2027 Nissan Z Nismo Manual Review; Lambo Update

Summary

The Smoking Tire Podcast: 2027 Nissan Z Nismo Manual Review; Lambo Update

Hosts: Matt Farah & Zack Klapman
Date: May 19, 2026

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Episode Overview

In this episode, Matt and Zack dive deep into the 2027 Nissan Z Nismo Manual—discussing its driving impressions, technical upgrades, competitive positioning, and value proposition. The hosts also update listeners on Matt's Countach Lamborghini and other personal car projects, riff on the quirks of car community culture, and address listener questions on everything from car buying to the philosophy of professional resilience. The conversation is candid, insightful, and peppered with the duo's usual irreverent humor.

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Key Topics & Insights

1. Project Car Updates: Taycan & Countach

[00:00–09:00]

• Matt discusses his Taycan’s recent ten-day shop stay, mostly for bushings and recalls. He praises its reliability.
  • “In the 18 months I’ve had it, just bushings and a little valve for the AC needed fixing. Pretty reliable thing.” —Matt [02:16]
• A detailed (and expensive) Lamborghini Countach update:
  • Suspension bushings cost $13,000: "The bushings for a Countach are $13,000.” —Matt [02:48]
  • Recent bill: $6,000 for reassembly and cleaning of suspension/hubs.
  • Only minor parts missing; timeline now depends on shop scheduling.
  • Ongoing friendly “race” to finish between the Countach and the Mercedes project.
• Takeaway: Maintaining rare vintage supercars is both expensive and unpredictable—but worth it for the joy of a running, driving classic.

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2. Luxury Car Press Experiences & “Car as Social Statement”

[11:00–15:00]

• Matt recounts experiences color-matching (accidentally) with press cars (Aston Martin DB12), noting how bright colors—especially orange—impact public perception.
  • “You really feel like an asshole when you realize you’re getting out of a car and you’re wearing the same color.” —Matt [11:38]
  • Observes: Astons are generally well-received, but bold colors (especially on what’s “supposed” to be a classy car) bring mixed reactions—especially from certain demographics.

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3. 2027 Nissan Z Nismo Manual Review—Deep Dive

[22:25–40:00]

Technical Improvements & Driving Impressions

• Manual Transmission: Now available, finally answering enthusiast demands.
• Performance Upgrades:
  • New wheels, lighter brake rotors (from R35 GTR), better shifter bushings, retuned power steering, improved shocks, and fixes to past fuel starvation issues.
  • “The manual gearbox saves 30 kilos versus the automatic. And it’s apparently cheaper, too.” —Matt [25:26]
• Track Focus:
  • Developed to survive a 30-minute track session at Buttonwillow in 95°F. Strong brakes (Akebono calipers, R35 rotors), revised bushings, and reinforced mounts.

On Value and Competition

• “People balked at the price, but this is a very developed car. Real competition: BMW M2, base Corvette, Supra, Dark Horse Mustang.” —Matt [26:05]
• Compared to M2/Dark Horse: Not as track-fast, but superior on the road in balance and engagement.
• Outshines the Supra in steering, braking, and balance—even if Supras can be tuned faster.
• “It’s the right gap between Miata/Boxster and, like, Corvette/Z06-fast stuff.” —Matt [29:23]

Driving Character

• “Engaging to drive. The shifter is nice, you have your auto rev match if you want it, and there’s a real connection through the car.” —Matt [29:29]
• Minimal, straightforward drive and traction modes—focusing on essentials, not tech overload.
• “Precision control, best-in-class steering feel to the front tires. …A car for more people than would consider it.” —Matt [33:21]
• Ideal for enthusiasts who want a car that talks back—a modern equivalent of the cars like early Mini Coopers, Preludes, STIs.

Notable Critiques

• Recaro seats’ comfort and movement questioned by YouTube commenters, but Matt defends them as appropriately designed for a street sports car [45:00].
• The differences from a Performance trim Z are significant for hard driving, but not as dramatically apparent in daily use.

Big Takeaway

• “A car a lot of people should be buying. Now there’s a stick—after everyone demanded it, they did it. So if you want cars like this to keep getting made, buy it.” —Matt [43:35]

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4. Car Community Commentary & Culture

[47:20–52:00]

• Matt riffs on “identity stickers” (e.g., “Lady Driven,” national flags) and how the condition of your car can reflect on the groups you represent:
  • “If you’re gonna display with pride who you are on your car, and your car is dented and missing bumpers, you might be doing a disservice to your group.” —Matt [48:59]
• Humorous sidebar on neighborhood Jaguars with Landau roofs, hot-rodded XJCs, and the general admiration of classic, quirky builds.

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5. Listener Q&A – Car Buying, Brand Loyalty, and More

[60:46–101:56]

• Nissan Strategy: Matt thinks Nissan is in a good spot, not leaning too hard into EVs, and the new Z and Armadas show value and smart development [62:20].
• Restomod Countach? - Unlikely. The original is iconic and supply is tiny. No “Singer for Lamborghini” on the near horizon [74:00].
• Swapping Cars/Drivetrain Experience: Try a manual FWD car for a year if you want to know what it’s about—Fiesta STs recommended [67:46].
• First Car Advice: Early Civics/Preludes get the Matt and Zack seal of approval as bulletproof, engaging, and cool for young drivers [80:18].
• Managing Professional Disappointment: Don’t let wins or losses throw you off balance; take the lesson, move forward [96:25].

Notable Quotes from Q&A:

• “Don’t stan automakers—they will let you down.” —Matt [86:37]
• “My car survived being owned by three of the least mechanically sympathetic people I know—that means it’s unkillable!” —Matt [83:26]

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6. Memorable Moments

Orange Astons & Social Cues:

• “I’ve accidentally color coordinated with an orange Aston Martin two days in a row. People’s reactions are fascinating.” —Matt [11:38]

On the Z Nismo’s Just-Right Nature:

• “For the connoisseur, maybe—not the king of lap times, but if I want to connect with a machine for enthusiast driving, this is quite a good value.” —Matt [41:26]

Sticker Wisdom:

• “If you’re going to represent a group on your car, make sure the rest of your car is consistent with the portrayal you want out there. Goes beyond the rear window.” —Matt [49:09]

Car Nerdiness:

• “Skyline? Nerd car. Delorean? Very nerdy. Peugeot 205 in the U.S.? Maximum nerd.” —Matt [92:39]

Nickelback Car?

• “Nickelback’s car is literally whatever Chad Kroeger drives—probably a V6 Camaro with stripes.” —Matt [95:55]

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Timestamps for Key Segments

| Segment | Time | |-------------|----------| | Taycan & Countach Updates | 00:00–09:00 | | Luxury Car Color Commentary | 11:00–15:00 | | Nissan Z Nismo Manual Deep Dive | 22:25–40:00 | | Value & Comparison with Rivals | 26:05–34:15 | | Z Nismo Technical Upgrades & Driving Character | 29:23–34:31 | | Listener Q&A: Advice & Culture | 60:46–101:56 | | Car Community Stickers Riff | 47:20–52:00 | | Car Nerd Talk/Car Bands | 92:39–95:55 |

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Conclusion & Takeaways

• The 2027 Nissan Z Nismo Manual is declared a true enthusiast’s sports car—coherent, engaging, and well-developed—slotting perfectly between lightweight sports cars and heavier, faster muscle cars.
• Value proposition is strong in light of competition—especially if fun and connection trump raw lap times.
• Maintaining or restoring rare performance cars is as much passion as it is patience and finance.
• Car culture is as much about self-identification and community as it is about hardware—and the details matter.
• Listener questions reinforce The Smoking Tire’s unique mix of practical advice, car nerd banter, and real-world honesty.

