Zach Klapman
Like, I agree. You can't. Yeah, yeah, I agree.
Matt Farah
Like, even if you were joking, you're.
Zach Klapman
Even if you do it twice in a row.
Matt Farah
Yeah. No, no. Like, oh, he wasn't joking. But I'm saying there are people who, like, kind of do it as a dumb joke, but, like, there's still going to be that photo of you doing it. So you're not.
Zach Klapman
A few years. There's a story like, someone dressed as Hitler for Halloween and then gets in a fight. They're like, how come people are mad at me?
Matt Farah
Well, do you remember. Do you Remember Halloween?
Zach Klapman
Hitler. No.2011 1010 was that big party you went to?
Matt Farah
No. When we went to Halloween party at the bar in Redondo Beach. That was the ups. The poor house, the pitcher. The poor house, the bar. Remember that bar in the mall? And in. And I for. I was dressed as Walter from the Big Lebowski, and I took home a girl who was dressed as sexy Hitler. Wow.
Zach Klapman
Do you not remember that? I was wasted. I bet.
Matt Farah
It was. It was something. It was really a match made in. Sure.
Zach Klapman
You broke the bed that night. You're just like, I'm channeling all of the.
Matt Farah
Jesus, Walter and sexy Hitler walk into a bar. Yeah. It would probably be like, I would take one of my cats and then imagine that they were like the 15th heir on a royal bloodline in the UK and come up with a name for them. And that would be my username. What would be yours? You'd use the C. Oh, you'd use something.
Zach Klapman
I would do something with. Check engine light. Probably.
Matt Farah
Okay, so it could either be in cell or celibit.
Zach Klapman
Celibit would be fun.
Matt Farah
Celibrate. Good times.
Zach Klapman
What did I just think of? Of stage M3. Clinger.
Matt Farah
That's kind of funny.
Zach Klapman
It's kind of an old joke, though. What I've liked is I'm pretty sure a lot of our users switch up their names for fun, and you can just keep writing new jokes.
Matt Farah
I do not have the answer to Andrew's question. Maybe if a patron or a commenter has the answer. My sister's Cayenne GTS comes with a very nice air suspension. How does the ride quality compare to the BMW X5's air suspension? And are they expensive to Replace or maintain? Well, I don't know about the X5. I've never driven an X5 with air suspension, so I couldn't tell you. I haven't driven an X5 in 10 years. Since the M. No, since we rent. We got a press car in South Carolina once. Or I did, maybe I did. But yes, they're expensive to maintain if they go bad. My Taycan CPO warranty fully covers air suspension. There's no wear and tear on air suspension. It's covered. That's fully covered. So if I had a car with air suspension, I would probably want to have a warranty. And most cars with air suspension have a fixed suspension conversion kit specifically so they can live on reasonable lives without it later.
Zach Klapman
I think it's expensive because you see a lot of cars in LA that have air suspension collapsed.
Matt Farah
Yeah. Yeah. There's like a meme in like the area where we. Not a meme. It's like a thing. Sorry, I'm calling a thing that me and my wife joke about a meme. And that's bad.
Zach Klapman
No, that's called life.
Matt Farah
Yeah. There's a thing in life that Hannah and I are always pointing out. Air suspension blowout Mercs and Range Rovers and stuff around our neighborhood.
Zach Klapman
Yeah.
Matt Farah
You know, because the old. The old people. It's the old people. Eventually it goes and then they. They just don't get rid of it. It just sits there and they get a new Mercedes, they park it right next door and it's like, get rid of this fucking shit box. Tough. Ode says how feasible would it be to emulate the ride quality of a lucid air in an older car? I have a lucid air and a BMW 530i. The air handles better, flatter, and yet is more compliant over bumps. Are any companies out there making adaptive dampers for older cars or would it take more than that to really accomplish? I think it would not be possible to make your E39 ride like a lucid. I think there's a little too much going on there.
Zach Klapman
Yeah, I mean you can get adaptive dampers on the aftermarket. Yes, There are a number of companies that sell kits that do that. Well, you could also get really good, expensive regular dampers.
Matt Farah
No, but aren't most companies that make adaptive dampers are designed to replace an OEM adaptive damper?
Zach Klapman
Well, no. Didn't like on the Focus.
Matt Farah
Yeah, didn't you designed to replace the oem?
Zach Klapman
I'm pretty sure you can get piggyback kits.
