
Is the new 992.2 Porsche GT3 really better than the outgoing model? In some ways, yes, in others, Matt isn't so sure. And how does it compare to the pedestal-dwelling 911 ST? Both Matt and Zack drove the new, blistering 810HP Gunther Works Turbo and have a lot to say about it. Zack's video flying an electric helicopter is finally done. Plus, how to wear 20 watches at once, and Patreon questions including: Cars with the worst transition between generations. Will the new Land Cruiser be as dependable as its predecessors? Why we don't believe in "forever cars". Deman's tuning changes Ranking the world's most comfortable cars Are 6th gen Camaro ZL1s a good used buy? Why we're not excited about Shelby's newest Mustang Funny bumpers stickers What to do about an Alcantara steering wheel And more! Recorded February 4, 2025 Go to https://porsche.click/tst to check out everything the Porsche Track Experience has to offer! Exclusive $20-off Carv...
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Matt Farah
Welcome back. We had a month off to get rested, do a bunch of travel, drive a bunch of stuff. And we appreciate you being patient because now we're back. It's the Smoking Tire podcast. And here we are. This week's episodes are brought to you by the Porsche Track Experience. That's right, it's a new advertiser and this week we're talking about some really fast Porsches, including the new GT3. And you might be thinking, huh, that new GT3 sounds pretty sick. Where can I drive one? Well, the Porsche Track Experience is how you do it. The HPDE program offered by Porsche and executed by Manthei Racing is the ideal entry point for every skill level from the first corner up into your entry into motorsport. They offer personal support to fit your individual driving goals and find the best suited events for you. They've got legendary tracks in Europe like Spa, Monza or the Nurburgring. And they've got all the latest Porsche GT models, including the new 2025 Porsche GT3. Also available are cars with the Manti kits. To feel the difference for yourself, you could even rent full on race cars. You can learn from Porsche certified motorsport experienced instructors. The standards of the cars, events and tracks are to the highest safety standards from Manti and you can meet factory drivers and brand ambassadors as well as development engine. For more information or booking, head over to Porsche click tst. That's P O R S C H E C L I C K T S TST and ze spoks du spieke ze English. All right, folks, on today's episode, it's my review of the new 2025 Porsche GT3 which I went to Spain to drive. Plus Zach and I Dr. The Gunther works turbo. Some of the roads that were closed for the fires are back open. I talk about the Austin Beyond City limits road and track event that I'm doing. We've got the Ranger Raptor to take to King of the Hammers this week and a whole lot more. Let's get to it. It's the Smoking Tire podcast. What's up? Welcome to the program. Hello to Patreon. We love you the most. You are with us even though we took a week off. A month. We took a month off actually not a week.
Zach Klapman
Yeah.
Matt Farah
But we are back and we should go right into the GT3 probably. Yeah, that's a thing. The GT3 video had a little bit of a slow burn. Didn't quite. Didn't quite hit on day one, but it's doing all right on day three.
Zach Klapman
Okay.
Matt Farah
It's new GT3. It's very exciting. So exciting. I responded to the email inviting me to drive the GT3 before even really looking at my calendar. One of those where I was like, whatever's there can be moved. You know what I mean?
Zach Klapman
I get it. Yeah.
Matt Farah
Valencia, Espana.
Zach Klapman
New track, right, for you.
Matt Farah
New track for me.
Zach Klapman
New track for you.
Matt Farah
New track for me. Circuto Ricardo Torno. Torno. Tormo. I think it's T O R N O. But it might be tormo. It's a MotoGP track.
Zach Klapman
Yeah. So does that mean it's just very flowy versus other tracks you've driven?
Matt Farah
It's a track. I'm not sure.
Zach Klapman
I think it just means it follows certain safety rules that.
Matt Farah
You know what? It had a lot of goddamn garages. I think MotoGP races have a lot of teams, and so it had a lot of garages, but it was a track. It was a nice track. It wasn't entirely different from. What's it called? Monte Blanco, where you were for Aston.
Zach Klapman
Oh, right, right.
Matt Farah
Same kind of vibe.
Zach Klapman
Also lots of gravel because motorcyclists don't want to slide across the grippy stuff.
Matt Farah
Yeah. And it's in Valencia, which is beautiful, as is all of Spain. You know, roads sick. Drove the GT3 Touring Licht Bau, which you cut. You put a clip up from our video on Instagram. There's a very funny captioning fail. It couldn't do Licht Bau, surprisingly. So. It says like, L, I, C K E D space, B O W. Licked Bow, which someone out there who orders this license plate idea. Play with that a little bit. You might be able to get licked Bao. That would also be. If you wanted to do a little meta and you had a matching boat, Your boat could be named Licked Bow.
Zach Klapman
Like the Licht Bao.
Matt Farah
Yeah. The Licht Bow would be a good. That would also be a good name for a seaside Portia themed bar that.
Zach Klapman
Is a lot of.
Matt Farah
It's meta.
Zach Klapman
A lot of nesting dolls of Porsche. And two people would walk into the bar and go, I get it.
Matt Farah
Portia just set up like a cottage in the Alps that's like a coffee shop, but it's basically just like a Type 7 Porsche installation. I think Triple 0 could do a the Licked Bow bar pop up to celebrate this car on a boat. Consider this podcast the patent on that plant.
Zach Klapman
It should be a boat that's parked at the dock and you just walk up it.
Matt Farah
We need to call Pete Stout asked if he could come on the podcast from Triple Zero. And I think this would be a good pitch for him. We could prep it, workshop it a little bit, Shark, tank it up.
Zach Klapman
I think it's pretty good.
Matt Farah
We could serve James made gin.
Zach Klapman
The people that understand Porsche terminology. Yeah, yeah. You need to wait a little bit till more people order their licht bau, however you pronounce it.
Matt Farah
Yeah.
Zach Klapman
Their lickbao. I know that that's not right for people who are listening, but it's what I.
Matt Farah
Well, we're calling it now.
Zach Klapman
It's what we're calling it now.
Matt Farah
You know, we can't say Porsche. We say Porsche and we can't say leak.
Zach Klapman
I say Porsche. It took a while, I know that.
Matt Farah
Yeah.
Zach Klapman
But someone's getting out there going, no, it's like pirate or something. And you know the B is silen.
Matt Farah
Yeah. So, yeah, so that's, you know the GT3, that's the review right there. Yeah, you got the like bow, which is the lightweighting package for the touring. Conversely, you can also get a rear seat now for the touring, which is nice. Add to that the bucket seats now fold forward. So whether you have a back seat and need to put humans back there, or you have no back seat and you want to put your luggage back there, you now have a way to fold that bucket seat forward to get things in there. Now, that doesn't mean it's an adjustable recline. It's not. It has one position up and one position down. That's it.
Zach Klapman
Did not expect that.
Matt Farah
Yeah. It is a bucket. It's just a bucket that folds. The engine makes as close as. Makes no difference. The same horsepower. It's 503 horsepower. It's a little less torque. And then what Porsche has done is shave the gear ratios 8% in order to across the board PDK and manual to offset the loss of torque. Why is there a loss of torque? Because there are new, more stringent emission standards. And in order to Continue Building a 500 horsepower six cylinder engine, Porsche had to make some changes to make it run cleaner. So it has four cats and two dpfs. And since the US doesn't have the particulate filters, we have different shaped cats that supposedly make the same back pressure. So the power is, according to Porsche, the same. Right. But the car was up to, I think it had to meet a bunch of new emissions tests, the most stringent OF which was 44% fewer emissions than before. So the car makes essentially the same power and performs is faster, accelerates faster, the top speed is down a little bit, the highway revs are Up a little bit. But Porsche gets to keep making a compliant, high strung, naturally aspirated car. That's like kind of the way it is. So that's like the, a bit of the Debbie Downer. But also like a cleaner car is a good.
Zach Klapman
So yeah, especially when there's, I mean, in my opinion there's no consequence. You know, you have a cleaner car that makes the same power, which I think was plenty before. Yeah, we talk about this all the time. Beyond that number, it gets too exciting with too little pedal and you don't really get to experience it that much. So 500 is great especially for any motor if it just runs cleaner. And as you said, and I noticed in the drive bys still plenty loud. The cats do not really quiet it down very much like the drive bys on the racetrack.
Matt Farah
Dude, it's not quieter.
Zach Klapman
It sounds exactly like.
Matt Farah
Actually it sounds the same and there's less sound deadening inside. So it's actually louder inside than before. Unless you get the back seat.
Zach Klapman
It seems like in a lot of ways, I guess I'm asking is it a more exciting car because shorter gearing usually changes the character of a vehicle.
Matt Farah
Without driving them back to back. Like it's kind of tough to say, like it's exciting, but it's in. It's a great amount of power and weight and balance and all of those things. And Porsche did what Porsche does for the dot 2s, which is they refine the formula. So it's got stuff they learn from the rs, like the aerodynamic teardrop shaped control arms. And it's got carbon fiber sway bars for the Weissoc pack. You can now get a VYSOK pack on a regular GT3. Hang on, where's my list? Here we've got the. I'm pretty sure if it's not exactly the S. So the Touring and the Wing car have the same setup. According to Porsche.
Zach Klapman
Okay.
Matt Farah
Okay. In terms of shock settings. So it's still GT3 with touring package. It's not a different setup. But I'm pretty sure that both of the cars, if that's the truth, because I didn't drive the Wing car on the street, I drove the Touring on the street, the Wing car on the track. Because like obviously. Right, but so I can't say because they didn't drive them in the same setting, is one stiffer than the other for sure. I don't think. I don't know. But it felt better. It was most of the way to the ride of the st. Now it wasn't.
Zach Klapman
Sorry it felt better than the predecessor. Not better than the Wing car.
Matt Farah
Correct. No, no, no, sorry. Better than its predecessor on the street. I'm pretty sure they're using, you know, whatever. Almost the stunning.
Zach Klapman
Yeah.
Matt Farah
Plus with the lightweight, with the magnesium wheels, it's like less unsprung weight this had. You know, they have a lithium battery and stuff like that. I. It's just, it's such a nice thing to use, you know, the GT3 touring, it's still kind of a big car. The downside is, especially compared to my car, which I took for a drive before going on the launch, it's just such a big car and it doesn't. I suppose if you get the back seat, it does hold more stuff and people, but that's still the downside. Same car, but rear steer. The only thing I didn't really get to test to my satisfaction. And this isn't somebody's fault, but it was really on the 405 freeway where the regular GT3 and the GT3 touring from last year were darty. You know, that combination was designed for good turn in and response, but not so much for going straight. The ST really improved on that. I really want to drive this new car on that same road and see where on the spectrum of that it follows. Because we were on the Spanish winding back roads, which were gorgeous. But you know, sometimes when we go into the city on a press launch, you get the car at the hotel, you drive it to the track, you know, you do your track and then you drive home. On this one it was shuttle bus to the track, drive routes around the track and then lapping. So I didn't get to do any highway driving. It was all. And you know, because I was filming, I just like, what's the best section? Go there, make film.
Zach Klapman
And then because the highway is going to have those grooves from semi trucks.
Matt Farah
Right. So that's still the unknown.
Zach Klapman
But you know, it's. It's a compromise, I guess, if you have to deal with it. But if you didn't notice it on good tarmac, then most people who live in places with good tarmac won't really care.
Matt Farah
Yeah, yeah. The. Here's an interesting one though. The. You know how like over the last many years everyone's always talking about, you know, the last time a car has this, so maybe it's gonna be valuable or whatever. It's the Last Naturally aspirated V8 Ferrari or the last V12 stick shift Aston Martin or whatever. And everyone's always trying to bet where the last is Right.
Zach Klapman
And buy that one at msrp and then hold onto it.
Matt Farah
Yeah. So everyone's looking for the last.
Zach Klapman
Yeah.
Matt Farah
And in the video, you know, the big question is, is the sort of. The joke is this video is only for people that already own GT3s, because those are the only people that can get GT3s. It's just like an ouroboros of GT3 buyers and sellers, and that's sort of the joke. But, like, the last GT3, the dot one, is the last GT3 without ADAS. And so maybe to you, that doesn't matter, or maybe that's bad, or maybe that's good. But the new car, every time you turn it on, you have to hit a button, a hard button. And I'll give Porsche credit. Some manufacturers at least make an effort to make that process something easy for people that are planning on doing it every time they start the car.