“Buy the Z Nismo if you want cars like this to continue—Nissan listened to enthusiasts, now it’s our turn.” —Matt [43:35]

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For further fun, check out their quick Z Nismo review video on YouTube, and don’t miss Matt’s ongoing car project sagas and vintage car shopping stories!

Transcript

[Matt Farah]

All right, folks, on this episode of the podcast, my review of the Nismo Z with a manual gearbox. Plus our video up on YouTube. Make sure to check that out. Updates to two of my cars. And if you're going to represent with a sticker a certain type of group, you better represent the rest of your car in a positive way. It's the Smoking Tire podcast. Let's go, guys. The Smoking Tire is giving away a 992.1 Turbo S. In partnership with Dream Giveaways, we are giving away a $275,000 car with some slick choice mods. The proceeds benefit charity and you don't have to buy any merch. It's a straightforward entry process. So hit the link in the show notes and get entered to win today. Wait a minute. Hang on a second. Hi, everybody. Welcome to the program. Talking about how long if I. I might have a gig at Chuck Wallet. I was talking about if I could take the taycan. I can. I have to stop and charge, in case you were wondering. But speaking of which, I'm getting it back tomorrow. It's been in the shop for 10 days now, in fairness, I told them it wasn't a big deal. Cause I had other things to drive and like, whatever. And that 10 days did include two weekends. You know what I mean? Like, I dropped it off on like a Friday. And so we had the three recalls done, but they had to get parts because they're not greasing the bushings. Because my suspension was creaky, they are replacing the bushings.

[Zach]

So maybe it's not a serviceable bushing.

[Matt Farah]

Maybe, maybe not. I'm gonna pick it up tomorrow and I'll have a further update on that.

[Zach]

That's cool, though.

[Matt Farah]

Nuevo bushings.

[Zach]

Yeah.

[Matt Farah]

I wonder if that affects anything else, like how it steers or something like it. Probably not, but we'll see. Maybe it will feel tightened up, maybe it'll feel tighter. But yay, extended warranty.

[Zach]

That's the first.

[Matt Farah]

That and that. Some little valve in the air conditioning. Those are the only two things my warranty has covered.

[Zach]

And it's been about eight months, right? Or no, you got it in December. 18.

[Matt Farah]

Oh, yeah, 18 months. I got it in December of 2024. All right. Yeah, it's been 18 months.

[Zach]

Pretty reliable thing.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah, it very much is.

[Zach]

Yes.

[Matt Farah]

So that's all right. But interestingly, I did get the second bill from Franco's European Sports Cars on the countach. And actual, how much were those bushings? Work was done. Well, I bought the bushings through Donnie. So the bushings were $13,000. The bushings for a countach are $13,000.

[Zach]

How many bushings are there?

[Matt Farah]

So many.

[Zach]

It better be.

[Matt Farah]

Thank you for that.

[Zach]

13,000 of them.

[Matt Farah]

It's all rose joints. It's like basically like a 70s Le Mans car is basically how a Countach is set up.

[Zach]

Good lord.

[Matt Farah]

And there's a million bushings and there's dual shock. There's look up like a diagram of a Countach suspension. There's a lot happening in a Countach suspension. For real. And so there's. There's these bushings and they're very hard to come by. And they look weird. There's in the, in that video with Donnie. We pulled them out and looked at them and they look funky.

[Zach]

Well, it's like a cylinder, right? Isn't it?

[Matt Farah]

Normally it looks like a cylinder. These are more like. They're like they're on multiple angles. Front suspension parts. What does the diagram from Eurospares look like?

[Zach]

Busy. Yeah, it's busy.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah, it is busy. The rear is actually even crazy. The rear is real crazy. But there's lots of bushings and they are, my gosh, pop up city. There's lots of. Lots of bushings and they are really, really crazy expensive.

[Zach]

Well, I think the ones we saw, I remember were these. Yeah, there's a lot of. It looks like a cylinder with bushing in the middle and another little cylinder where the bolt goes through. But I think. Are you talking about like the heim joints?

[Matt Farah]

It's also. Yeah, it's also the heim joints. Yes, it's all that.

[Zach]

The adjustable things.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah, so it's bushings and the heim joints. So anyway, fortunately, those are. Those. Those have come out in the wash long time ago. I for. I forgot about that. That years ago, the price of the actual bushings. But this bill, this month's bill was they got the tool to fix the thing. So they rebuilt the hubs once they had the tool. New fucking bearings in the hull or grease all the bearing clean. Everything like. Everything like looks and looks nice and new. It's good. And then reassembly of the suspension and $6,000 more dollars

[Zach]

reassembling suspension. Like they took the shocks apart.

[Matt Farah]

Well, the shocks and all that. Yeah, the shocks had gone out before, but that's not in this.

[Zach]

Oh, they just put them together.

[Matt Farah]

They just. No, they went out to.

[Zach]

Go ahead.

[Matt Farah]

Penske or Cony, I think. Cony. Whichever one's in Florida. They go to Florida. They came back the. I don't believe the Cost of them being rebuilt was in this.

[Zach]

This was just putting them on the car.

[Matt Farah]

Well, assembling, like full, you know, the full suspension and the cleaning and reassembly of the hubs. Yeah, but it's like. It was like 23 hours of the

[Zach]

hourly rate is expensive for a reason. This is an expert person. And for expensive cars. And then like. Yeah, when you. It's funny when you take the total amount paid, if you know the hourly, you can just divide and go like, okay, that took that long. Yeah, it's not even that long.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah, it's not even that long. No, it's not even that long. Yeah, yeah, but I don't know how to do it, so it's okay.

[Zach]

As everyone will say, you'll get all the money back if you ever sell it, which you won't.

[Matt Farah]

That's in theory, yes, but what I really want is a running, driving car. And so in the meantime, it's just.

[Zach]

Oh, it's just lighting money on fire.

[Matt Farah]

Oh, boy. But it'll be great when we have a running, driving car. That will be the thing. And then we have to, like, go somewhere.

[Zach]

What do you think will be done first, the Countach or the Mercedes?

[Matt Farah]

Oh, the Mercedes, probably. Probably the Mercedes, yeah. Because like, Shant is like a fucking man on a mission.

[Zach]

Yeah, that's true. And he wants to get it done because it helps him advertise his shop. But still, August and Countach, they have all the parts, right?

[Matt Farah]

For Countach, Yeah. We were missing three parts. We were missing some tie rods, ends. They weren't very expensive, I mean, by normal car standards, you know, but they weren't like. It wasn't anything horrible. It just crossed the threshold of I need to approve this. Yeah, Little, little things. Nothing. Nothing big.

[Zach]

But I'm saying for timeline, is it like they do. They have all of the things they need and it's just about them scheduling your car with their other other cars.

[Matt Farah]

They haven't found anything else that is missing yet. There might be little bits of hardware that are missing that they haven't quite got around to. I'm not sure they inventoried every single, like, you know, nut, bolt, fastener and nut and bolt, because those are things that are easy to get. When they did the inventory, I think it was really a pretty inventory of the important bits which are there. We're not missing any important bits.