Matt Farah
Okay, that.
Zach Klapman
Like that. Go on. You know from kw or from Tyne or whatever that, like, have the gyroscope and all that shit. What's it called? Like, the dsc?
Matt Farah
Oh, yeah, the Dynamic Sport Controller.
Zach Klapman
There's a lot those exist out there. Yeah, they'd just be expensive.
Matt Farah
I mean, look, an EV has so much going for it here. It's got the battery and the low center of gravity. There's no engine. So they have all kinds of possibilities with their front suspension that you don't have.
Zach Klapman
Right.
Matt Farah
Because you have an engine there. They can do shit with their control arms and put things in places that with an engine, you can't do that.
Zach Klapman
They could also do lighter springs up front than you can because they don't have an engine. So that's a part of it. They also have a lot of computing power in that car to control those dampers. That might be even more sophisticated than what you could get from the aftermarket. I would say you could just get a really good pair of. Of sophisticated dampers from any reputable company and just make sure the springs are comfortable enough, and that would get you a long way.
Matt Farah
I'm pretty sure Lucid stole the ride and handling guy from Lotus.
Zach Klapman
Really?
Matt Farah
Yeah, I think so.
Zach Klapman
Lotus just.
Matt Farah
Yeah, I don't think that's a replicable thing to do.
Zach Klapman
Lotus is the Y combinator of suspension and setup. Like every car, they get hired out to do that shit. People get stolen, and they do that well.
Matt Farah
Gently used Marital aids says when two comparable cars are even in competence or one is slightly more capable, when do you simply say, screw it and go with the one with more character? I made that choice. I wanted to get in 06 when I wanted out of my Hummer so bad. I was looking at sti, and my friend, my family friend, owned the dealership. So getting the STI would have been very easy. I was looking at an Evo. It was an Evo 8, I believe. And then I went to go look at the John Cooper Works Mini. And the John Cooper Works mini was like $5,000 more expensive, had less power. It wasn't all wheel drive. And on paper, it seemed like a way worse deal. But I think I made the right choice. I think for me at the time, having that. That Mini was rad. It didn't. Those R53s, they fucking ripped.
Zach Klapman
They're so fun.
Matt Farah
And they fell to me. They felt like more like miniature BMWs than they. Than something else, actually. I thought. I felt like my car was built really well. So I. Yeah. And I. And it doesn't matter. That objectively the STI and Evo had a better 0 to 60 or whatnot. Barbecue sauce on my titties. If you both. If California actually fell into the ocean and you both had to evacuate and start over, what state would you move to? Oh, man. Probably Colorado would be lovely.
Zach Klapman
Yeah, it's fantastic there.
Matt Farah
Yeah. I like the Pacific Northwest, maybe Washington state, but I think I'd be more likely to go to Colorado.
Zach Klapman
Washington has so many good things, but the rain and the clouds and everything in the winter, it's just. I think it's too much. Colorado gets a lot of sun. Yeah.
Matt Farah
Or maybe back to Connecticut with my. With my family, but not because Connecticut is so great. Although Greenwich is beautiful. Bush did 997. Opinion on Xeric watches. They're funky. I've. I've never really handled one. They Xeric. They specialize in, like, weird ways to show the time. So they have jump hour. They have retrograde. They have these weird little, like, Tumblr things. They're funky. And if you want. You know, I probably wouldn't buy one to wear every day, but if you want, like. Scroll down, Zach. If that. That one. The Artemis tumbler thing on the right. Yeah, that's. So that. The one on the left is called a retrograde.
Zach Klapman
I think it's cool.
Matt Farah
Yeah. So the hands go from 1 to 12 and then click back and start over. And the one on the right is called a tumbler, where that's. The whole thing in the center spins and the. And displays the number. That is, I guess, one of the numbers that's up is the hour, and then. And then it points at the. You know, at the minutes.
Zach Klapman
Wow.
Matt Farah
So they have a. You know, they're like 1500 bucks. They're not super, super cheap. They're. They're pretty well made, I think.
Zach Klapman
Very unique and weird for the price.
Matt Farah
Yeah.
Zach Klapman
Yeah.
Matt Farah
I mean, look, once you have a few watches, you start looking for, like, weird ways to display the top and, like, you know, different stuff.
Zach Klapman
Yeah. Get choked. Exactly.