Zach Klapman
Right. For some cars, it feels like you're operating a PC and the function is five different folders deep.
Matt Farah
Right.
Zach Klapman
And you have to, like, click through all these touchscreens and then tap each thing individually. And as we saw in this car, it's a hard button. I don't know which button they replaced there.
Matt Farah
That was in the center, the suspension setting button.
Zach Klapman
Okay. So, yeah, they got rid of that.
Matt Farah
So that's now. That's now in the touchscreen.
Zach Klapman
Yeah. And then you just. And it pops up this nice little row and you just tap all those. Like, that's as quick as we've seen, I think.
Matt Farah
Did you notice that wasn't my hand?
Zach Klapman
Yes, I did. Or I thought you shaved your hand.
Matt Farah
I fucking left. I left the track and I got back to the hotel and I went, God damn it. I forgot to film the turning off the fucking 8s procedure. I meant to film it. You know, when you're going on these things, like going to Spain to drive these cars, like, don't get me wrong, awesome. But a lot of pressure to get everything you need while you're there. That's why I ultimately prefer writing, because I'd rather just go have the experience and then tell you about it, as opposed to have to capture all this by myself while I'm there. So, anyway, I forgot, so I hit up Sam Fain, AKA Seen through Glass Sam. And I knew he was coming on the next wave. I was like, hey, homie, like, I need a favor. I need you to film this. So if there's a very pale, hairless.
Zach Klapman
Hand, he did a very good job. He shot it, like, five times, different angles. A little bit.
Matt Farah
He's a true professional and a gentleman.
Zach Klapman
Yeah.
Matt Farah
Folks, gotta take one quick break for Aura Frames who are supporting today's episode. Now listen, we all know someone who loves taking photos. Maybe it's you, but their hundreds of pictures are just wasting away on their phone. Put them to good use. The unique, stylish digital picture frame from Aura Frames is what's up. It was named the number one digital picture frame by Wirecutter and for a good reason. It's so easy to set up and there's different frame options. This is perfect. This is absolutely perfect because a my sister has young kids, right. And she likes to just dump all her photos of the young kids into this Cher album. And it goes ding ding, ding ding. It's blowing up my phone constantly. So here's what I did. I got the Aura frames. I said, but don't put them in the shared icloud photo where it's blowing up my phone. Put it in the Aura frame folder and that way the photo goes into the frame. It's sitting on my desk here. And when I'm at home, I see the new pictures. But it's not constantly ding ding ding. On my phone. It is perfect. It comes with unlimited storage. All you need is the free Aura app and a WI FI connection. Upload as many photos and videos as you want year round. Now. Right now you can save on the perfect gift that keeps on giving by visiting aura frames.com that's a U R A frames.com listeners can get $20 off the best selling Carver mat frame with code Tire T I R E. That's auraframes a U R A frames.com promo code Tire. And don't forget to mention that we sent you to show support for the show. Terms and conditions apply. I think we're actually going to be selling his car.
Zach Klapman
His Boxster.
Matt Farah
Yeah, he wants to. He's gonna come back to the US and do one more road trip in it and then we're gonna, you know, let it fly on. Bring a trailer or cars and bids and see what happens.
Zach Klapman
Cool.
Matt Farah
But I think he's gonna try. He said he's gonna try to make his. His show work for. For the 1000th.
Zach Klapman
Okay.
Matt Farah
So.
Zach Klapman
Or his trip. Make his trip work. He's so much fun.
Matt Farah
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Zach Klapman
He's got a great looking hand.
Matt Farah
Yeah. So back to GT3. You know that that is a thing. The ADAS stuff. You got to turn it off every time. I'm sure somebody will find a to.
Zach Klapman
Make it if you could just hit the button and it would just turn off.
Matt Farah
Maybe. Yeah. Like, I learned that in eu, turning it off has to be two or more touches. So one hard button and then click, click, click, click on the touchscreen. It sucks.
Zach Klapman
It does. I mean, that's the rule. So it's not. Anytime we drive these cars and we go, why is it in a menu? It at least has to be in two. One menu deep, right? It has to be. It's just the rule there. So we can't blame the company for that. I. I'm sure some clever system.
Matt Farah
We know if it's ever more than two, they've done it wrong.
Zach Klapman
Or if it's hard to find. Or like on the Macan ev, it wasn't super hard to find, but you had to swipe down on the menu. So it's not just, you know, you're not just stepping laterally. You then have to like go down the stairs to the basement. And that was kind of annoying.
Matt Farah
Yeah. So on the track, wing car, as expected, it's the end of. It's incrementally improved from the GT3 on the track. The real difference is some of the aero stability in the underside of the car particularly, and the reformed front and rear fascia. It's not more downforce, it's a more balanced downforce, according to them. And they have some new pivot points on the suspension that drastically reduce brake dive. And so while I didn't have the old car to compare to, and the last time I drove one was on the launch, like fucking forever ago, I couldn't, you know, it was such a long time ago, I couldn't tell you. But I can say that I stood on the brake at 140 miles an hour and the car stayed straight. So good for them. It's just, it's just a great thing. It's great because, like, on the track, it's like, it's fast but not so powerful that like, that you're gonna like be spinning the tires, you know, in fourth gear.
Zach Klapman
Right. Like leaving a corner.
Matt Farah
Yeah, yeah. Like, it's approachable now that all that Widowmaker shit is done, you know, many years ago. But like, it's a really balanced car now, so it's the logical endpoint of Miata driving. It is ultimately a momentum car. Cause it doesn't have a lot of torque. You gotta keep the eng spooled and. And, you know, I, I didn't know this track very well because it was my first time there and. And I was trying to film and Stuff, stuff. But you know, I went, I did a bunch of laps and I had a very nice time and, and I could have gone faster ultimately with more practice, easily. But you know, then I go out with Jorg Bergmeister, who is just insane and, and you know, record holder, winner.
Zach Klapman
Of so many things.
Matt Farah
And he was in a stick one. He had. You can get a VYSOK wing pack car with a stick stick, which is a fucking sick build. It was like acid green. And he really, you know, showed me what that car is actually, you know, very capable of. He talked. There's. There is a curb on this track that is just, it looks like hitting like a curb on the street. Like it's like a 4 inch. I'm sure there is an angle on it, but when you're coming at it at 100, it looks like a curb on the fucking New York City side. And I was like, you know, you're on a press launch, whatever, you're not taking a lot of curbs on those type of track. Track days you only. You need to be pretty familiar with tracks before you start deep cutting curbs.
Zach Klapman
Like it's unnecessary to the task at hand.
Matt Farah
Correct.
Zach Klapman
And it puts the car at some risk. As you guys learned on the road and track shoot. Years ago. That wasn't your fault. That was the manufacturer's fault. So. Yeah. So why do it?
Matt Farah
Basically, yeah. And so he knows this track well or at least had done enough laps to drive. And you know, he, his racetrack was 10 meters wider than my racetrack. You know, every exit of every corner, all four wheels were off the racing, you know, surface, you know, NASCAR coater rules, deep cuts. And he really, you know, I thought I broke late. Like he was breaking like 30 meters, you know, 40 meters after me. And really like almost hockey. Stopping the car into the corner as a way to slow it down. Incredibly impressive. And you know, you think about the fact like, okay, in the context of this car, I'm in the middle here. This car would be fun and not dangerous. If you're a somewhat entry level driver, you could drive it without getting into a bunch of trouble and still enjoy yourself. It's not, it doesn't have any like bad handling characteristics.
Zach Klapman
Right.
Matt Farah
So you could drive it as a, now as a novice and have fun. You could drive it as an intermediate like me, or you could drive it like. Jorg seemed to be having a pretty good time.
Zach Klapman
Well, it's probably similar in power to his race cars. Well, whatever he races now. But like GT3 cars are pretty close to that.
Matt Farah
And they have less grip for him. So him, he's just like, you know, sliding it around. Yeah, it was great. Good times. I'd like to drive like Jorg Bergmeister one day. That will not happen.
Zach Klapman
Just dedicate your entire life to racing cars.
Matt Farah
Entire life?
Zach Klapman
Yeah. Sorry. Go back in time.
Matt Farah
Nice guy. I deeply disagree with him on the electrification stuff. I did publicly and I did to his face.
Zach Klapman
Yeah.
Matt Farah
But, you know, the car's awesome. If you. If you already had one or have one and you think, you know, this is a little too stiff and dirty for a road car. The new one, mostly, it seems, fixes that.
Zach Klapman
And it also kindly pulls not value out of the st. But, you know, the ST had such good suspension and GT3 was just way too stiff in most places. And this takes the same software and just gives it to that with some other changes, of course. But, like, that's really great.
Matt Farah
They have this other thing that they did that is a retuning of the electric power steering system. You know, they were all about. It's all, you know, the steering. It's all about friction and minimizing friction and having consistent friction. And he said every. Every individual car that you build, VIN numbers 1, 2, 3, are all going to be slightly different because of manufacturing tolerances and whatever. Not to mention the temperature of the car and the ambient can affect the steering wheel, and the age and wear and tear on the car can affect the steering wheel. And so they say they've developed this new calibration for the E pass that compensates for those things in both the short and the long term. So every car, not only from unit to unit, but from year one to year five, should have consistent steering feel.
Zach Klapman
I wonder how they did that.
Matt Farah
I don't know.
Zach Klapman
I wonder, is it measuring, like, force input on the wheel and then the resulting turn should be the same. And if the friction is. If the friction's increased or something, then the motor adds a little bit more power. I mean, I don't know what that means.
Matt Farah
It knows what perfect should be.
Zach Klapman
That's wild.
Matt Farah
And it can either add torque or add resistance to compensate for whatever it's at at that moment to get to perfect. Okay.
Zach Klapman
I mean, this is definitely like level 7 of E Pass, you know, across all the manufacturers.
Matt Farah
Sure. Yeah. It sounds great. Whatever you say, guys. Car rips.
Zach Klapman
Did it feel good in your hands?
Matt Farah
Yeah, car rips.
Zach Klapman
That's what matters.
Matt Farah
Car rips. Car's great. Southern Spain rocks. I'll tell you what, though, these roads in southern Spain, absolutely fantastic. But to shoot Video. They don't do turnouts there. There's these gorgeous winding mountain roads, great tarmac, whatever, but guardrail, guardrail, guardrail, guardrail. No turnout, you know? No, no. Pull out to take a picture, take a piss or pat, make a pass or whatever. Because they could pass wherever. So like. And even when there is room for a turnout or a driveway, it's always like a big drop off of the street onto that. And so when we were doing like Panamera or Taycan with the hydraulic suspension, we just go like pop that shit up. Like a four by. Not in a GT3.
Zach Klapman
Yeah. It's a lot of times in, well, mostly France, we had to drive like half a mile until you see the one tiny turnout.
Matt Farah
Yeah.
Zach Klapman
And then that's it. So doing drive bys was really challenging.
Matt Farah
Very hard.
Zach Klapman
Yeah.
Matt Farah
That's why all our mounted shots are like 15 minutes long.
Zach Klapman
Yeah.
Matt Farah
It was just from one turnout to the next. Right.
Zach Klapman
And then they always end up in a new town, you know, so you have to keep the shot because you don't have time to do it again on the, on the, you know, different part of the car. You're like, well, I guess this mounted shot shows a pizza place. The next one shows a twisting road.
Matt Farah
Exactly.
Zach Klapman
Yeah.
Matt Farah
Oh, press launch filming is really hard, you guys. It actually is.
Zach Klapman
It's like when you're talking about it, it's like you go to the. You have a grocery list, you leave your house. So it's. I'm going to get all these shots and these angles and these things. And then you go into a 711 and you're like, oh, they don't have kale here because that's your time. You just don't have time because of the structure of the event and what. And they're doing the best they can to get.
Matt Farah
Yeah. And you're on, you're on a road with zero knowledge. You have absolutely no ide. You're driving a car you're not familiar with. Sometimes you have to share a car. In GT3, I shared a car. So I made that entire video while sharing a car with somebody who is. Does not appear in that video.
Zach Klapman
Well, he was screaming in the trunk. Yeah.
Matt Farah
Yes. He's still in Spain.
Zach Klapman
I left him there on the side of the road.
Matt Farah
Yes.