[Zach]

And I'm not trying to pit the shops against each other. There is something funny, though, with, like, on the one side we have the Countach, which has as Far as we know, most of the parts it needs. On the other hand, we're putting a whole new engine and transmission into a different car and widening it and reprogramming the computer so it works. What an interesting race.

[Matt Farah]

And that's happening on the other side of the country.

[Zach]

Yeah, right now.

[Matt Farah]

Then the car has to come back here. And yet a complete repaint, a complete new interior in a rebuild of the hydraulics on the top. So, like, yeah, there's objectively more to do on the Mercedes, but Shawnt is on a mission now. We should put Damian on a mission, I think is the answer. We need to set up a race maybe with a little prize. I don't know, something maybe that could help. I don't. I think it would just make the bills so much bigger, though. I think we're still. This is in line with what I'm able to pay.

[Zach]

That's fine. Yeah.

[Matt Farah]

You know, for getting this done, I mean, you don't.

[Zach]

You also don't need the countach done by car week because we're going to Detroit.

[Matt Farah]

Right.

[Zach]

Having. Getting an Escalade press car. So, like, you don't have a finish line. That's required.

[Matt Farah]

I have. No, no, no. I'd like. It would be nice if I could drive it like, you know, for my birthday, but like, if I can't, like, whatever, you know, gives a shit.

[Zach]

But you should specify which birthday that was.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah, that's happened. Couple times that happened with failure to specify birthday. It's a funny one. Happened with my Delorean. I got it for what was going to be my 30th birthday, but took delivery on my 31st because of the restoration Porsche ordered in August was going to be for my 40th birthday. Sunk in the fucking ocean it ended up being 41st birthday. Yeah, it's happened. It's okay. Just got an email from a customer. Fucking unfortunate. Not even a customer, actually, a guy who was on our wait list and I scrolled back to his original email. Fucking guy emailed me. April of 2025, my new car is coming in. April of 2025, my new Car's coming in. I'm gonna need a spot. Okay. You know, we'll put you on the list. Whatever. Let me know when the car comes in. Three months later, it's been bumped. Three months later, it's been bumped. And then I didn't turn from him after that to the point where, like, when he emailed me again, like, I didn't even recognize the person's name. Like it's been who knows how long. And they're like, ah, there's still been a thing. And it's like, it's a year and a month later. There's still a hold. I bet this is some like, PTS

[Zach]

plus plus something exclusive manufacturer thing. Wow, that's a long delay.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah, but. And he was like, I don't even know at this point. I was like, well, you know, call us back whenever you find out.

[Zach]

Did he order a Koenigsegg?

[Matt Farah]

Maybe. I don't know. I don't know. But it did take my dad like, over. Like over a year, I think, to get his Cayenne because of paint to sample. I mean, it was like during, like Covid. Ish. Ish. Covid Ish. Times he ordered it in like 21.

[Zach]

Yeah, they were still catching up. I think it took a while for the industry to catch up with.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah. What's happening over there? You all right?

[Zach]

Just weird. I was gonna pull the computer off the desk.

[Matt Farah]

Oh, that would be a problem. But dude, this morning you see the color of the Aston Martin DB12.

[Zach]

Yes.

[Matt Farah]

This is not the second day in the row where I've accidentally color coordinated with an orange Aston Martin, which is something. You really feel like an asshole. When you realize you're getting out of this car and wearing the same color. You really feel very silly. People generally act on the street favorable towards Aston Martins. I have found that women don't really like Lamborghini colored Aston Martins because I've seen a couple cringy looks from women towards me in this car. Whereas, like, my friends and neighbors seem to think it's very cool.

[Zach]

But they know you.

[Matt Farah]

But they know.

[Zach]

They know that you're not.

[Matt Farah]

They know me. They know it's not my car. You know what I mean? So they think it's cool, but like random on the street. Went to Abbot Kinney, which for those who don't know LA is like the sort of.

[Zach]

It's the fancy part of Venice.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah. But it's not like Rodeo Drive fancy. It's like where there's like viori and outer known and it's where you could

[Zach]

accidentally spend $200 on a knit cap.

[Matt Farah]

Yes, boutiques. Boutiques.

[Zach]

A yoga shawl.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah, it's boutiques and fancy fancy restaurants that are casual but somehow are $300 for a meal. But I had to go buy some overpriced T shirts and the ladies were out. It was LMU graduation weekend, so it was like, like LMU girls and their families just everywhere, which is fine. I'm glad the commerce was happening. But the moms of the girls in particular were not about, like, it was a particular age and brand of white woman that was like, ugh. At my car in a way that I could see.

[Zach]

Well, I wonder if either that age of woman, you know, her ex, maybe second ex, has an Aston, bought an Aston and she hates it. Or maybe like, I think it is one of the. Well, they used to be. They used to be like the more subtly shaped supercar. I think they're classy, they're associated with that. And now they've gotten very extroverted looking because they need more cooling and all that stuff.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah.

[Zach]

Is it that or is it just the orange color? Orange is very bold.

[Matt Farah]

Orange is very.

[Zach]

You don't see orange cars very often. Even. Even within Lamborghini, but outside it, I can't think of many cars that are offered in that.

[Matt Farah]

Which is a bummer. More cars should come in orange, but should straight up. Sounds like, yes, no, no. More cars. And Aston Martin in orange is a bit of a juxtaposition. Same as the Bentley. Remember we had an orange Bentley a year ago? And like, actually, as far as press car goes, like, shout out to him.

[Zach]

Good thumbnail.

[Matt Farah]

Like, good thumbnail. Like, that's what I'm asking for. Make all the press cars bright orange and lime green and shit.

[Zach]

The vantage I drove at the track was orange, now that I thought about it. Yeah.

[Matt Farah]

A vantage in orange, I think is less weird than a DB12 in orange, which I think is positioned as somehow more elegant, even though it's like, not.

[Zach]

That's just a nice way to say cost.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah, it's the same shit. What's really crazy to think about. And I don't want to talk too much about this car because I want to where Zach's got to drive it. We're going to review it next week, but a crazy thing to think about and maybe a positioning for when you go drive it. Zach. Folks, support is coming into this episode from Mac Tools. Love Mac Tools. You've seen the Mac Tools truck at shops before. If you've been around anyone who's into cars, you know. Exactly. You can close your eyes and picture what a Mac Tools truck looks like. Well, have you ever thought about actually being the one who owns that route? Meaning that's your Mack truck. You're selling those tools for someone already into cars who's working on them or in or around shops or at least spending your weekends wrenching on something. This could be the perfect gig because Mac Tools franchisees run their own mobile tool business selling directly to shops and technicians. 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That's butcherbox.com tire and don't forget to use our link so they know we sent you. And support's coming in from Quince. Lately I've been more intentional about what I wear day to day. I'm trying to dress better because I have lost a little bit of weight. I have to buy new clothes. I might as well buy the good stuff. But it's got to be comfortable because I'm getting in and out of cars, I'm crawling around the shop. But I got to be put together because I'm talking to customers and I'm on camera. It just makes getting dressed simpler. And Quince has been my spring go to. The fabrics feel elevated, the fits are clean and everything just works without needing to over overthink it. And Quince has all the wardrobe staples for spring. Think 100% European linen shorts and shirts from 34 bucks. Lightweight, breathable and comfortable, but still put together and clean. 100% Pima cotton tees with a softness that just has to be felt to really be appreciated. 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Quince.com Tire this car is like almost double the price of the Vantage S. And when you're sitting in the driver's seat and like looking forward, it is, you can't tell. I don't want to say you can't tell because they do drive different. The DB12S has more leg room. Some things like that, like there are things that do matter that are different. But this is $401,000. And that blue Vantage S we had, that was fucking magnifique. So good. Was like two and a little bit. Like two and a little bit. And it was like a lot the same.