Matt Farah
And these offer, like, complications that are typically more expensive from other, you know, Swiss manufacturers or whatever. But they're neat. Yeah. They're fun. Jake Shores. Oh, okay. Doing okay. I think that's. I think we've answered Jake's question earlier in the show. Other cities, if these go well, then we will go to other cities. Cities farting in the tartan. The only scene in F1 that bugged me was when JP and his manager were driving the Mercedes on what was clearly a test track, which I've seen in 100 videos and not an actual British road. Yeah. Where they're driving in the AMG GT down the road and it's like that track road that is for commercials that looks like. Yeah, I mean point taken.
Zach Klapman
I don't care. We've driven around there. There's plenty of B roads that look just like that.
Matt Farah
Location spotting is a different. Is a whole other thing. Crankshaft Fondler. I took my non car obsessed mother to the Mini track experience in Palm Springs because she's always talking about how cute the new Mini Coopers are. Well, son of the year award. She loved the experience and she's gonna buy. Oh she loved the experience and the JCW Mini. She drove on track and is going to buy one to start getting into autocross. Good for your mom. Cool rules. Yeah. That's awesome. That's a good son right there. Tst sugardaddy. I have an addiction to shitbox bmws.
Zach Klapman
Uh oh hi armin.
Matt Farah
Currently have a 128i and an e70x5 diesel. What can I add to round out the fleet? Thinking a Z4 coupe or something funky and classic. Ooh, a couple ways to go. Clown shoe. You know shitbox. You could get a, you know a clown shoe with the 2.8. A non M clown shoe. You could get an E38. 7 series. Oh, 7 series is all right.
Zach Klapman
Yeah, yeah.
Matt Farah
They're fun and they're. They have transitional area era computers so that'll be an adventure.
Zach Klapman
Sure.
Matt Farah
You could get a. I mean there.
Zach Klapman
Aren'T like Shark Nose 6 series but they're so hard to maintain.
Matt Farah
Oh yeah.
Zach Klapman
So good.
Matt Farah
Yeah, yeah. What is that? An E E 20. E 28. E 29. E 26. E 24. E 24 whatever.
Zach Klapman
E 24.
Matt Farah
E 24. A shark knows six series. Yeah, yeah. Chardonnay six series. A Z3 non M coupe or a E 38. Seven series. Print it. Mr. Nail Head says. Oh, with the Fourth of July coming up, what's the best explosion you've ever seen? That was done for entertainment.
Zach Klapman
Hmm. Interesting.
Matt Farah
When I worked on the Bull Run reality show, they blew up everything. They blew up all kinds of stuff. Pyro budget that the guy on that show was like Danny McBride in Tropic Thunder. He was nuts. And him and Goldberg were best friends and they were nuts together. And he, they would their exploit. It was 5 gallon gas cans full of, full of gas and just wrapped in primer cord like 50 times. And they would just like, like lay them and it would look, you know, they, they'd hit it and it would look like a strafing run from nom. Yeah. Or like.
Zach Klapman
And they did. Was that like as you guys are driving and. Or the people in the contest are driving. Wow.
Matt Farah
They did one where they put like three of them gas cans in the bucket of a backhoe and like put it up over the thing and set them off like over the car. It was. They blew everything up.
Zach Klapman
That's amazing. I have nothing even close to that.
Matt Farah
Yeah, that's good. Okay, let's see. Honker, bonker, boinky, doinkies. I like that. Oh, so many words. Okay. My wife of 21 years has developed an anti car mentality over the last couple years. She simply cannot handle the anxiety that she gets while riding passenger. But she's less anxious while driving to the point where she doesn't want to go anywhere.
Zach Klapman
Anywhere.
Matt Farah
She feels more comfortable in public transit like buses and trains. But our retirement plan has been buying an rv, traveling the world and now that seems far fetched. I love her and support her, but what's a car guy to do when his wife doesn't want to go for a drive or weekend getaway anymore? Well, a couple things you can do for. I mean I would say the RV is probably out unless she all of a sudden decides she likes driving the rv. My wife doesn't like going up in the canyons with me. You know, when we go on road trips together. She drives like for like all but the long highway transit sections. My wife drives on road trips, which is fine with me. I drive a lot for. And I go out on the canyons like by myself or with friends. So I mean it doesn't, she doesn't have to partake in your hobby now. Maybe instead of the rv, maybe you get one of those like around the world like cruise tickets or something. Maybe you visit places that are, you know, visit places by air that are great to you to use public transit to get around like Tokyo and London and you know, whatever. Go to Venice and with a water taxi maybe instead of an RV you get a boat. You do it on a boat. If that's, if that is, that's a.