Zach Klapman
I hope he comes back.
Matt Farah
You may walk, sir. No, it's Mike Austin who's great. But it's, you know, you gotta share a car with somebody and try to make a video at the same time.
Zach Klapman
Yeah.
Matt Farah
And like you're both there to Work. So you help each other get what they need. But, like, it's hard to not feel like kind of a dick where it's like, hey, man, you know, I need to do this thing. And it takes like 20 minutes and like, you're gonna be sitting here for it because that's how this goes.
Zach Klapman
The people that write and don't do video and have always been very kind with their time because they recognize we need a little more of it. I'm always really grateful when they do that. Yeah.
Matt Farah
Writing is. Man, that is luxurious automotive journalism.
Zach Klapman
Yeah. By comparison.
Matt Farah
Yeah.
Zach Klapman
You get to think about it. Yeah.
Matt Farah
I'm doing all I'm doing. I'm doing writing, video and podcast. And I just. Spike saw the post and I say, hey, you want to come by the show? It turns out, like, I'm also like Spike's GT3 correspondent.
Zach Klapman
That makes sense.
Matt Farah
So I did a whole 20 minutes on his show this morning about GT3 also.
Zach Klapman
That makes a lot of sense. You're probably one of the more experienced journalists in this space regarding GT3s.
Matt Farah
Right. But like, Porsche got their dollars worth because I went on an unrelated show doing the bit.
Zach Klapman
They got a bonus.
Matt Farah
Yeah. But yep, GT3 is good. I recommend 6 speed leaked bow and I recommend driving it to the leaked bow and having a pint of German beer.
Zach Klapman
This is how you'll retire. You're just going to open this bar.
Matt Farah
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Zach Klapman
Yes. Yeah. It's a way to go forward while going backwards.
Matt Farah
Yes. This is quite batshit. Yeah, it's a lot.
Zach Klapman
Especially when you turn that dial.
Matt Farah
It's a lot of car. So, you know, we drove the black one, the Mule, which was actually quite, quite luxurious. Cause I left it parked in my driveway for like a week.
Zach Klapman
You weren't worried about. Yeah, yeah.
Matt Farah
Nobody. I don't even think it had door locks. Like nobody gave a shit. No one knew what it was. It just looked. It looked like garbage.
Zach Klapman
It looked like you built it and no one wants to steal something that looks like that.
Matt Farah
Yeah. Which actually I think is nice. Like, if I were to buy a real Gunther Works finished one, I'd probably have it wrapped to like look shitty just so I could do that. It was this one, the. The dance of like, where's it gonna live overnight? And all this. Like, oh, I don't want to take it to here. Cause it's like perfect 300 miles. And like, I just was like nervous. And it occurred to me that, like, having something that drives like this and looks like shit is just like, better.
Zach Klapman
Yeah. You can just have way more fun with it.
Matt Farah
Yeah.
Zach Klapman
Right. That's why I like Derek Whitaker with shit car. You know, it's just. All right. The car is kind of insane, but you just don't care what kind of road grind gets on it.
Matt Farah
Yeah.
Zach Klapman
It's a Good way to go.
Matt Farah
Yeah. Having said that, I mean, holy balls. This is a very fast automobile.
Zach Klapman
Yeah. 2700 pounds and 27 dial. It's 810 horsepower.
Matt Farah
Yeah.
Zach Klapman
I mean, this is NA Miata weight with four. Four times four X. More than four times for an NA.
Matt Farah
Yeah, well, no, Miata is 2300. This is a little more than that. But 2700 is light. Porsche hasn't made a car that weigh this much since the 993Rs. That was the light. That's the last time that Porsche and this car makes, you know, almost triple the horsepower of the 993Rs. So it's just insane.
Zach Klapman
It is an experience. It's exciting.
Matt Farah
It's.
Zach Klapman
And it's loud and there's lots of different sounds because you've got turbochargers and you've got gear driven fans.
Matt Farah
It's shattering.
Zach Klapman
But even once you're moving, there's also tire noise, there's air noise. I mean, it's a very, it's a pretty raw experience.
Matt Farah
It's supposed to be. There's zero insulation at all. The only body panels that are not that are chain are the same as the coupe are the doors.
Zach Klapman
Only the exterior because the inside's carbon fiber.
Matt Farah
The inside's all carbon. Yeah. And leather. They've done a leather thing now and they can do a lumbar support now. They'll make it like for you.
Zach Klapman
Okay.
Matt Farah
You know, the engine is also, it's Roth sport like the previous engines, although Gunther has contributed some engineering and some carbon parts and stuff to it. It's insane.
Zach Klapman
It looks awesome.
Matt Farah
It has the horizontal fan like a 962 or a 917 would have. It has twin air to water intercoolers with a front mount pass through still air cooled cylinders. Air cooled heads, but water cooled intercoolers.
Zach Klapman
Yes. As we said in the video, it's a water cooled, air cooled Porsche engine.
Matt Farah
Yeah.
Zach Klapman
I mean, it's quite a complicated system. The charge coolers are very thick. They're like, I don't know, 6 inches by 6 inches. And then the plenums go right down into the heads. But having that radiator with the amazing hood with the pass through like a Ford GT and it just feeds water all the way back to these charge coolers is remarkable.
Matt Farah
Yeah, it's fucking nuts. It's so crazy. But also, you know, it's in comfort mode. It's shockingly well behaved. I ran errands in it. It's not bad. This one doesn't have Heat. Heat is optional. Air conditioning is standard, which is weird, but okay.
Zach Klapman
If you live in Arizona and this.
Matt Farah
One does not even listen. It gets cold in the desert. Man, the desert's cold in the morning.
Zach Klapman
That's true, it is.
Matt Farah
California is cold in the morning. We went out the morning we went out to film this. The drive to the chute was real cold.
Zach Klapman
45 degrees. Yeah, very true.
Matt Farah
And so you want to get heat even though this one doesn't have it. But the clutch isn't that bad.
Zach Klapman
Very light. I was just surprised.
Matt Farah
Yeah. Shifters notchy, but fine. Steering's heavy but fine. Turning radius is heinously bad. The nose lift helps, but it's for, you know, 25 year old me goes, yeah, I could daily that. And I'd be right. 25 year old me would daily that car. And if you're physically capable, you should buy something like that and can afford it, obviously and daily it because it would be an experience. But like now I'm like once a week is about right. Yeah.
Zach Klapman
It's loud and it's compromised. The only thing I didn't like or that stood out I should say is so going Back to the GT3. This has a good amount of brake dive in straight lines. This has great JRZ proactive shocks that are very comfortable. Firm up and cornering and stuff. But coming down from speed, you jump on the brakes, there's a lot of nose dive. And I'm not saying it's the shock's problem and maybe they can tune that, but it does give credit to the GT3 and the suspension geometry that works to mitigate that.
Matt Farah
Yeah, well, the GT3 what does happen a lot, you know, this 993, it's a short wheelbase car, it's a small car and they've widened the out of it. The geometries are just crazy, which help it handle amazingly well. But it goes so fast you have to brake really hard. You're turning in harder than normal because this turn in is really hard. Yes, you do. You go back to the era where 911s really had sort of a pendulum effect. And if you go from power to brakes quickly, you're going to have a pretty big weight transfer forward and it waggles a little bit and you have to hold that and the same thing happens. So you break in a straight line, you manage the waggle. Now you turn in, you get on the power if you have to, then lift, you're going to get a big fucking. You got to do one of those, you know, a Big quick correction, not a full oversteer. And it's got so much tire on it that you can have that happen on the street and it's not going to be catastrophic. If it happened on the track at 10:10, it could be right.
Zach Klapman
Unless you are York or someone with that skill level.
Matt Farah
Right. But this, this type of car is the type of car that is capable of jumping out at you in that way. In the way like a new GT3 pretty much is not. It's a pretty weapons grade thing.
Zach Klapman
Yeah, it's very serious. I mean it's. And what's amazing though is it's comfortable enough and you could drive it on comfort mode, like turn the power down, which is great. I'm so glad it has that selector switch, you know, 500, 640 and then 810. Yeah. And it's a pretty comfortable car. And the shifter is bolt actiony, but not. It's almost a little bit easier than like the modded NSXs we've driven where those are kind of stiff and this has like a little bit more slip to it. It's not. It's nice. I thought it was a great combination of I can feel every shift and gate, but I can move quickly and that's nice. Some, some cars, Ferraris, gated Ferraris, you can feel the gate, but you gotta shift kind of slowly.
Matt Farah
Yeah.
Zach Klapman
So this was a good balance of all those things. And it's fucking exciting. Like. Absolutely.
Matt Farah
But we had it up in the mountain and the road on the mountain, it's great. It's a really, really good time. But I took it to Mexico this morning and when you have room to legally explore the upper end of fifth gear, you know, like, Jesus Christ. You know, you throw this thing in track mode and the amount of thrust between third and fifth gear is scary. It is so, so fast.
Zach Klapman
But what's also rad is that the engine responds so quickly that downshifting it, it's really responsive. Like, I was really impressed with how quickly it revs. I think the turbos are quote, like relatively small compared to what you might expect for an 800 horsepower car. So they respond well and the engine revs up really quickly and it just, it feels like, honestly like the best combination of NA aspects and turbocharged aspects.
Matt Farah
Yeah, it's a wild thing.
Zach Klapman
Yep.
Matt Farah
It's, it's. And it's crazy that it's so expensive. It's like over a million dollars, you know, and it just. And you kind of go. People who have these, they have like 75 cars, it's just another thing and you kind of want to hate. But then you're like, yeah, there's like a hundred people that built this. They're like, really talented. None of them can afford it.
Zach Klapman
You're right.
Matt Farah
None of the people who worked on this can buy one. And yet they've contributed to a thing that is like, you know, a seriously heavy metal driving machine. And of course, because it's a 1995 or whatever, there's not. It's funny to go, I went straight from the GT3 to this and the GT3. It was all about environmental regulations and ADAs and like that. And it's like, well, man, if that's how it's going to be, you know, the very desirable driver's cars are no longer going to be sold by OEMs. They're going to be sold by people like this.
Zach Klapman
That's true. This might bring about more small producers, hopefully at a variety of price points, but kind of like the Caterhams. You know, Caterhams are making the same thing for 50 years or whatever it is, and they're not the most comfortable. And you can point that out, but that's silly. But they do deliver a very visceral driving experience to your hands, feet, and butt.
Matt Farah
Yeah.
Zach Klapman
And that's what this does. Just with more power and a lot nicer materials.
Matt Farah
Yeah, it just. It just warps the world. It's real. Real crazy. And. And it's fun. It's a lot of fun. And it's. It's actually pretty fun at low speeds, too. It's reasonably compliant, and it's not too much of a pain in the ass. It's nice on the highway. Other than being loud. It has. It has a good ride. It's just hard. It's hard to park.
Zach Klapman
Yeah. The turning radius.
Matt Farah
The turning radius is awful.
Zach Klapman
Of course. I mean, the tires are what, 295 fronts?
Matt Farah
Yeah, 295 fronts.
Zach Klapman
Super wide. Yeah.
Matt Farah
But they've gotten it tram lines less than the Cayenne gts. Cayenne GTS catches more edges than this does.
Zach Klapman
The people that set up the Gunther cars are so good in terms of ride and responsiveness without going into completely unnerved cat that accidentally ate methods. Yeah. Like, it darts in when you start moving your hands, but if you don't move your hands, it just keeps going straight. It's really impressive stuff.
Matt Farah
Yeah. Really neat car. I love the size of the cabin of these 993s too. It's like, that's the size that A sports car should be. It doesn't need to be bigger than that.
Zach Klapman
Yeah.
Matt Farah
Driving the NSX around yesterday, like, yeah, this is the size that the car should be. Stop making them bigger, please, Please.
Zach Klapman
I do enjoy the stability of a new Porsche by comparison, like the moving of the engine, changing of the wheelbase. Like you can definitely notice. Yeah, they did that for a. And I like what they've done, but this is a very exciting thing to drive.
Matt Farah
So we got a video coming out. Oh, it's probably already out because it's gonna go up Thursday.
Zach Klapman
This show will go up.