[Zach]

Well, there's. Well, there's quite a bit of parts sharing in the interior. That's what I meant by they look this, they feel the same. And I remember when we had the Vantage S, I looked at that because the last, the asset we'd had before that was the DB12 Volante.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah.

[Zach]

And I was, I went, oh, this takes the money from that car. Because unless you want the drop top and you want people to know that you have the money for the larger car, like when you sit down, unless you're a little bit taller than I am, like it looks the same and you get to. And it's a good thing for the Vantage. It gets to have all of these, like, nice pieces and nice interior stuff.

[Matt Farah]

Well, we'll come back to this. I don't want to go too deep because without you driving it, because there are differences and I had it up on the mountain yesterday. I found it quite delightful. So we'll come back to that one. But I want to, I want to talk about the main story today, which is the Nismo Z manual embargo is off today. This morning, right. It's the 18th. We didn't fuck up, right?

[Zach]

Because the video is up.

[Matt Farah]

Better be the Nissan Z. When I drove this thing like two years ago, it was automatic only. But otherwise, honestly, like, great car, really good car. Like, seriously good car. But now they've listened. Their people are very smart and they've listened. They've put a manual in. They've also done some other things. They've got some new wheels. They've got brake rotors from the R35 GTR, which is 16 pounds of unsprung weight reduced. The manual isn't exactly the same as the manual in the performance model. It's got better shifter bushings and a slightly shorter shifter throw. The length of throw is a little bit reduced and they've retuned the steering and the shocks have larger tubes for a bit better resistance to heat on track days. Also, there was an issue apparently when on track days with the last year's cars with you could get a fuel starvation issue when you had a low fuel in the tank. They've done some like baffling and reshaping of the fuel tank and doing some things like that. Not reshaping the fuel tank. That's not the right word. Hang on. What do they do to fix the fuel thing? Did I write this down? That's funny, I didn't write down the fueling thing. I didn't write down what they changed to do the. To fix the issue with the low fuel starvation issue. But it's fixed. That's the important bit. They've developed the car to run a 30 minute track session at Button Willow in 95 degree heat.

[Zach]

Not an easy thing, which is not an easy thing.

[Matt Farah]

The shifter is a 6 millimeter shorter. It has unique throttle mapping, it has a unique pressure plate and clutch which is separate from the regular Z retuned power steering, which actually was something I didn't have much of an issue with last time, but they said people complained about certain things.

[Zach]

And.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah, reinforced gearbox mounts, bushings and case. Right. Minus 20 pounds unsprung weight. Infirm cooling. Yep. Okay. And the gearbox itself, the manual gearbox, saves 30 kilos versus the automatic equipped cars.

[Zach]

Pretty significant.

[Matt Farah]

It's lighter. It's also apparently cheaper. I don't know if Nissan, they didn't tell us pricing at the launch. I don't know if they announced. Did they announce pricing this morning? Because someone off the record told me it does start with a six and not a seven.

[Zach]

Well, road and track says they're still missing the number for the price. Okay, so. So I think it's gonna be around 70 grand. Yeah, well, yeah.

[Matt Farah]

So official. So someone, you know, don't hold me to it, but someone off the record said at the, at the event said, well, I guess. Is it not. Not off the record. They sort of nodded.

[Zach]

Yeah, they do that.

[Matt Farah]

I was like, will it start with a 7? And they're like. And I was like, let's start with a six.

[Zach]

And they're like, it's like a subtle auction thing. It's like when the Longbow guys were here. And I was like, oh, is that Shifter gonna be for future sequential thing. And there was, like, a little eyebrow, but they can't say yes now.

[Matt Farah]

I mean, and that's like, there are people that are like, oh, my God, even the last time, 67,000 for a Nissan, it's like, oh, hang on a minute. This is a very developed car at this point. Like, it's the Nismo one really is. And the real competition is going to be your M2s, right? Your basest of base Corvettes. Really your basis of Corvettes, Supra. Supra and Mustang performance pack slash. Dark horse. Yeah. Really dark horse.

[Zach]

Yeah. I mean, for the money, for the

[Matt Farah]

Nismo, really dark horse. Now, the M2 and the dark horse were faster on the track, but I would argue neither was as good on the road.

[Zach]

Oh, okay.

[Matt Farah]

Like, and, and, and yes, they were faster on the track, which to me is what negated Nissan's argument for paddle shifters. You know, for an automatic, there's. Oh, it's for lap times. Like, look, obviously if you care about lap times, you would buy a stick shift Dark Horse, not an automatic Nissan. But the last Dark Horse I drove, the one I used for that dyno test, that price started with an 8, not even a 7. And the M2 absolutely starts with a 7. You're not really getting M2s brand new. Starting with a 6 in 2026.

[Zach]

Probably not. And then, of course, you can jump to the CS, but that's like 100. So where the Dark Horse weighs 4,000 pounds, Dark Horse weighs 4,000 pounds.

[Matt Farah]

It's huge. It's just. It's a huge car.

[Zach]

Yeah.

[Matt Farah]

So, like, I like so. And the Supra is going away. Right. I think this Nissan drives better than the Supra. I really do. I think the steering is better. I think the braking is better. I think the balance is better. I think you can make a Supra go faster in a straight line with tuning. But stock for stock. I'll take the Nissan over the Supra. I would. What's really, really good about this car is that it's the right balance of. I mean, Obviously it's like 3,600 pounds, which is heavier than people want sports cars to be, but in 2026, that's not that bad. It's got a low center of gravity, it's got a short wheelbase. It's a tight package. It's got a small footprint, But I could still, you know, I'm six two and with a helmet on, I could still fit in it for a track day, comfortably. But it's 420 horsepower, 385 pound feet with a manual gearbox and a nice even power band. Good smooth power band. It's like the kind of fast, balanced sports car that is the right gap in between Miata or Boxster and really

[Zach]

fast stuff like Corvette or Z06.

[Matt Farah]

And it's engaging to drive. The shifter is nice. It has the auto rev matching. If you want it, you can turn it off. It has two levels of traction control and stability control, but not much. You know, it has drive modes. It actually does have a regular and a sport throttle map. And then it has the two modes of traction control. But there's. And there's hard buttons for them. You don't need touchscreens for either of those.

[Zach]

It's amazing that that's like, that's such a small number of drive modes and track modes compared to like Corvettes, you know, have all this adjustability. And I guess one, it's Nissan, like that's the budget they have. But also if you know that you're either gonna have a pretty decent traction control like for track driving, or you just go full off, give people two options. You know who your market is.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah. Like, and with most manual cars, don't have a bunch of drive modes. Drive modes are usually equated to smart gearboxes.