Zach Klapman
Good way to get around. You could see a lot of like that, the world that way.
Matt Farah
Yeah.
Zach Klapman
I would also say you might, she might have to like try therapy if you haven't. Because if she's, if she's so anxious now, like if she didn't have a problem and now she can't ride in a car but then can't ride an rv, which is like a very different driving experience than a canyon road sports car. Shit. Like, to me, that doesn't sound like you're a car guy. And she's not a car girl. It sounds like she's freaked out to be in a car she's not driving.
Matt Farah
So maybe like, agoraphobia or just like. Just there's something else. And if she's not seeing a therapist, she probably should.
Zach Klapman
Yeah.
Matt Farah
And this could possibly be something. And we are not therapists. But, like, believe me, anxiety, like, that could possibly be something that could be fixed with medication and therapy. If it's not that she doesn't want to live that life with you, but she just can't get out of that hole. That's a different thing. That's not a car question.
Zach Klapman
Right.
Matt Farah
Randy says, if you were buying a veteran car, would you rather have a gas car, steam car, or an electric car? Any particular models in mind?
Zach Klapman
Oh, gas car.
Matt Farah
I'd want to have a chugga chugga.
Zach Klapman
I want the sound.
Matt Farah
Yeah. It's got a chugga chugga, steam.
Zach Klapman
It's cool.
Matt Farah
You got to really know what you're doing with the steam. Yeah. I don't know.
Zach Klapman
Yeah, it's weird. The cloud behind it.
Matt Farah
Yeah.
Zach Klapman
Is huge. It obscures the whole car.
Matt Farah
No, I would want a gas car.
Zach Klapman
Yeah. Models. I have no idea. Whatever.
Matt Farah
It doesn't matter what you. The one you. What you really want is one that, like, doesn't exist anymore and people won't know to, like, look for, like that Yale. Like, that's. That's like SEO death, that thing.
Zach Klapman
But also the more obscure, the harder it is to repair.
Matt Farah
Oh. I think even if it's not a. If it's not an Olds or a Ford, you're not getting parts like you. You have to make everything anyway. The actual Dave, the 100 to 150k market for used sports and exotic cars is really interesting right now. If you lived in Venice, California, I assume, wanted a weekend car, how would you decide on what to upgrade?
Zach Klapman
Which sports car is best for Venice, Italy? Yeah. Not allowed to drive in.
Matt Farah
Upgrade your 997carrera to ideally manual gearbox. However, as they get more exotic, that becomes harder to find. A 991.2 McLaren 570, Audi R8, Corvette C8 3LZ or something else I would like. I think the biggest upgrade from a997 there in terms of, like, performance, but also, I think is the Audi.
Zach Klapman
I agree.
Matt Farah
Yeah.
Zach Klapman
And it will feel. It will feel exotic like the McLaren, but will be better made and probably hold value much better than the 570 will. Yeah, Corvette will feel like a step down unless you drive really fast. Like, it's a great car. But I think. I think opening the door quality wise.
Matt Farah
Exterior wise, you'd probably not be happy with the quality of a Corvette after a 997, honestly.
Zach Klapman
And it feels much more claustrophobic than the 911 interior.
Matt Farah
I mean, a 991.2. If you can get a GTS, that's a Ripper right there. They are fabulous. If you can get a GTS with a stick, you're in the money. I don't know if you. I guess you probably can for that price. That would be a delight. But if you want to feel like you're really getting an upgrade, you want an R8. And if you're in Venice and you don't have room, you know where to keep that motherfucker. We got you. You. We're at west side Spoolious Caesar. That's now that. Very good. I like that. Were the buses in Panama as scary as they seemed? Because they looked very sketchy. Yes, they were very sketchy. The. The Diablos Rojos. Right. Those aren't like the buses that, like, most people take every day. Most people like they used to be, but most people take, like, regular buses now. And the Diablo Rojos are like I. Apparently they have opened the drag strip and they're now just. Just drag racing them at the drag.
Zach Klapman
Sanctioned racing.
Matt Farah
Yeah. Which is much safer.