Matt Farah
This show will go up Thursday. So if you're. If you're a patron, you've got it. All right, You've got it already or you'll have it on Wednesday. And if you're catching this for public airing, then, then it will be up already. Got it. Got it. I just wrote down fascism is bad. Wonder why I would have written that. Angeles Forest back open, though. That's good.
Zach Klapman
That is very good.
Matt Farah
It's good fires. I haven't been up there yet. I'm gonna go up there this weekend and take a look. But people went to. To Newcomes. You can get there.
Zach Klapman
Okay.
Matt Farah
And hopefully that means we can. We can film. We don't have to go all the way out to the 39. And apparently maybe PCH. I'd like to go to go to Malibu this weekend as well. I want to support some business out there. Cutting off PCH to Malibu is like, that's terrible.
Zach Klapman
I mean, they closed it for weeks. It's still.
Matt Farah
They opened it briefly and then I think closed it again. So I don't know if they're gonna reopen it. I'll go around if I have to. I'll go up, I'll go down from above, but really bad over there. And I want to go support business. If you're in la, drive around, go to Malibu and support some small businesses.
Zach Klapman
You know, and also if you're want to donate stuff, there are places like YMCA that are still taking donations for lots of house goods that people need continuously. People need one new plate or pan, but they continue to need like baby wipes or water or soap or other things like that. So that's something the YMCA was asking for.
Matt Farah
We've been donating pet food and cat litter.
Zach Klapman
Yeah, that's a good thing too, because you can't.
Matt Farah
A lot of people, the first. The first couple days were donating huge amounts of pet food and they couldn't take it because if they had so much like Rats would eat it before they'd get through.
Zach Klapman
Yeah.
Matt Farah
So I was like, okay, well instead I'll just, I'll show up once a week for the next six or eight weeks, you know, and whatever. So we're just doing that. Call your local animal shelter if you're in la. Maybe they can use some help.
Zach Klapman
Also self serving promotion. But if it's Thursday, go watch the video of me flying the pivotal helix, which is now up. It tells the whole story of how it was to fly that thing and get trained for it.
Matt Farah
It's sick.
Zach Klapman
The longest, most complicated edit I've ever done. Absolutely. I never want to do it again.
Matt Farah
Yeah, but like, what if you thought about it this way? What if it was like, I'll let you be a pilot with no license in an experimental craft and all you have to do is use a computer program that you already know how to use.
Zach Klapman
Very good point. It was an amazing opportunity. And editing it and re watching it, I got nervous again.
Matt Farah
You're like, wait, don't die.
Zach Klapman
I was like, this is crazy. So it was fun. Yeah, don't die, don't die.
Matt Farah
And you're like, wait, no, it's me.
Zach Klapman
I know the end of this movie.
Matt Farah
I know where this goes. Yeah. Quick. Also promo for my road and track. There's two spots left for the beyond city limits in Austin. It's April 6th to 10th. Me and road and track, we got some track time at Coda Circuit of the Americas in Austin. We've got tours of some exclusive car collections. We've got good dinners, we've got wine tasting, a lot of wine tasting. And we've got the beautiful Austin hill country and some really good driving. Hannah and I are going to Austin on Monday to make the routes, or I should say the routes are made. To scout the routes and make sure they are good and figure out where to park and where to get coffee. We've got a GR Corolla automatic which will be a fun car to scout in. And then I have booked a McLaren 750s for the actual event, which is a good choice.
Zach Klapman
That's a fantastic.
Matt Farah
Normally I drive Bentleys on these events. But also.
Zach Klapman
What a sentence.
Matt Farah
Yeah. But also normally to get to the event, I have a long transit. Like I had to drive to Phoenix and then do the event and then home. Or drive to San Francisco, do the event and then home. This is just based in Austin and I'm flying in so the seat time is much less. I don't have like eight hours of just boring ass transit. So don't need Bentley. I let Dan. I let Dan pun take the Bentley.
Zach Klapman
Oh, that's nice. That's nice.
Matt Farah
Yeah, let your boss take the Bentley once in a while. Speaking of Bentleys, the Bentley has been detailed, fully detailed. Photoshop. Jonathan Harper was down here doing the photos. They look great. Zach and I are gonna film tomorrow with how much it cost in maintenance for a year for the Bentley. And then on Wednesday, Doug is actually had a very fucking funny text exchange with Doug because, you know, he's gonna do a video for cars and bids, and we're selling at no reserve and see what happens, right? And maybe I'll get some of my money back. But I sent to Doug. I sent a text to Doug. I was like, hey, man, Bentley's all detailed. Photo shoots done. Me and Zach shooting it tomorrow. You know, when do you want to send the truck for the Bentley? And he goes. And he wrote back. He's like. He goes, habibi, you no send. I no send truck for Bentley. You bring me Bentley. And I was like, oh, okay. And then he sent me the winky face, like, oh, he's joking. Okay. That's a Jessica's joke. Okay, I'll hear from him about when the truck is coming. So the next day I don't hear from him, the next day I go, hey, man, about the truck. And he's like, oh, shit, dude. I thought that was, like, meant for, like, a press fleet guy. I completely forgot we were filming your car. Like, oh, no problem. We'll send the truck. We'll send the truck later this week.
Zach Klapman
We're leaving early Wednesday morning. So you can't bring a Bentley to San Diego.
Matt Farah
San Diego? No. Fuck, no. But. So, yeah, we'll have that. That video will be up soon. Just the year wrap up. And then, you know, to finish the math, we have to sell it on cars and bids and see what we can get. Right? And hopefully I don't the number. If we sell it for less or for more than. If it costs. Excuse me, if it costs me less than $10,000, that is a win.
Zach Klapman
Okay?
Matt Farah
That's considered a win. Everything and everything over $10,000 is a progressive loss. But. But. But also, like, you know, what is the value in driving a cool Bentley for a year? So.
Zach Klapman
Well, apparently to you, it's $10,000.
Matt Farah
No, $10,000 is the amount of money that I'm comfortable spending on a daily driver for a year.
Zach Klapman
Because a lease would cost.
Matt Farah
Yeah, because that's what. Like a lease of a car in someone of my tax bracket Regular car, the Mach E. That's what that would cost.
Zach Klapman
Right?
Matt Farah
So that's my basis of comparison. So anyway, have you ever done the math?
Zach Klapman
You should don't do the math at home if you haven't already. You probably have. But if you haven't, we should do it live while we're filming so that we can.
Matt Farah
The math of what?
Zach Klapman
Of how much it's cost you to maintain the Bentley.
Matt Farah
Oh, I have it right now. No, no, no, no. But I'm just saying. I'm not gonna tell you. Okay, but, like, I have it exact. I know exactly.
Zach Klapman
I was hoping you hadn't added it up so we could capture that moment and unfortunately, see what your face does.
Matt Farah
I have added it up. I have added it up.
Zach Klapman
A lot of bourbon after that.
Matt Farah
Look, I mean, I'm starting to think, you know, in our. In our land of impending fascism and total economic fucking crash, what's money for anyway? I mean, honestly, if you're not gonna, like. If you're not gonna do, like, stupid shit once in a while, like, why. Why even work? I completely agree.
Zach Klapman
I completely agree.
Matt Farah
No disrespect to people with kids they gotta put through school and feed.
Zach Klapman
Right.
Matt Farah
I don't have kids.
Zach Klapman
We live so that they don't have to. Or because they can't. Yeah. You know, we have to go do the dumb car things or jump off a stuff.
Matt Farah
I owe it to society to buy a stupid car and then just, like, see how that goes? That's. That's my. That's my purpose here. So we tried with this, and then we'll try the Taycan and we'll see if somebody else wants to. But the fucking car. You know, Derek was here. Derek Bemis. Mr. McGuire's the paint correct? I mean, it's unbelievable how shiny this fucking car is. I had the boys do the full interior detail.
Zach Klapman
Did you not paint correct it when you got it?
Matt Farah
I did.
Zach Klapman
You did it again.
Matt Farah
It had a paint correction a year ago, and it had another paint correction now.
Zach Klapman
What changed or went wrong in a year?
Matt Farah
Absolutely nothing. I wanted it maximally shiny. For sale.
Zach Klapman
Got it.
Matt Farah
That's the only thing. And I employ the best detailer in the state.
Zach Klapman
Okay. I didn't know if, like, the clear had somehow changed.
Matt Farah
No, I mean, I shouldn't say, quote, paint correction because it didn't need, like, deep cuts or anything like that. Everything Derek does compared to, like, what our regular guys do at Westside. Derek really only does paint correction. It's the high. It's like the highest level. Like My guys can polish and they'll make it look nice. But like the highest level of like analytical specific care is kind of what I mean by correction, more than the level of abrasion or anything like that. He came in with a paint meter, you know, and a loop, you know, and he's going, you know, this is single stage metallic, like, you know how rare this is? Like, and he's gonna, he's, you know, it's very scientific. It's, you know, there's, there's like four dudes that detail like this. Kevin, Brown, Derek, Larry, you know, somebody else somewhere. But those are the only three I know.
Zach Klapman
They can never get on a plane together at the same time, basically.
Matt Farah
I have been to dinner with the three of them together. It's surreal.
Zach Klapman
No, I have two. And it's fun. But I'm saying they're so important to the detailing movement that keep them separate. Air Force One and two or whatever.
Matt Farah
Right.
Zach Klapman
However it works.
Matt Farah
And if you want to buy a celebrity adjacent AMG car, WCCS is going to be selling comedian Andrew Santino's Mercedes E63.
Zach Klapman
Sick.
Matt Farah
Hannah and I went down to San Diego to see his show on Saturday. It was fun. It was, it was a, it was a fun show. He's got a great act and he's in the car. She's gonna come to the podcast in February.
Zach Klapman
That's awesome.
Matt Farah
He was, he was awesome. We went out to the Irish bar afterwards with Bobby Lee, who's a fucking lunatic. Yeah.
Zach Klapman
Of course their podcast together is insane because Bobby Lee is.
Matt Farah
Yeah.
Zach Klapman
Is Bobby Lee. And Andrew is just comments on the reality that's put forth.
Matt Farah
Yeah.
Zach Klapman
Which is insane.
Matt Farah
And Jillian tried my sister in law, you know, she's, she's loud and she's got opinions. She's like me kind of. But.
Zach Klapman
But she's way louder and more opinionated.
Matt Farah
Dude.
Zach Klapman
She tried to. And I love her. She's great. I'm just saying, you know, Andrew's got.
Matt Farah
A bit about horses and Jillian is like. Jillian loves horses. Jillian has a horse. She loves. She, she tried to critique and. Or she tried to. She, she tried to white knight horses.
Zach Klapman
During the show or after the show?
Matt Farah
No, no, no, no, no. Not. Certainly not during the show. After, at the bar, after the show. All not a heckler, but like afterwards. Yeah, yeah. And he had the funniest. Just like he, he likes her. But he was like condescendingly just like, you know, I think I'll do the jokes here.
Zach Klapman
Yeah, that's the great response. He's like Well, I sell out really big theaters.
Matt Farah
I just did a thousand seat theater.
Zach Klapman
And the jokes about a horse. That seemed to be working for me. If they don't work for you, that's fine. They're working well for me and everyone who's in the theater. Yeah, yeah. If you offend horse people. There's a lot of people that don't have horses.
Matt Farah
Right. G. White knighted the horse and it just.
Zach Klapman
I wish I'd been there for that. Great.
Matt Farah
Anyway, yeah, no, we've got. We're about to go to King of the Hammers. Not tomorrow. Day after two days, King of the Hammers. Ford dropped off the Ranger raptor downstairs. Did you see it?
Zach Klapman
Yeah.
Matt Farah
Nice color, right?
Zach Klapman
The blue col. It's the nice size truck.
Matt Farah
As soon as they pulled it up, I went, oh, wow, what a treat to have a raptor that's this size. That's great.
Zach Klapman
It fits in the garage. It doesn't take up the garage.
Matt Farah
Yeah, it's really maneuverable.
Zach Klapman
Yeah, but it's still fast and still has the good shocks.
Matt Farah
All I've done is pull it from the front to the back. So we'll let you know on that. But I will say that it is. As soon as the homie dropped it off and I opened the door, I looked at it and I went, huh, Huh. I got in it, looked at the odometer. It's like 5700 of raptor press miles. And then I looked in the glove box and it was like, pre production vehicle not for sale. And I was like, I see what's happened here. King of the Hammers is the end of the line for pre production for all pre production Raptors. They're like, oh, Farrah and Zach are gonna take this one to the desert. Like, make sure they get to give them one they won't miss.