[Zach]

That's true.

[Matt Farah]

You. Because if you've got a stick, you don't really want to change your throttle map like too much, right? Maybe a little. A little bit, but not actually that much. Even in my Boxster, there is a button, but all it does is turn off cylinder deactivation and shit like that. But if you have a PDK car, it does a whole bunch of other things. In the manual cars, it's like, not bad.

[Zach]

Did you drive on track full off the whole time or did you try it with their sport traction?

[Matt Farah]

I tried a session with it in sport while I was doing the mounts and I found it actually. This car has a shitload of rear grip. Like, yes, you can slide it, but it won't just decide. It's not a car that's just gonna slide whether you want to or not. Like, even if you drive full off, you've gotta do a, a bit of a flick to get it to slide. It won't just immediately go into a

[Zach]

slide the way the CS did.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah, no, the CS would instantly go into a slide. But the CS has a hundred more horsepower than this with effectively the same wheelbase, maybe slightly longer, but not much longer wheelbase. This has these Dunlop tires which I really like. They're the SP Sport. Max SP Sport something. They're basically the same ones that came on my. On my Spider, which I really like. But just this car, they do a lot, right? You know, the steering wheel is a circle, and it's the same diameter and thickness of the R32 GTR wheel, which is like, bang on. The pedal placement is really nice. The general driving position is really nice. It's. It's quick on a track. It's not set the world on fire fast on a track. It's quick on the track. It's really fast as a road car. I just. I'm not. I didn't get to drive it on the road at all, the manual. But I'm just remembering from the. We drove the automatic on the road. It's, like, super fast as a road car.

[Zach]

Well, and isn't it? These days, there's plenty of ways we can get speed on a racetrack, but so much of what we're missing is fun connection from driver to seat to car to wheels. Like, that's what we're looking for now because you can get power and outright speed all over the place.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah, it has a more. What I really like about this car and that both the Dark horse and the M2 lack a little bit. The M2Cs had those really amazing dampers, but outside of that, it wasn't to me, as, like, connected as I wanted. And the Dark Horse is really fast and really sticky, but it's, like, big and like, the steering is, like, super digital, right?

[Zach]

Yeah. It's a foot longer than the Z. And in the wheelbase, it's seven inches long. Longer. Yeah. Huge car.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah. I mean, it has a back seat to. But. But it's. It is a much bigger car. And the. And the. The hood is much higher. Everything is higher. So this. This what you really have is, I think, best in class, precision control. The front tires to the steering. That's best in class. Your rear foot to the rear tires. With the. Without, it doesn't have the ability to, like, instantly vaporize the way the M2 does, but it's still a good amount of rear control on the pedal. Like a lift just, like, makes the nose just tuck right in. And if you're a little too heavy on the throttle, it's not just like, insane instant spin. It's like. It's really a good car for a lot more people than would consider probably looking at.

[Zach]

It sounds like it's set up like the 235 IR race car. Good balance. Your. Your Changes on your right foot or left foot. Well, your brake or your gas influence the, the car. The balance, the stickiness of either end. Yeah, you know, all that stuff like that.

[Matt Farah]

But lower and powerful.

[Zach]

Yeah, yeah.

[Matt Farah]

And faster. And the brakes are really, really good. These it's akebono calipers with it with this R35 GTR vented rotor. They lasted no problem. So I really, I really, really, really like this car. I mean, and it's just a great sports car. I don't think if you're gonna have a car without putting people in the back seat, I don't think you should get a backseat. I think you should get a two seat car. It's got a big trunk like the hatchback. It holds a bunch of stuff.

[Zach]

Does this in a way take the place where the cheaper Cayman was.

[Matt Farah]

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[Zach]

Yeah, you know, like, if you're saying best in class of all these metrics, my brain immediately went to Cayman. You know, that's because those I think used to be best in class for that price point in terms of, you know, talking to your hands and your butt. So we don't have that anymore. And I think those cars also got more expensive with a good engine.

[Matt Farah]

But yeah, I'd probably rather have this than a base Cayman. Like this is, this is like two sports cars kind of what like the early mini, early 2000s mini Coopers were like compared to everyone. Sti Evo. Sti Evo. But like I bought that John Cooper works Mini and like I didn't make a wrong decision there like that. That, that's the under the radar one. People are like M2 dark horse. M2 dark horse.

[Zach]

But like actually right for the connoisseur maybe.

[Matt Farah]

You know, I mean if you really give a about what car Jethro can go quicker around Thunder Hill in, if that's really important to you, then buy the one. I think I forget. I don't even remember which one it was. I don't remember which one went quickest. I just remember the other two went quicker than the automatic Z. But like, in terms of like, do I want to connect with a machine for the task of enthusiast driving? Like, this is actually quite a good value. The performance is. We did some laps in the performance. Like that's not a bad car either by any means. But if you're going to be doing serious track work or like truly mobbing canyons every weekend and like pushing the brakes, pushing the tires like the Z, the Nismo is a lot better. It's worth the premium they charge for it. I think the performance Z is like an amazing daily, though. It's a really nice car, but once

[Zach]

you start pushing it, you start feeling all these softer points or it's flaws. And you'd want to change that in the aftermarket. But then you could just get it from Nissan. Yeah, I mean, it is more expensive. Someone asked to jump ahead to questions, but I think it's $25,000 difference between performance.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah, 23, 25. Something like that. Yeah, yeah, it is. It's a lot more. And it's not a totally different car. But a lot of the stuff that they change you can't really do in the aftermarket.

[Zach]

Like the steering.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah.

[Zach]

Was the steering tuning? Was that they tuned the E Pass system or did they change hardware also?

[Matt Farah]

Well, they. No, they tuned the E Pass system. The hardware they changed was the shocks, which are. Which are bigger tubes.

[Zach]

Sorry, I meant, did they change anything in the steering system?

[Matt Farah]

It says retuned E Pass. So I don't. To be perfectly honest with you, without having last year's car, it would be. I liked the steering a lot in last year's car. I guess people didn't. Whatever people complained about, maybe they fixed. But without having last year's car right there, I couldn't tell you the difference. It's been. It's been two years since I drove it. Sorry.

[Zach]

Well, I mean, as we know from 911st, what can be done in a year with just programming is remarkable.

[Matt Farah]

Sure. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, if you have two more years to fiddle with something, you can refine the shit out of it. See? Ever. Every Aston Martin S. Right, yeah, very true. So I really dug it. The videos up on the YouTubes. Please go watch. It's short. It's like nine minutes. Yeah, I mean, but like, you know, it's. There's. There's not a lot of differences. And I feel like on a racetrack, I said what needed to be said, got it out. I mean, think. I think we've covered it, so. But it's a great car. Like, honestly, like it's a car. A lot of people should be buying that. And now that there's a stick available, like, they did the thing. Guys, like, they didn't do it the first time. Get it, but now they're doing it. You should fucking buy this car. Because if you don't, it's gonna be a reason to not make cars like this. After people like me yelled about it and then they did it, now you have to buy it. So I Hope you do. I know that the price, it ain't nothing. That's real money for a real car.

[Zach]

Were there anything that. Did anything jump out that you didn't like? I know you didn't get to drive it on the road, but it may be, and it may be stuff that carries over from the previous cars, Just general ergonomics or buttons or whatever.