Zach Klapman
Better than the highway. There was real shady door open 100 miles per hour in a school bus.
Matt Farah
With holes in the tires.
Zach Klapman
Yeah.
Matt Farah
Holes in the treads.
Zach Klapman
Yeah.
Matt Farah
Sketchy. Bad. Gardener says. How do you feel about buying used cars from dealerships? They're usually checked over, but you don't get to interact with the previous owner, which gives you an idea of the car's previous life. I'd say more often than not, you don't get to interact with the previous owner of a car if you're buying it on, like, bring a trailer or wherever. I would treat both scenarios the same. I don't like. I would do if you can do a ppi. If not, I mean, I bought this Taycan sight unseen, but I have a very long warranty. That's full coverage. And so I was like, all right, whatever, Fine. You know, but. But it looked fine.
Zach Klapman
Carfax. Whether it's from a dealership or an.
Matt Farah
Individual Carfax, you would do the same. Due diligence. Ideally, you would go look at it in person. If you can you drive it? If not, you'd have a mechanic look at it. You know, I would do the same thing. Either way, it might be better if it's at a dealer because your dealer might be willing to just bring the car over to the mechanic whenever.
Zach Klapman
Like, my brother, he's bought nothing but used cars. And a number of times he's bought a used car from a nice independent dealership and he got home and like a week later there was a problem with the car and that dealership went, oh, that's our bed. And like, they repaired it or they paid for the repair. Whereas if you buy it from an individual, like, they're just going to say, that's not my problem anymore. So that is a benefit of it.
Matt Farah
The okay. B Mike says I've owned my Mark 8 Golf R for four months now. And I have to say many of the YouTube car reviewers comments about the capacity capacitive buttons were hyperbolic based on my lived experience. Have you ever had a similar experience where you didn't get the hate for certain features of a car after you experienced it for yourself? I did use those Mark8Golf buttons and they suck.
Zach Klapman
I did too.
Matt Farah
They would.
Zach Klapman
I also hated them in the ID4. Yeah, it's possible that that's quote journalist problem, where if you live with it, like, maybe, maybe you don't adjust the temp as often as we think you would and therefore you don't have to touch those stupid things.
Matt Farah
Yeah, I mean, we do refer to a lot like, oh, this could be journalist problem. This could be a journalist problem. It's hard to think of exact specific scenarios right now. Like, a lot of it is like, maybe if it was my car and I set all my favorites on the radio, then I wouldn't care so much about a scrolling knob or something like things like that. If I. Maybe if I only ever drove one car, then I wouldn't care about this certain thing as opposed to, I'm getting in these different cars, you know.
Zach Klapman
But the new Ferrari Amalfi interior.
Matt Farah
Yep.
Zach Klapman
Doesn't have any capacitive buttons anymore.
Matt Farah
Also, sometimes we're right, so.
Zach Klapman
Right. Exactly.
Matt Farah
Yeah. Oh, my God, that steering wheel is gorgeous. Buttons.
Zach Klapman
So many buttons. But they're all buttons.
Matt Farah
They're square and they're red. And then a start button that's made.
Zach Klapman
Of metal that's red instead of that stupid thing. Everything about this is better.
Matt Farah
And they. And even though it's just a steering wheel and like 20 horsepower and. Oh, but wait, hang on. Have they made a weird shaped Touchscreen there. Is that a big touchscreen? That is a big touchscreen.
Zach Klapman
Big touchscreen.
Matt Farah
So that's gonna be CarPlay Ultra.
Zach Klapman
But what's funny to you, but I guarantee you, is I wonder if the screen actually goes to the edge or if it. If the functionality ends here.
Matt Farah
Yeah, I don't know. We'll see. But. But it's funny. I just can't quit you. I can't quit you. Touchscreen.
Zach Klapman
That's awesome.
Matt Farah
But no. Yeah. So there's definitely stuff where we go, okay, this might be journalist problem. It usually has to do with scrolling radio stations or things like that. Changing settings that were changing a lot.
Zach Klapman
But maybe I feel like when the NSX launch happened, which we weren't on, everyone hated it. And then it was found out later that the tires those cars were on were like. Like all seasons.
Matt Farah
Yeah.
Zach Klapman
And everyone. Everyone was like, the handling of this sucks. And then when we drove it, it was on PS4s. It was awesome.