Zach Klapman
Well, that truck started life. I mean, the press launch had jumps in it. I remember seeing people's footage. So that's how it started life. And now it's ending at King of Hammers. Well, hopefully not ending, but yeah, I mean, it's just.
Matt Farah
It's like, it's fine. Like for the thing that we need. Like, this truck is great. It looks great. I'm sure it's totally fine. But 5,700 miles on a press car is a lot, especially an off road press car. And the red Cayenne GTS I just gave back, which we can talk about next show. Did you ever put the video up of yours?
Zach Klapman
I think it's the same car.
Matt Farah
Is it?
Zach Klapman
Is it I think we have the same car here. Oh, very similar.
Matt Farah
Should have shot some more B roll.
Zach Klapman
I should have shot. I could have shot any of the B roll because that was why the video didn't go up. This is the wrong color.
Matt Farah
We can. We'll talk about it on the show I guess next time. But that car had like, you know, 400 miles on it when I got it.
Zach Klapman
Oh, that's a different car. Okay.
Matt Farah
Yeah. All right. Go to the people.
Zach Klapman
Yeah. People have a lot good Q and A. Uh huh.
Matt Farah
Patreon is where you get in on this game. Patreon.com thesmokentirepodcast. You can ask us questions for the show. You can catch the show live. You can catch the show early. You can catch the show ad free. You can get early access to special collabs such as. I'm not wearing it today. Whoops. The new version of the notice canyon which you can see on my Instagram because I did a video with Teddy Baldassarre. There's me and Teddy on the left, bottom left there and scroll one to the right if you want to see the watch the deep forest green. Don't call it British racing green because that's gonna offend some copyright people. Deep forest green notice canyon with gilt hands and gilt indices. It's gonna be for sale in April. So you Patreon. That's 100 individually numbered units as always and patrons will get the first crack at them. So I'll. Excuse me. I burped.
Zach Klapman
I really like all the notice colors because they're slightly brighter in the center and it's a little bit different. It's a gradient. It's a gradient. It looks really, really good.
Matt Farah
Yeah. This green, I've been, I've been really excited for this green. A couple people spotted it because I wore it to pebble beach last year and I was it. I appeared in someone else's photograph wearing it and I got spotted. But I've been excited to announce it and. And where we've been limited by the number of movements. Lejoux Perrette will only give us a couple hundred movements a year. So I wanted to release it before the end of the year but we couldn't do it. So now it's a springtime release. So those and. And it's not going to be a pre order. We're not taking. By the time we take orders. You get your watch in like a week or two. It's not some three month thing. We, we're not gonna take orders until we have product essentially ready to ship.
Zach Klapman
Nice.
Matt Farah
Yeah. Let's go back to the people. Patreon.com smugtire podcast auto bon Jovi. That is a very good one. Are you aware of any other Demand Boxsters or Caimans in la? I. I have. There is one around. I saw it once. It was the one that was. It was sold on. Bring a trailer. It was a chalk GT4 with buckets and it did. I don't know where it came from, but it did come to la. I haven't seen it since. I saw it once at Santa Clarita Cars and Coffee and I thought. I think the second half of the question was have I talked to Rick Demand after getting Mitch's tune, few text messages basically indicating success. But Mitch is now tuning all Demand cars. So the fact that Mitch and Rick were speaking like you don't want me to middleman the conversation between the tuner and the engine builder. That conversation needs to happen directly. Right.
Zach Klapman
Well, I guess Jovi's question was have there been any adjustments on Demand's end? And I would say the change is.
Matt Farah
The adjustment is that Mitch tunes all of them now. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And so Jay Fritz says, thoughts on ranking the latest version of these cars for road trip ride comfort. Oh wow, that's a lot of cars. Okay, wait, hang on. So Mercedes s class, Audi A8, BMW 7 Series, Lexus ES, Bentley GT C8, Corvette, McLaren 720.
Zach Klapman
Oh man, I haven't driven three of these new. We haven't driven the new A8 or the 7 Series.
Matt Farah
The last A8 I drove was in 2022. I haven't driven a 7 Series in many years.
Zach Klapman
The S class I drove was amg which did not ride very well. Good.
Matt Farah
Right. So Bentley GT rides fantastic.
Zach Klapman
Corvette is great.
Matt Farah
Corvette and McLaren in comfort I would say is pretty equal in terms of ride. But the McLaren is better body control because it's got that sway bar thing a little bit. Corvette's got mag ride which does do a good job. But I think the McLaren's breadths are a little wider. Lexus ES is really nice for what it is, which is a Camry based vehicle. But like a front wheel drive transverse V6 or hybrid is really at that price point is never going to ride like either a full size luxury or a Bentley GT or a mid engine car.
Zach Klapman
Yeah.
Matt Farah
Although the Lexus ES is good for what it is. It's a comfortable car. I mean, I don't know about a rank because I haven't driven enough of them to do a Rank. But those are all really good riding cars. Like I would do a road trip in really any of those and be happy. Tim A thoughts on Gen 6 Camaro ZL1 6 speeds as a weekend toy in 2025. They seem to offer the engagement and feel of a 2010 sports car with performance on par with 2020's supercars. For reference, a clean one is going for 50-60k on cars and bids. I think there's a lot of value in that car. I think that car drives more like a CTS V, you know, than anything else. Pretty much those, they handle great. The ZL1s ride great. They're fast as fuck. The 1le rides like shit on the road. That's true.
Zach Klapman
Well then it becomes race car, right? So if you want the Cadillac CTSV experience, you get the supercharged engine and you get the mag ride. I mean, and then it is one of the better choices out there for a heavy front engine, powerful car. I say heavy because you have a huge lump of metal up front, you know, propelling the rear wheels. So they have to add a bit of spring to it. But the mag ride does a really good job and that is an exciting, fun thing. I think back in the day when we tried the earlier ones, I thought it felt like a cheaper AMG. You know, big power, big noise, good ride.
Matt Farah
The ZL1 though. ZL1 yes1 LE is a no for me. Unless you want a track day car. Let's go back to that.
Zach Klapman
If you want a track day car, I think the supercharged version is not the way to go.
Matt Farah
No, because you know why it's okay. No, because it wasn't so much the cool. It's in a Corvette. It had a really small mouth. The Camaro's got an enormous mouth. Cooling was not. Me and Lee Keane tested the ZL1 at VIR and it was like, like 90 degrees and 1000% humidity and it was totally fine.
Zach Klapman
Yeah.
Matt Farah
Yeah. That car was fast as hell.
Zach Klapman
It is the jillion of Camaro's where you're.
Matt Farah
That's cold.
Zach Klapman
She's gonna get so mad at me.
Matt Farah
I'm so mad if she hears that. And she's gonna hear it too.
Zach Klapman
I know I'm gonna do it.
Matt Farah
Jake Shores says what car had the best and worst transition from generation to generation? Example being the second gen Eclipse to the third gen. That's a good one.
Zach Klapman
A good example.
Matt Farah
Best and worst transition, the BMW E30 to E36. No, rude.
Zach Klapman
I mean in terms of build quality, are we talking about looks. Because that build quality. I'll agree with you.
Matt Farah
So the worst transition and it's gonna be. No one's gonna like it. Is the 911 going from a 993 to a 996.
Zach Klapman
Yeah.
Matt Farah
And not because of water cooling, just because of styling.
Zach Klapman
To me, water cooling is not a bad thing. Keeps the engine cool.
Matt Farah
Yeah.
Zach Klapman
And it gave up us more power and all that stuff. Yeah. Styling. I totally agree. I would also say the Bengal M5 replacing E39. Right. Was that followed it?
Matt Farah
Sure.
Zach Klapman
One of the prettiest sedans in the world. And then it went to. I don't really like them. Yeah.
Matt Farah
I'd say the G80 from best transition.
Zach Klapman
Oh. Best.
Matt Farah
996 to 997.
Zach Klapman
Yeah.
Matt Farah
I mean that's 996 to 907 is a very easy one. But that's a. That's. That's. That's a good one.
Zach Klapman
I think the F body Camaro to what I guess 2005 ish. 6 ish. Well, also new. I didn't like new Edge Mustang. I think the transition from new edge.
Matt Farah
To SN90 or to what do you call it? S197 or whatever.
Zach Klapman
That's one of the best.
Matt Farah
Yeah.
Zach Klapman
And it brought in the retro design which then made the Camaro change its course.
Matt Farah
Sure.
Zach Klapman
Yeah. That was great. Those are both really good.
Matt Farah
That would be the. Yeah. The new Edge Mustang was garbage.
Zach Klapman
You just styling wise, I didn't like it.
Matt Farah
Yeah. Well, all right. Good question though. My name is Lane, but I identify as a street. You know what? That's okay. More power to you.
Zach Klapman
Yeah. Do what you want.
Matt Farah
I don't care if you're identify as anything. People are so fucking shitty about someone else living their own goddamn life.
Zach Klapman
I don't have the free time to care. It doesn't affect me at all.
Matt Farah
Yeah.
Zach Klapman
That's how I feel about it.
Matt Farah
It. Which is tackier support trans people, by the way. They're real. They exist. It's not an ideology. They actually exist as humans. Which is tackier logos in puddle lights or illuminated logos integrated into the head or tail lights? So Merced glowy Mercedes star on the nose badges.
Zach Klapman
Ford does it is tacky.
Matt Farah
Some puddle light logos are okay. It's a real fine line between clever and stupid.
Zach Klapman
I don't like them ever. But I would say that the badges are tackier because they're always on. Even after you get into the car and you start driving down the road. It's telling everyone constantly. I'm in a Ford. Don't mistake this front end for a different truck or I'm in a truck.
Matt Farah
Unless you drive an Uber. I'm in a black Ford. Great.
Zach Klapman
I can see, but I can see the rest of the car. You know, I don't need that stuff. But the puddle, I mean the puddle lights especially like the dark horse Mustang didn't look like a horse when it shined on the ground.
Matt Farah
I like a puddle light. Just the light.
Zach Klapman
Sure.
Matt Farah
I don't mind the light.
Zach Klapman
You can tell me it's an Audi getting into an Audi.
Matt Farah
No, I don't need a brand new light. Just an actual regular light green elephant wants to get a small pickup truck to beat around in Colorado and take out my kayaking and fishing gear, etc. Considering a 95 to 05 Ranger slash Mazda. Not bad. You know that those are okay. They're pretty tough. They're still around.
Zach Klapman
I think they're pretty well built and they're pretty simple. So you can fix it yourself if you had to. I don't know enough about. I mean the answer is always Toyota. If you want something that you can just own forever and not really mess with. But those Rangers and Mazdas took a good beating too.
Matt Farah
Ford Ranger is not a terrible choice. They're all right. I think that. I think they can take some abuse.
Zach Klapman
The step side Ranger looks pretty cool and I rarely, I rarely like the step sides, but yeah, it looks good.
Matt Farah
Grilled Tale of the Dragon.
Zach Klapman
That's a great name.
Matt Farah
Very funny thoughts on the just announced GT350 by Shelby American. No flat plane voodoo instead of five zero with a Whipple. We've said a bunch and I'll say it again and I'll keep saying it. Those GT based Shelby and other cars that are just the GT with a blower on them suck. They suck. They. These gt, all that power just turns into noise and tire smoke and not like real acceleration.
Zach Klapman
It's rare to add more. I'd say it's rare that they have felt as good as the GT500. The GT500 felt like you got all the power to the ground. It was tight. The handling was good. The transmission was quick. When we've gotten this from where they've bolted the Whipple on, even when the power number is the same, it just feels different.
Matt Farah
It does. It doesn't. Whether it's the gearing ratio or the heat soaking of the blower, it just. They never feel right. And I've driven some like those 700 horsepower like super snakes that just like couldn't Couldn't get the power down properly and like. Yeah, okay, I guess like fourth gear wheel spin is fun, but it was like all wheel spin. It never seemed to translate into, you know, like the McLarens. When I talk about getting wheel spin in fourth gear, it does like a little hiccup when it hits fourth, but then you get forward motion.
Zach Klapman
Well, but you also have all the other elements that the McLaren delivers. And I think I'd rather go buy a used GT350 that has a flat plane, is fast enough and has wonderful handling dynamics rather than get something that's just like all noise and power.