[Matt Farah]

No, I mean, this car has different seats. Other people in the Comments on the YouTube video say that they don't like that the recaro seat seemed like it was moving in the video. I. I am certain that that's not like that. If it does, it's like, first off, it's not a bucket, It's a fit. It's a power seat. I am certain that if it is moving, it's because it's designed to have a certain amount of give under high G loads. Like, I don't think at no point when I was driving this car, I was like, this seat is not structurally sound. I mean, it is not a race car. It's a street car seat. It has that recaro high back that you've seen in various other performance cars from Evo, Mitsubishi Evos to the European Focus rs. Like, it's a seat everybody's, like, seen before. Like, in my opinion, like, its quality is not in question. Now, if I'm. If I'm. Yeah, that's it. If it's just like I'm fat and high G loading the seat, well, you know, so be it. But it also has some padding. So it has. It does have some give to it. It's not. It's not a fucking GT3 bucket carbon

[Zach]

seat, but it has pretty deep bolsters. But there's a. Obviously there's a hinge down there for the seat to be able to adjust the seat back to be able to lean. So maybe that's the flex point.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah, I don't know, but it certainly didn't feel that way in the car. It's not something I would be questioning.

[Zach]

And also, I mean, there's a funny thing that happens, like, if you get a seat seat in a sports car that doesn't have deep enough bolstering, the force that you're putting on the seat is less than a seat that has deep bolstering. And therefore you're using more of your arms and legs and whatever bracing you're doing to hold yourself in place.

[Matt Farah]

Right.

[Zach]

And you're, you know, taking that work off of the seat. So maybe this holds you better, like wraps around you more. But Therefore there's more force put on the seat. I don't know.

[Matt Farah]

That's it. Actually that's a very good point, Gladman. I am, I am definitely. But I'm down with this car. I can't wait. I hope they leave some press cars in New York. New York. Jesus, why did I say in la? So I was just fantasizing about being in New York. It's springtime.

[Zach]

It is nice there in the springtime.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah. I hope they leave some press cars in la. If not, maybe I can get one in New York for the Hudson Quattrocento. Be perfect road and track event. If you guys want to come drive with me in New York in October, we're doing that experiences.road and track.com one more funsies I item. Okay, this was a thought. I have to tread a little carefully because if you use the wrong words when talking about this topic, I could get myself in trouble. I'm not trying to get myself into trouble here. I was driving to work this morning and I'm sitting in traffic and I'm behind a Toyota Corolla. The loud exhaust on it and rims and across the back window it says lady driven in a script. Cool. I'm happy that this woman is driving a modded Corolla and I'm happy to see a woman in the car community driving fucking anything hard or modded or whatever. But the car was dented the fuck up and like missing half of the rear bumper. And it made me think like if you're gonna display with any type of pride who you are on the outside of your vehicle, if your vehicle then

[Zach]

is not a good representative of the

[Matt Farah]

community, leads into the stereotype, leads into a poor stereotype about that community that is very funn. Think you might be doing a disservice to both yourself and the community.

[Zach]

That's pretty funny. Yeah, because the broken bumper, when you started this story like yesterday I saw a guy driving an Acura tsx, loud lowered, kind of beat up. And he had a sticker on the gas cap, the Acura emblem. It's like just in case people forget. And I was like, this is a kind of beat up. Like he's having fun and he's into cars and he's got the budget and just putting his money in kind of the wrong place, but that's okay. But then you got to broken bumper. I was like, oh shit, she wins.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah, but like if you, you know, it could be a national flag that you're talking about, it could be some other Type of affiliation or your pride in any type of group or gender or fucking whatever that you're involved in. You better make sure the rest of the car is consistent with the portrayal of your group that you would like to portray. It goes beyond the borders of the freakin rear window, lad. I could see the stick. I have a picture of the fucking sticker cracked up rear bumper. And I was like, oh dude.

[Zach]

Well, the sticker's probably cheaper than the

[Matt Farah]

bumper to replace and it was probably installed there first. But the circumstances have changed, right?

[Zach]

You know, the budget's the budget. Yeah, that is funny. Especially when, you know the stereotype is there and you know, unjustified. Like men getting much larger wrecks have more deaths than women in traffic or on the road. But when the sticker is above evidence of something. Now maybe she got. You ever think about this, Matt Farah? Maybe she got hit by a man. Maybe a man driving a car hit her car.

[Matt Farah]

I thought that it's the rear bumper. I was like, maybe she got rear ended.

[Zach]

Rear ended by the guy in the Pontiac.

[Matt Farah]

Well, I moved into the right lane. I passed lady driven front bumper too.

[Zach]

She got pushed into a car in front of her. Have you not seen someone get rearged before?

[Matt Farah]

No, no, you're right.

[Zach]

At a high rate of speed.

[Matt Farah]

There was damage on the side also.

[Zach]

Three cars at once.

[Matt Farah]

Oh, okay. So it was

[Zach]

big pileup. It was one of those 20 car pileups in the middle of a fog and ice. Yeah, yeah, it's amazing.

[Matt Farah]

She had to live out of the car for eight days.

[Zach]

Yeah, well, I mean, without her quick thinking and reactive reactions and you know, perfect trail braking and whatnot, she avoided a larger accident.

[Matt Farah]

That's a good point. It could have been much worse. I rescind. I rescind.

[Zach]

I'm offended.

[Matt Farah]

You should have shown more respect.

[Zach]

Yeah, that's funny.

[Matt Farah]

As we crossed the intersection here, not right outside the shop, but a couple intersections up the big major one. Boy, did she do a three lane change maneuver that all women should be proud of.

[Zach]

The maneuver that saved her life in that foggy, icy pileup map. So since we're on the topic, there are some funny cars that are around here. There's a walking the dog and there's a Jaguar, I think X. Like an old XJ what? 12. And the hood was popped just a little bit like this person. And my, it, it just made me think like on their way home they had a problem because of course Jaguar, they had to pop the hood to fiddle with a wire. Then they got Home and parked it. And they're like, I'm not gonna latch this because I'm probably gonna have to do this to get it started.

[Matt Farah]

I will need this hood up in a minute. There's a. I took a picture of it yesterday because I was walking. I. My neighbor gave me shout out to my neighbor Amit who just got his first Porsche. I said he got a C4S because I told like everybody in my neighborhood is getting their first Porsche and my neighborhood is like full of 996C4S's and 997S's everyone, there's probably, there's probably the 996C4S and 997S comprise probably. There's probably nine to 11 examples within a quarter mile of my house that I know of. Like just. I'm surrounded by them, which is great. Anyway, he gave me his weighted vest. So I've been walking with a 25 pounder, which feels like a workout.

[Zach]

Yeah, I assume that's why people do

[Matt Farah]

it all the way to the top of very big hills and back with a workout. But yesterday I walked past a neighbor's house and it was a Jag xjc. You know, like those, the. Do you know what XJC is? Before the xjs, it was Jaguar's coupe and it was Harry Metcalfe's. Got one top left. That's it.

[Zach]

Oh, these look so good.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah, it's the xj but a coupe version. It's a two door pillarless xj. It looks badass as hell, right?

[Zach]

Yes.

[Matt Farah]

So there's a guy, guy in my neighborhood who's got one of these and it's on like BBS looking wheels, which is pretty cool. But it has a Landau roof.