Matt Farah
Yeah. I mean, there's definitely cars that people on. And I drive and I go, oh, actually, this isn't so bad. And vice versa. There's cars that people go, I read reviews and I'm like, I'll read reviews. Sometimes I'll look at a review, some review someone's written where they've driven the same car as me. Like, oh, I know that press car. And I know what the very different opinions.
Zach Klapman
Yeah, yeah.
Matt Farah
I've been to. Dude. I mean, I. I've told you about the conversations I've had with Jethro at some of the track events.
Zach Klapman
Sure.
Matt Farah
Where someone will say, a car behaves a certain way, and me and Jethro will look at each other like, how is that even possible? We don't understand how the car has done that.
Zach Klapman
Yeah.
Matt Farah
That's crazy. Cat Farah says, regarding the, quote, fireworks at Daytona being fake comment from the F1 movie, I wanted to report that I was there and it was a real fireworks show.
Zach Klapman
Whoa.
Matt Farah
What did you think it was fake cgi?
Zach Klapman
I did.
Matt Farah
Oh. Oh.
Zach Klapman
Because I literally thought, like, why would they shoot fireworks at that time? It seems low. And there's sparks landing on the road. That. And I'm happy to be corrected.
Matt Farah
Oh, when you said fake, I thought, you mean it's like, because that. They wouldn't actually do that during the last. During that portion of the race.
Zach Klapman
I thought, one, they wouldn't do it during that portion of the race. Two, it wouldn't be that low altitude. Three, sparks wouldn't land on the road. So I thought it was Fake in three ways. But I am corrected.
Matt Farah
I just thought it was fake in terms of unrealistic, but.
Zach Klapman
But yeah, okay, yes, they did it.
Matt Farah
They really did it.
Zach Klapman
A bunch of drivers complained it was distracting you.
Matt Farah
I can't imagine that Joseph Kaczynski would be down with fake fireworks when real fireworks are so easily available. You know what I mean? That guy likes reality until reality doesn't. Isn't available.
Zach Klapman
Oh, right. Like it's cheaper to just buy fireworks than to CGI fireworks.
Matt Farah
Well, it'll just look bad. Better also, you know, just, I'd rather have the real thing and like the real things available. So if it's Florida, light it up. Like no one cares. Explorer ST says changing market conditions bring about opportunities. What are the top opportunities for manufacturers right now if they're able to pivot on a moment's notice? First thought is to continue the internal combustion Boxster Cayman. What would you say?
Zach Klapman
Put a big block in everything and burn it to the ground.
Matt Farah
Mercedes should get rid of that four cylinder in the AMG C63 and those variants. That's 1, 2 is. I think Ferrari should absolutely be selling manual transmission cars. Like yesterday.
Zach Klapman
They would sell all of them.
Matt Farah
They'd sell all of them. They don't even sell a lot of them, but they really should. And.
Zach Klapman
Astonish should go back to. Or add an NA V12 instead of the turbocharged one. I know the turbo is amazing, but just the sound of NA. And I don't need 800 horsepower. Like I would like. I'll take a nice 580 with a scream, please.
Matt Farah
And I think, well, manufacturers. Yeah, I mean, I think an affordable, a new, affordable mid engine sports car in America. I think Toyota could do it. If Toyota's benchmarking the Alpine and the Cayman, they have a variety of usable powertrains and I think they could possibly be the ones to do it. I think, I think Cadillac having a sports car, it's probably the right time if they were able to do a C8 based Cadillac car. But yeah, did you see? I just right before we started the show, Dodge is. Is or Chrysler, whatever the fuck Stellantis is reviving srt.
Zach Klapman
I did not see that. I saw. They recalled the Charger because it's not loud enough for like pedestrian shit.
Matt Farah
Yeah. Oh, that's funny.
Zach Klapman
Yeah.
Matt Farah
Let's see. AMG spot. That's pretty good use. Julia's are really cheap. Under 30k for quads and 15k for 4 bangers. Zach needs a daily.
Zach Klapman
Zach, do I need another rescue like problem, possibly problematic Foreign car. I don't.
Matt Farah
How much more do you think they'll drop? And at one point. At what? At what point would you jump into 1:15. That's for Zach.
Zach Klapman
Well, someone. I left this reply up from regular cat reviews because they say they have a Julia quad and they would skip any of the $30,000 pre2019 ones as they had all the teething issues.
Matt Farah
Sure.