Matt Farah
Yeah. Christopher Chaffins, redneck question. Which mid-80s to early 2000s, two door small to mid size short bed truck would you have as your weekend cruiser?
Zach Klapman
I go Chevy SS with the 454 just because I liked seeing as a kid. That font was huge and it sounded fast.
Matt Farah
I like a second gen Lightning. Like Eric has the rounded flare side lightning. I like those. Those are a good time. Or it's not a. It's not a pickup, it's an suv. But the Typhoon is all attitude. I drove one. They drive awful. They're trash. But they look so great and they sound cool and they are the right vibe.
Zach Klapman
I saw a two door Tahoe the other day, like yesterday. It looked really good.
Matt Farah
Two door Tahoes are cool. Yeah, they are. They're great. Bad gardener. If you were to make a media outlet whose target audience is automotive journalists, how would it look different than any current channel or magazine right now? Oh, if your only audience was automotive journalists, it would be a parody on the industry. Basically. It would be like Richard Porter's character. What's the fucking guy's name? Not Nigel. Nigel.
Zach Klapman
I thought it was also Rich.
Matt Farah
What is it?
Zach Klapman
I thought it was also Richard.
Matt Farah
Richard Porter has a fictional automotive journalist that's like a bumbling, humorous.
Zach Klapman
The book is how to Be an Automotive Journalist.
Matt Farah
What's the fucking guy's name? Something very British, but that's pretty much what it would be.
Zach Klapman
I don't know. I can't find it. If I search how to Become an Automotive Journalist, there's a bunch of answers.
Matt Farah
It's funny, there are some automotive journalists that consume a lot of other automotive media and there's. There's some that really consume, like none. I'm always surprised and maybe they're lying. But I'm surprised when I go see other people at launches and they tell me they watched our video about something and I try to not because I'll end up getting Influenced by whatever someone else says.
Zach Klapman
Well, if it's the same car, very true. But if it's just someone drove a thing. I have never been in the presence of like Valkyrie, something like that. Sure, sure.
Matt Farah
Mr. Balloon Hands, new Patreon member. Happy to be here. Huge fan of the new Land Cruiser. Do you think this new platform will be good for 2 to 300k miles like previous ones have been? And will it be feasible to work on your own car?
Zach Klapman
Depends on how industrious you are. I mean, I think cars are getting more complicated to work on, but on the flip side you have more people working on them, making videos and posts about how to do things. So I think there's way more step by step instruction out there than there's ever been and that's really helpful. So if you. Tavaresh was like forging his own path. Now there's other people to do the same thing, you know, with, with less expensive cars and they will give you a guidebook on how to do it, which is awesome. But I know they recalled how many Tacoma engines.
Matt Farah
Yeah, like the twin turbo. Not a Tundra.
Zach Klapman
Tundra.
Matt Farah
Tundra and Land Cruiser engine.
Zach Klapman
Yeah.
Matt Farah
It'S really like. It's hard to say. I mean any vehicle should last that long if you take care of it. And Priuses, which are also hybrid last at least that long. There's tons of them that are cabs in LA with huge mileage counts on them. So a Toyota hybrid is more likely to last than some other hybrids I think. But also the new Land Cruiser is not the same Land Cruiser as outgoing one that's still alive as the Lexus. This is Land Cruiser Prado, which is much more like a 4Runner than it is like a traditional Land Cruiser with that heavy, heavy duty build quality still good, but not the same level of overbuilt that it used to be. Get rich or die trying. Oh, get rich or try dying. Sorry, I read that wrong. I have a 420 horsepower S2000 and a Honda Beat two car garage respect. I'm 280 pounds. Yeah. All right. Really planning on getting an Evora 400 or what is that? Or EQ 400 or what was the. Oh, GT is the last GT EQ or equivalent?
Zach Klapman
Is that what that means?
Matt Farah
Is that a worse choice than an old NSX to fit the same role and finish out the stable? The Evora and the Amira are definitely the continuation of the NSX line. And if what you want is an NSX but with new feeling steering, like the big difference between my NSX and a modern Lotus is the sharpness in steering of the modern Lotus. I have to turn the Lotus wheel to here and I have to turn the NSX wheel to there to get to the same place. It's a lot more physical steering input.
Zach Klapman
Yeah. The steering ratio is slower in the nsx.
Matt Farah
Much slower. So if that doesn't bother you and you want that analog feel. Analog Japanese mid engine, V6 powered feel. And on and on and on. The Lotuses are great. But if you've already got an early 2000s or late 90s Honda stable and you want to round it out, well, an Evora just won't do, will it?
Zach Klapman
He said he's not like specifically a Honda person, but it would be cool to have all of them. Yeah. And sourcing parts might be actually a wash between Lotus and nsx.
Matt Farah
Yeah, I don't think it would be much of a problem. You could get Evora stuff you could still get from dealers. It's still pretty new. I do like the Lotuses though. Pugs and Porsche. Everyone says the 911st is the one. Which cars began with equally high praise only to lose such recognition in the long run? It's a good question. I don't know how many have. I mean, I think people at the time were talking about like the 964 Carrera RS and that car is still fantastic and worth a ton of money and people covet them and love driving them and hold them and collect them. Ford GTs. I think when I drove that in 05, I went, this is it. And I absolutely feel that way today.
Zach Klapman
I think there's an interesting wrinkle which is sometimes Porsche trickles down things they've learned, like on the ST. Then they gave the suspension to the GT3. So does that remove, does that remove its Status as the 1? Because you can get something similar. Not the same, but very similar and close. For less money. It's more available. Whereas Ford gt, the first gen or sorry, second gen, technically you can't get that anymore. The next one that came out, not even close. So I think that makes it keep that status.
Matt Farah
Sure. I mean, Carrera GT also, I mean, the difference is, you know, a lot of the cars that are kind of, that are really appreciated now were not huge successes like Porsche had a tough time moving Carrera GTs. Ford GTs sat on showrooms for 149,000 bucks. People weren't ready to pay that kind of money for either of those products. And so that made them even more Collectible, you know, But I can't think of anything that I drove in my 15, 20 year career doing this where I went, oh, this is the shit. And then later I was like, you know what? No, it actually kind of isn't. Everything I've ever thought was like really, really great. The R34 Skyline I drove, that is. That hasn't worn off.
Zach Klapman
Were there things you drove earlier in your career where you're like, this is the shit. And then later you get more experience, you get a better palette and then you actually change your tune on things? I feel like that's more likely for us maybe.
Matt Farah
Yeah, that might be more likely. I'd have to really think about things that I really liked when they came out that I wouldn't like today. But there's probably not a lot of.
Zach Klapman
Them, probably not many. I think it's really like engineers will look at the first product they made in a run and they can always improve on it because they had to get the product out. And so we might really like the first run. But then as they iterate things like Huracan, Huracan Evo would, was they'd fixed all the things we didn't like, you know, where they changed the steering and everything. And so you go back to the early ones and you go, oh, it's still good, but it's not as good as that.
Matt Farah
Sure, early Huracans are still good, actually. That's a good example. Christian says, I was just in Bali and experienced insane traffic on tiny roads. What is the best tiny luxury car for this scenario? The Aston Signet.
Zach Klapman
Love that.
Matt Farah
It. I was just having a conversation with somebody about this because. Because he was talking about micro cars and he was talking about how shitty it is that certain governments or local DMVs are getting down on K cars and stuff like that. And I was saying in this country in particular, there is a point below which having a small car doesn't give you much advantage. If your car is smaller than a Honda Fit or a Mini, a really tiny car, it isn't that helpful because we have a minimum, real, really like minimum parking space size. Right. Whereas in Europe it can be like, you know, wherever it fits, like, whatever.
Zach Klapman
When I see a smart car on the road, I want to ask the person why they bought it. Maybe they have a tiny parking situation at home, but out on the road I just see a tiny storage space in the back in a car that's probably not that much more efficient than numerous other small sedans that have good engines.
Matt Farah
Yeah. And a Mini has like a real trunk and a back seat and whatever. So anyway, how do we get down the street? Tiny luxury.
Zach Klapman
So Aston Signet, would that be the small where small meets luxury. Are there any other good examples?
Matt Farah
I mean, I actually think, you know, the basic, the Mini coupe, like the two door Mini, you can get that loaded up with a higher end leather with a contrast pipe and a contrast stitch and you can customize those things in almost the same way you could customize a Porsche. Different roof, contrast, mirrors, two tone. I always thought that the Mini was a small luxury car. I mean Bali extreme example, but probably a two door Mini.
Zach Klapman
I also don't think you'll beat Aston Signet because that was such an anomaly because Aston just put their badge on something to get their cafe down.
Matt Farah
Yeah, tuna, no crust. Did I ever think that the Fox body or my Corvette or other previous cars would be forever cars? I recently purchased a G35 coupe that I've been wanting since I was in School over 20 years ago. And I ended up only keeping it for six months. I currently own what I think will be a long term car, but there may be time where I'm done with it as well. Will any of your current cars be forever cars? The funny thing about forever cars is people ask about them all the time. And I'm against the idea of a forever car now. I used to think about that kind of stuff, but like, like why give yourself the pressure, right?
Zach Klapman
Why wall yourself in ahead of time? Or when you own it, why commit.
Matt Farah
To something like that either inwardly or outwardly? Because it's a car. Maybe you like it forever, maybe you don't, and if you don't, well, fucking get rid of it.
Zach Klapman
You know what it is? I think it is the automotive equivalent of telling someone I love you. Yeah, you're just going like, I am going to stay with this forever or proposing to somebody. And you don't need to do that with a car. You can just, you know, you can like it for a while and then you can sell it for a while. So I think people see that as the most powerful endorsement of a vehicle. And if they have one or if they like it, it really validates how they feel. But in the end you go, actually I can change my mind if I want.
Matt Farah
Well, today I was on Spike's show and he asked about selling the Bentley and he's like, well, what happened? And I was like, what do you mean what happened? I bought it and then I drove it and I learned everything that there is to learn. Pretty much about owning and driving this car every day. And now I'm selling it. And he's like, but I thought you really liked it. I was like, I did. And he was like, well, then why sell it? I was like, cause it was exact. When used as a true daily driver, it was exactly one year of interesting.
Zach Klapman
Right? Yeah.
Matt Farah
So, like, okay, like, next, like, maybe for someone else, it'll be four or five years of interesting, maybe 20 years of interesting. But, like, the forever car thing, that tends to be like, your dad passed it down to you or something. Like, that's more than just the dynamics of this particular make and model of car.
Zach Klapman
It really just needs to keep giving your brain dopamine. And when it stops doing that, it stops being your forever car. You move on.
Matt Farah
Yeah, so I don't like committing. I mean, I can't foresee any reason that I would sell the Spider. I can't. If I ever get to a situation where I need the money, where I have to live on it, all right, that's. That's, you know, kind of a long way away from where I'm at now.
Zach Klapman
And big problems have happened.
Matt Farah
Big problems have happened. But, like, what day does this go up?
Zach Klapman
You know what I mean?
Matt Farah
Like, this goes up Thursday, and fucking Elon gets his way. We might not have an economy on Monday. So, you know, I. I actually had that call today with the. The financial planner call.
Zach Klapman
Oh, I'm curious.
Matt Farah
Yeah.
Zach Klapman
What they.
Matt Farah
No, straight up. You know, she actually. And my financial planning people are great, and. But I was like, hey, if the economy gets, like, vaporized in the next 30 days, like, what happens? You know? Like what? And she's like, yeah, we're kind of, like, working on some scenarios. I was like. And I go, well, while I do have some money, I was like, do I. Do I. Do I buy dirt in, like, a foreign country? Or do I. Do I do something here? Do I even. Was like, do I get, like, a Swiss bank account? Like, I was like, what? What's going on? And she's like. She's like, you know what you should do is you should get on a zoom call with your dad.
Zach Klapman
I was like, okay, you wanted them to just go. You're overreacting. That's what you wanted.
Matt Farah
That's what I want them to do. That's what. They did not. They did not do that at all.