[Zach]

Oh no. Why? Who, who thought that was a good idea? I'm mad at them, but cocaine was probably a thing. And then like they kept. But people just keep it going. They keep driving around and now we see. Sometimes you see newer cars that have had them added, like aftermarket land that, you know, just carpet stapled onto. Like a 2012 Cadillac, bro.

[Matt Farah]

I saw a 2024, like a, like a 2020. Something newer than 2020 Lexus LS with a landau the other day. Dude, crazy. So imagine this with a Landau. But the guys get, get coming out of his house to get in it and I'm like. And you know, being nice. Hey man, that's a cool, That's a cool XJC. Hell yeah. He's it for 40 years, he tells me. And I go, oh, man, that's is. I was that. I go, that's a six, right? Or is it a 12? He goes, he goes. It's a LS. I go, oh, okay. You know, you know a thing about a thing.

[Zach]

Yeah.

[Matt Farah]

Brad.

[Zach]

He was tired of dealing with it.

[Matt Farah]

It's got a 5, 7 and like a GM, you know, 6 speed auto in it. But Harry. Harry Metcalfe like hot rodded his 12 cylinder one. And it's got a mattress manual.

[Zach]

I want to see if I could find an XJC with a Landau.

[Matt Farah]

But go down. Isn't that one. This is that one. Does that have it? No.

[Zach]

Maybe. Oh yeah, it does.

[Matt Farah]

That's kind of.

[Zach]

It's at the leather Lando.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah.

[Zach]

That.

[Matt Farah]

This. The one is stealthy. Yeah, that's. That's more period. This one is done. Yeah, that's like. That's not so bad. I mean it's bad but it's not.

[Zach]

It's color match. It's. The one we're looking at people talking

[Matt Farah]

about is the cloth joint.

[Zach]

This is black leather on a black car. But when you see like like tan anything on like a red burgundy, it just jumps out and it's like. Yeah, I like more upkeep than paint. I wanted a Jaguar that requires more maintenance. You know, you got to go get like. You should rent a vacuum from Home

[Matt Farah]

Depot here for a daily. The one that's downstairs.

[Zach]

There's one of these downstairs.

[Matt Farah]

It's not a C. There's that. We have a. We have a. A series. I want to say it's a series one. One XJ Series one downstairs. That's a. That Galpin built. It's got a full Corvette powertrain in it with an automatic. GM automatic. Yeah, it's one of those.

[Zach]

Oh, like the sedan.

[Matt Farah]

Like Carl's car. Like Carl's. But not. Not turn down the crazy just a little bit. But yes, basically that and the guy wants out of it. It's murdered. It's black.

[Zach]

I'll go look at it.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah, it's.

[Zach]

My wife would be like what.

[Matt Farah]

It would be the sickest daily ever. And actually I think it would work perfectly if you drove it every day. If you're the kind. It's the kind of car that would just be like fine if you just.

[Zach]

Well, it's Corvette engine.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah, it's Corvette stuff.

[Zach]

I mean I've been thinking lately, like I'm just doing such short trips in my car. I mean I either drive here. Which doesn't warm the car up. No. Is actually quite bad for it. Or I do, like a normal, you know, tour around town and that's fine. So if I got a daily, it should probably be an EV or hybrid. Just, you know, prevent wear on the engine.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah. And you can charge here.

[Zach]

Yeah. You know, I gotta fight David for it, but I can do that. He weighs less than I do.

[Matt Farah]

There's a charger downstairs, too. You have two EV chargers.

[Zach]

This is the prime one's outside, you know, Primo joint. Yeah.

[Matt Farah]

Look at that. Yeah.

[Zach]

See?

[Matt Farah]

Hot rodded. Hot rodded. Jaguar xjs. Yeah. Whether they're XJ sedans, S's or fucking C's are extremely cool.

[Zach]

Yeah. I mean, the shape is just so good.

[Matt Farah]

And where's Magnus with his TWR thing? Let's fucking go.

[Zach]

Well, that looks very. I mean, that's. These are very smooth and kind of elegant. And then the new thing is.

[Matt Farah]

That's crazy aggressive. Yeah.

[Zach]

Yeah.

[Matt Farah]

No, Harry. Harry. Can we look at Harry? Harry's coupe is extremely cool because he is a man of taste.

[Zach]

Yeah.

[Matt Farah]

Although we disagree on whether a Countach should have a wing or not. But his is just. Oh, it's. He sold it. Did he sell that car? Oh, XJC12. V12 manual. Sets a new auction record. When was this? From November of last year. What did it go for? It was bold right there. £157,000. Well, the Harry Touch. So it's a V12 with a manual gearbox and he had the engine rebuilt and I think hot rod it a little bit, you know.

[Zach]

Wow.

[Matt Farah]

Because if you could have one of these that was, like, fully sorted and guaranteed to work, you know, that would be.

[Zach]

Is that a thing that can be accomplished? Like, even when these were new from

[Matt Farah]

the dealership, at the time I'm handing you the keys. At the time the keys are handed over.

[Zach]

Right.

[Matt Farah]

At the time the keys are handed over, I guarantee you it worked. Harry does not want to be the kind of guy that.

[Zach]

Oh, Harry's car. Yes. Sorry. I meant, like, could they ever, when these were brand new, guarantee that they would work, you know, because now it's got all the new wires and new ideas.

[Matt Farah]

Oh, no, they were heinous, but, like. But they're so pretty.

[Zach]

Yeah. No one cares. Yeah. That helps everything.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah.

[Zach]

I mean, we'll overlook whatever.

[Matt Farah]

And, like, I now know that it's not. Not that difficult to make. To put Corvette engines and things like this and that's that. But you can also, I think, make the V12. I think it is possible to make the V12 work today if you get it sorted and do what I did with the Bentley and just drive it. I think it's like one of those self lubricating things where shit doesn't dry out if you just use it.

[Zach]

Maybe with these. I worry about like the wiring of. Cause you have, you know, the wiring in the doors or the wiring under the dash. Is that gonna go out for sure. The engine might keep going and actually it's true. Even if you replace the Corvette. Replace the engine with a Corvette engine, the other shit could still break. Oh man. These are.

[Matt Farah]

That one with the stance and the whatever. Those are like what that looks. That's like the British Hakosuka skyline, isn't it?

[Zach]

Yeah.

[Matt Farah]

With that kind of stance. And JD There's a dash of second

[Zach]

gen Camaro here too. Like I think it's the stance, the wheels.

[Matt Farah]

Ain't nothing wrong with that.

[Zach]

No, it's true.

[Matt Farah]

That's delightful.

[Zach]

Cool.

[Matt Farah]

Now we're gonna need one of that now.

[Zach]

Yeah. Order some more cars.

[Matt Farah]

I. I bet you. I bet you good. Look the guy. I bet you could lowball the guy downstairs. I bet you he was. You put a lot of money into that car and he's ready to get out of it. Okay.

[Zach]

I could drive for six months and then sell it.

[Matt Farah]

I'm just saying. Let's go to the people. Unless you have anything to add at this there point. The people, they. Oh, thank you.

[Zach]

You're welcome.

[Matt Farah]

That's got my glasses adjusted.

[Zach]

That's good.

[Matt Farah]

That was nice. They were getting a little loosey goosey.

[Zach]

Oh, right.