Zach Klapman
And like belt service is three to four grand depending where you live.
Matt Farah
Four grand for a major on these cars?
Zach Klapman
Yeah.
Matt Farah
That's crazy.
Zach Klapman
225.
Matt Farah
I mean the problem with a cheap expensive car is that it's cheap for a reason.
Zach Klapman
Yep.
Matt Farah
It's cheap because someone didn't got fed up with the cost of maintenance and said this thing I would have to.
Zach Klapman
Research because I think the quad is stunning. Every time I saw the Julia, every time I see it, I turn and look at it. I don't know if I'd buy the 2 liter one just because if I'm going to do it I want the one that's fast and fun. But then I'm basically buying an Italian M3.
Matt Farah
Yeah.
Zach Klapman
And like you said, like I got my car for 15 grand, what a great deal back then. I spend two to four a year on it. Fixing it and you know, dressing things up that is. So yeah, there's no.
Matt Farah
There's. For me, there's no. At what point would it be cheap enough to jump in? Because if it's that if it gets that cheap, you are asking for a monstrous piece, Bill.
Zach Klapman
It's getting that cheap for a reason. I think.
Matt Farah
I think the car's pretty and sounds good. It should never get that cheap unless it's a fucking nightmare to keep running.
Zach Klapman
That because if it's reliable it will stay popular. Evora or you know, any Lotus is a good example of why if it.
Matt Farah
Works, it has a floor. It's only when the car doesn't work and has a fucking horrific list of needs, you know that cars depreciate to zero.
Zach Klapman
Yeah. Yeah.
Matt Farah
Minnie Finney says E Rays are depreciating fast. They're popping up for sale in the high 80s with under 20k miles. Is there a better daily 4 season sports car in that range? I don't. I mean if you. I mean unless you can get a Carrera S, A4S or something. That's a great four season sports car.
Zach Klapman
Yeah, they're fantastic. These are the last questions by the way.
Matt Farah
I have to. Peace.
Zach Klapman
So I know you have a meeting too.
Matt Farah
I do. Christian says, I've seen some 20, 25 Karma Riveros for sale. I feel like it would be a fun review to watch since no one covers them. SEO death, my friend. No one covers them. And that's. It's. It's. No one's looking for Karma Riveros, unfortunately. Go watch my review from 2011. Same car, nice cam says use DBX707s can be had for 150 to 170. Is this a good value for what you're getting? I love the 707. Not platform shared with anything. The 707 has the gearbox update, the more power, the suspension update, all that shit. They're fast as and fun in the.
Zach Klapman
Kings or in any turns. They are fun.
Matt Farah
Yeah. They're a good time.
Zach Klapman
You tracked one at fucking Vegas F1 track.
Matt Farah
So if you're talking about, you know, that's the price for one with low miles so that it still feels like a pretty new vehicle, I would say you are getting good value for money because most people perceive that as 250 plus. And they're still selling it. It's still new. Still looks like the one they're selling right now.
Zach Klapman
Yeah, it's the Rolls Royce move.
Matt Farah
Yeah. So, I mean, assuming there's a warranty on that of some kind. Yes, it is. All roads lead to Cookeville, Tennessee. How does The Lotus Evora 400 compare to the Emira? And how did. Oh, Jesus. How do they compare to a Cayman? I feel like we literally talk about that in the Amira video. I mean, I think I really have to pee, sir. And I'm sure you'd like to hear this question addressed specifically. But I can pretty much guarantee you that if you go to our YouTube channel and watch our Amira video. We talked about that exact thing.
Zach Klapman
Yeah. Because you spent a lot of time with the Evora and this was the comparison.
Matt Farah
Yeah. So that's our show for today. Thank you, everybody. Thank you to our patrons. Come see us in Texas July 24th and 25th. While tickets last. We'll have the link for tickets in the notes for this show, but it's also up on our Instagram bio. They're affordable. There's going to be food and beverage there. Bring your car, bring your friends. We'll hang out and talk and drink and it'll be a good time. Plus, it's. We all have the privilege of seeing Christian James Hand, which is really going to be a fucking treat. Thank you to everybody. We'll see you later. Goodbye.