Zach Klapman
So the times where, like, my. So for people who listen, like, my dad's a retired ER doctor, and he also doesn't really. With his own health, he's like, ah, it'll be fine. He's a lot of. It'll be fine. He's a great doctor. He did it for like 35 years, but so I got used to running things by him and he would explain what's going on and be like, you don't need to worry about it too much. Don't, don't go get checked for this. But last November when I was having those balance issues, I told him and he went, yeah, it might be good to go get some tests done. And then I got scared. So it's like with your finance people you were waiting for. Don't worry about it.
Matt Farah
Yeah, yeah.
Zach Klapman
And you gotta. We're trying to figure some things out. And you're like, oh, we should do some more testing.
Matt Farah
Yeah, yeah.
Zach Klapman
Oh, fuck.
Matt Farah
And then, and then I got desperate and then I was like, what are your other clients? You know, the financial criminals? What do they do? How do we do that? Like the people that. I was like, yeah, where are the islands?
Zach Klapman
They already bought them. Yeah, yeah.
Matt Farah
Siamese sports cat enthusiast. You have a 964 in good driver condition. You find yourself having ungodly thoughts about singers and gunthers, but a reimagining budget of 100k. How do you spend it? You don't. I mean, you can't recreate those types of products for 100k. You just can't. But what you can do is you can get awfully close to an RS like product. You can literally do the things that Porsche does, or most of them. To get From a Carrera 2 to get to a Carrera RS, you can do the light flywheel and clutch, you can do suspension, you can do brakes, you can do lightweight wheels, you could do weight reduction, you can do shocks and stuff. And you can. Like, Larry did his 964. Now it happens, his is all wheel drive. But that notwithstanding, you know, there are things that you can do with your car that are, you know, like Porsche does lots of little things all over the place that cumulatively will make your car feel like an RS style build.
Zach Klapman
Yeah. I think you have to choose your path of either. Do you want your car to perform and be exciting, to drive like a Singer Gunther works, or do you want it to look like one of those cars inside or out? Because, like, the amount of money you're talking about, you either are going to have a fully custom interior like them, but it will drive the same and look the same outside, or you can spend a ton of money on body work to make it look a certain way but it won't perform a certain way. I would go with what Matt's saying. You can do a lot to a car for that amount of money, performance wise. And it will feel amazing.
Matt Farah
Yeah. I mean if you've got 100k plus a car it says the reimagining budget and he says you have the car. So 100k plus a car 30 will get you an engine rebuild to 3.8 liters with a light flywheel and clutch. That's where you start. Right. Get rid of the seats and do the Porsche buckets, rear seat delete with the carpeting.
Zach Klapman
Was that like 10?
Matt Farah
Probably not even AC delete, you know, unless you really need it. But I would do AC delete and if you really need it I would do an electric AC which doesn't run off the accessory drive belt. AC delete. You can do RS door cards with either a crank window or a power thing. You can get those cup style wheels that the RS had or lightweight BBSs or HREs or a light short shifter or rebuilt shifter. Just little things, really fresh little stuff.
Zach Klapman
I mean control arms and really good. Like if you spend a lot of money on suspension you'll notice.
Matt Farah
Yeah. And I think 100k will get you right there and your car will look like a mostly stock car with some bolt ons but you'll have a great driver that you know that will get you most of the way to how a Singer would drive. A regular level Singer looks incredible and, and will drive great but it's not like it will drive like, not like a porsche. Let's see. Hoopty157. What is the best car coming out of each country right now? Usa, Italy, Germany, uk, Korea, Japan. What is the best American car on the market?
Zach Klapman
The C8 Corvette or the C8 in general for sure.
Matt Farah
Right. Does anyone make anything better than that in America?
Zach Klapman
CT5 is great but it's a thing we know. I think that. I think the C8 06 Black Wing is the coolest. Yeah. But they've. It's just that to me is an iteration of something that began in the early 2000s.
Matt Farah
Yeah.
Zach Klapman
And the C8 is like. It's obviously it's mid engine Corvette and then they went and made the Z06 with flat plane and stuff and it's just fucking awesome.
Matt Farah
What about Rivian? Rivians are American and they're quite lovely as is lucid sapphire.
Zach Klapman
True. I think. Yeah.
Matt Farah
The C8Z06 is the most desirable of those to me.
Zach Klapman
But I also think it gave if you close your eyes driving that car, you're driving a $400,000 Ferrari in terms of sound and experience, whereas the Sapphire is a better handling. No disrespect. I just want to preface, like, they took the Tesla Model S and they went, we can make this built better and handle better. Yeah. And the Rivian. Rivian is. That's a good answer, though that is also a pretty big step.
Matt Farah
Yeah. I think the Rivian is the most compelling American car on the market right now to the masses. Hoop, do you want. Oh, sorry. I meant the rest of the question. Italy. Italy. Storato, Huracan, Stirrado.
Zach Klapman
That is the most interesting.
Matt Farah
You're gonna go. You're going to drive the MC20 GT2 Stradale.
Zach Klapman
That's true.
Matt Farah
For. On behalf of us. That'll be fun.
Zach Klapman
I mean, the 296 is obviously fantastic. It's really great. Best.
Matt Farah
It's great. But, like, there's a couple things about it that just drive me nuts too.
Zach Klapman
Right. The battery.
Matt Farah
The battery dying thing and the capacitive thing. I would rather own as my fun car, a sterrato, than a 296. I think.
Zach Klapman
Okay. I'd rather own a 296 because I wouldn't go to the dirt with a Strato as much. I'd have to be extremely rich to do that. And in that case, I'm just buying a rally car.
Matt Farah
Oh. Treating a Strato as disposable would be the greatest, wouldn't it? All right. The best German car. I mean, it's gotta be 911. It could be GT3. Or ST. Or ST. Still call it ST because they're still delivering that. Best British car. The new Aston Vanquish. Looks hot as. Haven't driven it yet, but it looks great.
Zach Klapman
The DBS was a really good step.
Matt Farah
Yeah.
Zach Klapman
Very good.
Matt Farah
Yeah, very. The new Bentley GT speed hybrid. Oh. Is so good. I don't care if it's a Panamera powertrain. That's a British car. And yeah, I'm gonna go. I'm. Or the McLaren 750.
Zach Klapman
I would choose the 750.
Matt Farah
I would.
Zach Klapman
Only because it is more British.
Matt Farah
No, I'm 750 also.
Zach Klapman
Okay.
Matt Farah
That's the best British car right now. Korea. Ionic 5N.
Zach Klapman
Yeah. Yeah. That was an interesting big step for everybody.
Matt Farah
Very, very stoked on IAGA5N. Japan. Best Japanese car at the moment.
Zach Klapman
What have we driven out of Japan?
Matt Farah
GR Corolla.
Zach Klapman
I'd say a GR86. I know. It's if for sports cars. Like it's, it's an old formula and it's affordable and in an era where every car is basically priced out, I mean even GR Corolla when you option it up is like $50,000. GR86 is holding the line on fun. Na and good packaging and affordable.
Matt Farah
Yeah, I can't argue with you there. Maybe, maybe Integra Type S. That's a great vehicle. I think I might have to go with Integra Type S. That's 50 GS. Yeah. Davis W. We got three left. Funniest, weirdest bumper sticker you gentlemen have seen on a car. So do you know there's a, there's a saying like fuck em if they can't take a joke.
Zach Klapman
Sure.
Matt Farah
So we put a bumper sticker on my friend's car and didn't tell him and it said him if they can't take a toke. And then he drove that car with weed in it crossed the border into Canada where he was stopped.
Zach Klapman
No way.
Matt Farah
And arrested.
Zach Klapman
Did he not know about this? He didn't notice the sticker?
Matt Farah
No. We put it on like as he was leaving. This is in college. It was. And he got in trouble, a lot of trouble. Like he didn't go to prison but like I don't think he can go back to Canada like ever. Yeah, it's not great. So.
Zach Klapman
Wow.
Matt Farah
I didn't physically put the sticker on his car but I was present party to it. I was present when it's that when it happened. I did nothing to stop it. We did not foresee the results.
Zach Klapman
Did you know he was going to Canada or you were like oh he's gonna drive around?
Matt Farah
Yeah. No, I think we did. No, I think we did. Like it wasn't smart.
Zach Klapman
Did you guys. Did you not at the time not know how strict Canada was about?
Matt Farah
I don't think we did not think about college age.
Zach Klapman
Yeah, we didn't think, you know consequences didn't exist.
Matt Farah
We didn't think like at the time. Like. Yeah. Call it like. And a sticker is like cause for.
Zach Klapman
Search, you know, like they might pay more attention.
Matt Farah
They did.
Zach Klapman
Yeah.
Matt Farah
A lot more. Wow. Yeah.
Zach Klapman
Okay.
Matt Farah
Yeah. Weird. What I haven't.
Zach Klapman
I don't see a lot of bumper. We see more clever license plates which I like I usually post.
Matt Farah
People aren't really doing bumper stickers so much anymore.
Zach Klapman
I mean I've been rocking anti BMW BMW club for like two years and that is a burden that all used BMW owners share.
Matt Farah
Yeah. Andy in Colorado favorite driving Gloves got gloves. Gloves got Alcantara instead of leather in my new GT4Rs. I don't fuck with gloves, dude. I just clean my Alcantara more often. Yeah, I'm sorry to say Larry Casilla on his ammo page has a great easy tutorial for cleaning your race techs, as Porsche called it. So I just. I clean my more. I regret getting it.
Zach Klapman
How often do you clean your race.
Matt Farah
Techs specifically clean it? Every, like, six months.
Zach Klapman
Okay. Yeah, I would do that instead of driving with gloves on.
Matt Farah
Yeah, driving with gloves really sucks. It's lame, but in hindsight, I will never, ever get a car with suede steering wheel ever again. It's just not something I ever want to think about.
Zach Klapman
You could rewrap it.
Matt Farah
I can. No, it's like, this isn't like. That's a problem that eventually will be solved with money. Like, here, pay someone if money still exists.
Zach Klapman
Right.
Matt Farah
Oh, shit. What if it doesn't?
Zach Klapman
Then your bumper sticker's gonna say, we'll suck dick for new steering wheel wrap.
Matt Farah
The US Currency is gonna be replaced with doge. I can't wait until we literally live in Idiocracy. It's gonna be like Idiocracy, but it's like idiocra cost. It's gonna be. It's gonna be where? Holocracy. It's gonna be somewhere. It's gonna be Idiocracy, but with Guantanamo Bay as concentration camps, it's gonna be great. You guys don't even know nice cams. What says, was Teddy just like he is in his videos? Meaning incredibly kind and humble. And was he a car guy at all? Meaning Teddy Baldessar, who is a watch heavy who came to interview me for his YouTube channel. There he is. He is a very, very sweet individual. He was very nice and humble and knows a ton about watches. We had a great time. We. We talked about watches. We filmed some stuff. He really. He said his. He doesn't know a lot about cars, but he said his dream car was an Acura nsx. And I was like, oh, well, then let's go out in the Acura nsx. So we went out in the nsx. We went for a little drive, little sort of Comedians in Cars getting coffee vibe. He didn't know a lot about cars, but that's okay because he knows a lot about watches. And then he told me what his numbers are, and I was like, oh, my God.
Zach Klapman
Oh, his YouTube channel?
Matt Farah
Well, it's not just the YouTube channel. He has a retail establishment. He sells Watches and the. The units, they move. Holy shakies.
Zach Klapman
Do we know a lot of different watch YouTubers that also own a sales platform? Seems like, well, content.
Matt Farah
I mean, being a personality and creating content is how you drive, Right?
Zach Klapman
It's advertising sales.
Matt Farah
Yeah. So a lot of the guys that we've met and I've done podcasts with or whatever are people that are watch dealers who were savvy enough to craft a social media presence.
Zach Klapman
Gotcha. They went. They went that direction. Whereas Doug went from social. Social media, YouTube to sales.
Matt Farah
Yeah, a lot of these other folks did sales first and then found success promoting their sales. I actually. Teddy didn't. Teddy was content first, and then. And then he opened a. An online store and then a brick and mortar store in Cleveland.
Zach Klapman
Cool.
Matt Farah
But we actually have a lot in common. Cats. You know, the combination of a YouTube presence and a brick and mortar presence.
Zach Klapman
And does he also have as many cats as a new GT3?
Matt Farah
He has two cats.
Zach Klapman
Oh, okay.
Matt Farah
And they're like Himalayans. Like, big, like, fluffy ones. Excellent, excellent. Came over, had a few drinks. It's a good time. We had fun.
Zach Klapman
Cool.
Matt Farah
I like Teddy. He's definitely gonna hang out next time we come to town. I didn't know, like, if the far audience would. Would care about him so much because I was doing his show, but it seems they do. And maybe he'll do a podcast with us next time. But. Lovely guy. And definitely. I don't. I don't know what his. I think it's Teddy Baldessari.com to buy watches from him, which I may be doing in the future. Apparently. Fucking Segura rolled through his shop and, like, closed, cleaned up. Yeah. Teddybaldasar.com is where you buy watches from him. What brands does he have? Go to brands. Omega, Grand, Seiko, Blancpain, Glashuta, Breitling, Zenith, Longines, Doxa, Oris, Nomos, Hamilton, Rado, Mido, Tissot, Junghan, Certina, BAL, Mercier, NV, Grenchen, Unimatic, Lewis, Arard, Seiko, Marathon, G Shock, Bulova. Damn, guy's got brands. Yeah. Maybe I can hook up a little discount if you want something. Zach was just asking me the other day, like, what's the next.
Zach Klapman
Don't worry about it. Don't put that in the street.
Matt Farah
No.
Zach Klapman
You already gave away the escape plan on the podcast about six months ago. I know, and so legit about it.
Matt Farah
Okay. My escape plan is to put on all my watches at once.
Zach Klapman
Yeah, you're gonna look like Dr. Octopus, you know, like metal. Yeah. Like that? Yeah, I got all the time zones, bro.
Matt Farah
No, I need these.
Zach Klapman
I swear, customers be like, you have to declare this much money? Like, no, no, no. This is just to keep track of time.
Matt Farah
What if you daisy chain them all together and wear it as a big chain? You know those paper days, those paper chain necklaces. You paper chained watches and made one necklace.
Zach Klapman
Are you asking which would be more. Less ridiculous looking?
Matt Farah
There's a certain level of ridiculous beyond which you couldn't possibly doing the thing that you're doing, and that's where you want to be.
Zach Klapman
I think you do necklace with a big coat. Cause your arms, like your watch bands, you could probably only get what, two on before your forearm gets too wide.
Matt Farah
Yeah.
Zach Klapman
It wouldn't get linkages.
Matt Farah
Yeah.
Zach Klapman
Yeah.
Matt Farah
Wouldn't get very far up. Yeah.
Zach Klapman
Oh, but Hannah, I could do her.
Matt Farah
Whole arm all the way up.
Zach Klapman
That's the thing to do.
Matt Farah
So anyway, you know, maybe consider moving your assets out of the country is all I'm saying. That's our show. Thanks, everybody. Let's see what happens next week. No, we're going to King of the Hammers. We're gonna be out in the desert. It looks like a complete shit show.
Zach Klapman
Awesome.
Matt Farah
It's gonna be fun. We are doing a live podcast with Vaughn Gittin Jr. And with Dave, founder.
Zach Klapman
Of King of Hammers. Dave Cole.
Matt Farah
Cole, the founder of King of the Hammers. That'll be very fun. We'll be probably drinking. What is bourbon?
Zach Klapman
I think it's a bourbon beer situation.
Matt Farah
I think it's a bourbon situation.
Zach Klapman
It's like a session beer situation. You drink a lot of lights.
Matt Farah
We bring a cooler.
Zach Klapman
We should bring a cooler.
Matt Farah
Sure. Yeah. We need to bring cooler. So we've got the ranger raptor. We're gonna have a cooler bourbon, which.
Zach Klapman
We won't dry after we have things from the cooler. And we don't know guns, you know?
Matt Farah
Okay.
Zach Klapman
I mean, people probably have them. It's BLM land.
Matt Farah
Yeah.
Zach Klapman
But you know, even if you. If you don't have a license to conceal carry, you can't even on BLM land. So.
Matt Farah
Right. So, okay, so no guns.
Zach Klapman
I have not been told by friends that go there that people go, here's the shooting hole. Now there might be a shooting hole, but there's too many people around. That'd be so dangerous. Ricochet.
Matt Farah
I heard about the shooting hole. It was different. It was different. It was.
Zach Klapman
You know, the owner of it had that bumper sticker that this person, the Patreon was referencing. Oh, that's a different kind of.
Matt Farah
Yeah. That's our show. Let's end there. Really. Right on an up thing.
Zach Klapman
Yeah.
Matt Farah
As we do. Yeah. King of the Hammers. Second hand. And. And then we're back in studio after that and we rapidly barrel towards episode 200. 1,200. What am I doing? Why did I say 200? Mm, that's funny. Don't know. We don't even know where that came from. Episode 1000.
Zach Klapman
Does it smell like toast in here to you?
Matt Farah
It's because. Yeah. Am I actually having a stroke? It's. I've done a lot of calls this morning and then podcasting. I'm at the very end of a lot of talking. Sorry. 1000, as it turns out, is the number of episodes that we've almost done. Right. And we will have a podcasting extravaganza for IT experiences. Roadtrack.com if you want to drive with me. See you later.
Podcast Summary: The Smoking Tire – Episode "2025 GT3 Review; Gunther Works Turbo Drive; Q&A"
Release Date: February 6, 2025
In this episode of The Smoking Tire, hosts Matt Farah and Zack Klapman dive deep into the automotive world with an extensive review of the all-new 2025 Porsche GT3. They also explore the innovative Gunther Works Turbo Drive and engage with their audience through a lively Q&A session. The episode is packed with insightful discussions, personal anecdotes, and expert opinions, making it a must-listen for automotive enthusiasts.
[03:00] Matt Farah:
Matt shares his eagerness to test drive the new Porsche GT3, highlighting his spontaneous decision to accept the invitation without checking his schedule. The drive took place at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo in Valencia, Spain—a fresh and picturesque track offering a blend of flowy sections and challenging corners.
Key Features Discussed:
Performance Enhancements:
The 2025 GT3 boasts 503 horsepower, closely matching its predecessor's power output. Porsche has achieved this by shaving gear ratios by 8% across both PDK and manual transmissions to compensate for reduced torque due to stringent emission standards. This change ensures that the car remains a high-performing, naturally aspirated machine despite environmental regulations.
Notable Quote:
[06:12] Matt Farah: "Porsche gets to keep making a compliant, high-strung, naturally aspirated car. That's like kind of the way it is."
Design and Comfort:
The GT3 Touring model now offers a fold-forward bucket seat, providing flexibility for either passengers or additional luggage. While it isn't an adjustable recline system, this feature enhances the car's practicality without compromising its sporty essence.
Notable Quote:
[06:55] Matt Farah: "It has one position up and one position down. That's it."
Handling and Ride Quality:
On the track, the GT3 demonstrates exceptional balance and stability. The aerodynamics refined from the RS series, along with carbon fiber sway bars, contribute to a more controlled and responsive driving experience. However, Matt notes some brake dive in straight lines, attributing it to suspension geometry rather than shock tuning.
Notable Quote:
[10:52] Matt Farah: "It felt better than its predecessor on the street."
Steering and Electronics:
Porsche has revamped the electric power steering calibration to ensure consistent steering feel across different units and over time. This advancement aims to minimize variations caused by manufacturing tolerances and environmental factors.
Notable Quote:
[24:44] Matt Farah: "They've developed this new calibration for the E-pass that compensates for those things in both the short and the long term."
Summary:
Matt praises the 2025 GT3 for maintaining its exhilarating performance while integrating necessary environmental adaptations. The car's handling, comfort features, and innovative steering calibration make it a standout in the high-performance segment.
[31:05] Matt Farah:
Matt transitions to discuss the Gunther Works Turbo Drive, a project that embodies Porsche's heritage with a modern twist. The Gunther Works Turbo is a powerhouse, delivering 810 horsepower and weighing 2,700 pounds—making it comparable to classic lightweight sports cars but with quad the horsepower.
Key Highlights:
Engine and Performance:
Featuring a horizontally mounted fan reminiscent of Porsche's historic 917 models, the Gunther Works Turbo integrates both air and water cooling systems. This complex setup ensures optimal engine performance while maintaining reliability.
Driving Experience:
Despite its immense power, the Turbo Drive offers a surprisingly comfortable ride, suitable for daily driving as well as track performance. Matt notes its impressive handling dynamics, especially when driven by professional racers like Jörg Bergmeister, who demonstrate its capabilities on the track.
Aesthetics and Build Quality:
The car's raw and aggressive design is complemented by high-quality materials and meticulous detailing, including a fully carbon fiber interior. However, its practicality is limited by a hefty turning radius and the absence of certain amenities like congestion in tight urban environments.
Notable Quote:
[33:02] Matt Farah: "It’s an experience. It’s exciting. And it’s loud and there's lots of different sounds because you've got turbochargers and gear-driven fans."
Summary:
The Gunther Works Turbo Drive exemplifies high-performance engineering with its impressive horsepower and lightweight construction. While it delivers a thrilling and raw driving experience, its practicality for everyday use is constrained by its design and handling characteristics.
King of the Hammers & Ranger Raptor:
Matt and Zack briefly touch upon the reopening of roads previously closed due to fires and their upcoming participation in the King of the Hammers event with the Ranger Raptor. They express excitement about testing the Ranger's capabilities in such a demanding environment.
Content Creation Challenges:
The hosts share behind-the-scenes anecdotes about filming challenges during press launches and collaborations with other content creators, emphasizing the balance between creating engaging content and experiencing the cars firsthand.
Listeners submitted a variety of questions, which Matt and Zack address with enthusiasm and expertise.
Vehicle Longevity and Maintenance:
Question: "Do you think the new platform for the Land Cruiser will be good for 200-300k miles like previous ones?"
Answer: Matt and Zack discuss the durability of Toyota hybrids and the practical aspects of maintaining high-mileage vehicles, highlighting the importance of proper care and the evolving complexity of modern cars.
Best Cars by Country:
Question: "What is the best car coming out of each country right now?"
Answer:
Automotive Journalism Parody:
Question: "If you were to make a media outlet for automotive journalists, how would it differ?"
Answer: Matt envisions a parody-focused outlet, humorously critiquing the industry much like Richard Porter's fictional automotive journalist character.
Bumper Stickers and Driving Stories:
Question: "What is the funniest, weirdest bumper sticker you've seen?"
Answer: Matt recounts a humorous yet cautionary tale involving a misleading bumper sticker that led to unexpected legal trouble.
Driving Gloves and Interior Detailing:
Question: "Favorite driving gloves?"
Answer: The hosts discuss their preferences for materials, with Matt expressing a dislike for Alcantara steering wheels and the inconvenience of maintaining driving gloves.
Forever Cars:
Question: "Will any of your current cars be forever cars?"
Answer: Both hosts reflect on the concept of forever cars, ultimately agreeing that flexibility and the continued pursuit of new experiences take precedence over long-term ownership commitments.
As the episode wraps up, Matt and Zack express their excitement for upcoming events, including their live podcast at King of the Hammers with notable guests like Vaughn Gittin Jr. and Dave Cole. They also tease future projects, such as selling Matt's detailed Bentley on Cars and Bids and discussing maintenance costs.
[100:06] Matt Farah:
"We will have a podcasting extravaganza for IT experiences. Roadtrack.com if you want to drive with me. See you later."
Matt Farah:
*"[06:12] Porsche gets to keep making a compliant, high-strung, naturally aspirated car. That's like kind of the way it is."
Zack Klapman:
*"[25:10] Car rips. Car's great. Southern Spain rocks."
Matt Farah:
*"[33:02] It’s an experience. It’s exciting. And it’s loud and there's lots of different sounds because you've got turbochargers and gear-driven fans."
Zack Klapman:
*"[38:23] It feels good in your hands."
This episode of The Smoking Tire offers a comprehensive look into the latest Porsche GT3, innovative aftermarket turbo solutions, and engages deeply with listener questions, all while maintaining the hosts' signature blend of humor and automotive passion. Whether you're a Die-hard Porsche fan or simply love high-performance vehicles, Matt and Zack provide valuable insights and entertaining discussions that resonate with enthusiasts of all levels.
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Note: This summary excludes advertisements, intros, outros, and non-content segments to focus solely on the informative and engaging discussions relevant to automotive enthusiasts.