The Smoking Tire Podcast - July 3, 2025 Episode Summary
Hosts: Zack Klapman & Matt Farah
Episode Title: 2025 4Runner TRD Pro Review; AMG GT XX; New Seats
Release Date: July 3, 2025
Zack and Matt kick off the episode by announcing their upcoming live shows in Texas on July 24th and 25th in Houston and Dallas, respectively. They emphasize the excitement of hosting Christian James Hand and encourage listeners to purchase tickets via their Instagram bio or show notes.
Matt Farah [07:12]: "If these shows go well, we're going to do more of them."
The hosts delve into their in-depth review of the 2025 Toyota 4Runner TRD Pro, highlighting its performance both on-road and off-road. They discuss the vehicle's hybrid powertrain, which delivers 326 horsepower and 456 lb-ft of torque, marking a significant improvement over previous models.
Off-Road Performance:
Matt [42:05]: "When we went off roading in it, it handled the trails really well, almost like a 'hiking motorized wheelchair.'"
On-Road Handling:
Zach [43:08]: "The suspension is calibrated so well that it feels lighter on its feet, even at 800 pounds heavier."
Transmission Concerns:
Matt [44:14]: "We experienced a spike in transmission temperature during rock crawling, but shifting to low range resolved it."
The conversation shifts to Mercedes' new electric super sedan, the AMG GT XX. Zack and Matt express skepticism about its design and functionality, questioning whether parts of its promotional material were AI-generated.
Design Critique:
Zach [73:26]: "It looks like Mercedes built a Taycan with a Maserati mouth and Nissan Z rear end."
Performance and Features:
Matt [74:03]: "With a top speed over 360 km/h and a charging time of 5 minutes for 400 km, it's pushing the boundaries of electric sedans."
Matt provides an update on his Myers Manx, detailing the progress on the vehicle's restoration, including the installation of the Motec dash and the new radiator.
Matt [18:28]: "The engine is still on the stand, but we're making great progress with the fuel cell and dash installation."
Zach shares his experience in upgrading the interior of his BMW M3 with a custom tartan fabric sourced from Scotland Shop. He discusses the challenges of selecting the right pattern and the meticulous workmanship involved.
Customization Details:
Zach [25:09]: "The new tartan seats look amazing and really complement the car's exterior wrap."
Cost and Installation:
Zach [32:21]: "The material cost around $450, and the total for redoing the seats was approximately $2,200."
Listeners submitted questions via Patreon, covering a range of topics:
Patron asked about comparing Mark 8 Golf R's capacitive buttons and air suspension systems.
Discussion about IQ Bar's electric motorcycles, focusing on their Agility, Regen Braking, and Range Limitations.
Patrons inquired about the pros and cons of purchasing used cars from dealerships versus individual sellers.
Sterling Cars from the 80s:
Matt [02:29]: "Sterling was supposed to be a better Acura but ended up being one of the worst cars in history."
Electric Vehicle Sight Unseen Purchases:
Matt shares his experience purchasing a Taycan sight unseen, appreciating the robust warranty coverage.
Custom Car Interiors:
The hosts express enthusiasm for custom interiors, particularly using tartan fabrics, and share tips on selecting patterns that complement the vehicle's exterior.
Fireworks at Daytona:
Matt recounts witnessing a real fireworks show at Daytona, clarifying that initial skepticism about its authenticity was unfounded.
Zack and Matt wrap up the episode by reiterating their live show dates in Texas and encouraging listener participation. They thank their patrons for their support and preview upcoming content, including more in-depth reviews and discussions.
Matt [Final Segment]: "Thank you to our patrons. Come see us in Texas July 24th and 25th. Bring your car and friends for a great time with Christian James Hand."
Matt Farah [04:20]: "What if a Honda had a Lincoln Continental interior? Nobody. That."
Zach Klapman [25:09]: "The new tartan seats look amazing and really complement the car's exterior wrap."
Matt Farah [44:14]: "We experienced a spike in transmission temperature during rock crawling, but shifting to low range resolved it."
Zach Klapman [73:26]: "It looks like Mercedes built a Taycan with a Maserati mouth and Nissan Z rear end."
This episode of The Smoking Tire offers a comprehensive look into the latest automotive trends, personal car projects, and interactive Q&A segments with listeners. Whether you're a car enthusiast or new to the automotive scene, Zack and Matt provide insightful discussions and relatable anecdotes that keep their audience engaged and informed.
For more detailed reviews and the latest automotive content, visit their YouTube channel and follow them on Twitter and Instagram @thesmokingtire and @zackklapman.