[Matt Farah]

Not my prescriptions. No. The people at Patreon keep this ship floating down the ocean. Patreon.com TheSmokingTirePodcast is where you go to help a brother out and get this countach fixed. I mean, I mean, Jesus, it's crazy how much the brother needs to be helped out Right now I'm going to be on the ground holding one of those signs and ask questions for the live show. Get the show. If not live the day it goes up before everybody else. Get extra show. We just recorded our pro driver show last week for the month of May. That is up get access to early merch collabs and things such as the notice Canyon Berry, which sold the remaining lots went to the public today and there were only about 30 something of them. So I'm sure they will be gone by the day's end. And other things. Have I missed anything they get with the Patreon, Zach. I think I'm on it. I think that's it.

[Zach]

I think you did it.

[Matt Farah]

I think I covered all the things. Remembering lists is hard, guys.

[Zach]

That's why we write them down.

[Matt Farah]

You don't want to see me sitting here reading a script though. That's not.

[Zach]

No, it's bad.

[Matt Farah]

It's better to do it off the fly. Rad. Raph says, I'm aware of my. Oh wait, hang on. I'm aware of my tunnel vision. I have a personal soft spot for the Nissan brand. Given your recent Z experience, can you elaborate your thoughts on the brand strategy? Trying to stage their comeback with products like Xterra, Nismo Armada and Skyline. Do you think it will work? I think Nissan is in an interesting position right now. They didn't lean too hard into EVs. And it's funny that the world is moving away from EVs right now. the same time, gas is getting like $7 a gallon here in California. But okay, I mean, I think to me the Nismo Z is an immensely desirable product. I got picked up from the airport in the new Armada. Not bad, honestly. Pretty nice looking, pretty nice riding vehicle. Like did not hate it would 10 out of 10 would take one on a road trip. And I think, you know, they're making products that lean more towards what people can afford. I mean, typically the Nissan is at the more affordable end of any competitive segment. And so if people are tight on money but still want to get a new car, I think if their new products are built well and designed well, then they could offer a lot of value for money with those products.

[Zach]

I'm checking their sales. Their sales were up very slightly from 2024, like 1%, 0.2% in a couple of things. So that's okay. They sold about a million cars last year in the United States.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah, so I don't know. I liked the Armada more than I thought I would by riding in it. You know, it was pretty. I was. It was a two hour ride to the airport from Sonoma. Wasn't bad. Wow, nice seats. Comfy. You know, it was good and better looking than it was in the past. Jim Khanna. Oh, the Nismo. The question was the Nismo Armada. That's silly. The Nismo Armada is just silly. Come on. That's not what we're talking about. But that Nismo Armada is just like, it's a trim package, whatever.

[Zach]

I mean the Escalade V is also very silly. And if it didn't have the engine that it has, it would just be dumb. Like.

[Matt Farah]

So Jim Khanna says, is it an enthusiast thing to swap out factory floor mats as A knee jerk upgrade when you get a new car. I nearly did it this week and it occurred to me there's three sets of floor mats sitting in my garage from old cars, all of which I could have used.

[Zach]

Used.

[Matt Farah]

It's not for me. I like that the Taycan has the all weather ones, the rubber ones, but like no, my cars have the factory floor mats in them. In fact, for a year we committed to using the Bentley fucking sheepskin ones and they held up better than I thought. I was impressed with the Bentley ones even.

[Zach]

Keeping your shoes on.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah.

[Zach]

I don't know, I feel like if you're swapping them out, are you swapping them out? Is this person swapping them because they want something more comfortable or are you choosing a style that pops more when you open the door? Or you know, are you getting like if you have a black floor mat from factory and you get a slightly upgraded black floor mat then I think that's silly. But I don't know if you have an M car and you get an M floor mat online or something. I did that, sure.

[Matt Farah]

Loser.

[Zach]

I mean my floor mat had a hole in it. So.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah, yeah.

[Zach]

I was like, well, we'll just do a little upgrade.

[Matt Farah]

No, I like, I haven't, I can't say I've ever cared enough about floor mats to get a brand new car and get rid of the floor mats. I bought used cars before where the floor mats had evidence of some wear and I got rid of them and just replaced them.

[Zach]

Right.

[Matt Farah]

And sometimes that's been with like a Weathertech or something.

[Zach]

Yeah.

[Matt Farah]

Shout out to Weathertech. They own everything. They do, but they make a nice floor. Matt. It's old school capitalism. I don't have, I don't hate building a business on making a product that people actually want to buy. There's worse things.

[Zach]

What if it's a product that we will force people to use but no one's really sure what it's going to do but it will take away a lot of jobs. What about that product?

[Matt Farah]

Oh my God, I just got erect. Thank you for telling me about that. There's a thing I can do that. Where do I sign up?

[Zach]

Sign at the bottom of my Kevin o' Leary form right here.

[Matt Farah]

Okay, cool. And can I make a computer clone of myself?

[Zach]

Absolutely. But you won't own the IP of the clone of yourself. But I will. But you can make a funny video of a dog driving a car.

[Matt Farah]

Cool.

[Zach]

Yeah, it'll be completely forgettable.

[Matt Farah]

Can I make a pizza? Show up three minutes faster no, because

[Zach]

that's supposed to be made in a place by a person and delivered. But we can make a video of

[Matt Farah]

a pizza driving car. What if I get rid of that? Yeah, what if I get rid of that human? What if I have a robot make the pizza that hands it to another robot that drives. What if. No, what if the robot makes the pizza on the way to my house and then another robot meets it at the curb and brings it to the front door so I don't have to go meet it in the street?

[Zach]

Yeah, we will probably have that within six months to 10 years. Definitely. If you give us the money today for the stock promise it will happen soon and there will be rockets on the pizza delivery vehicle.

[Matt Farah]

Listen, Elon. Fisker, I hardly knew her. I've only ever had rear wheel drive cars. But I want to experience more. Should I try a good front wheel drive car like a GTI or Civic Si, so I can get the gist or can I get the gist of the experience with a weekend Turo? Right. Rental? That's a good question. If you don't have a need for a front wheel drive car, then you should just try one on Turo. Rent a GTI somewhere if you can. You can get a GTI on Turo, can't you?

[Zach]

Oh, definitely.

[Matt Farah]

For sure, right?

[Zach]

I don't know. I think if you're rotating through, I think it's cool to have it for a year and just experience it every day. I bet you'll find like the big meaty things in a weekend, driving quick or going to a canyon or something. But like, like I don't know, if you really want to experience the different drivetrain setup, then I think you should live with it for a while.

[Matt Farah]

Sure. Okay. If you can, if you can find a really nice Fiesta st, I mean a really nice one, you can probably go money in, money out, even for a year on one of those. And that would be about the best it gets. Spencer says we're picking. Or you could go like, here's another thing you could do to make it interesting. You could go like super, super front wheel drive. You could get or import like a Peugeot 205 GTI or some really cool European GTI like vintage front wheel drive from the 80s or something. That could be a fun thing to do to make your front wheel drive experience a little more interesting than a modern front wheel drive system. That's true. Spencer says we're picking up a new BMW 230i and immediately have to drive 5 hours back home with it since you drive unfamiliar press cars all the time, what's the mandatory 5 minute pre flight checklist? And what specific features or settings do you set up before you put the car in drive? So very good question. I don't always do things I probably should do, but I can do some things on the fly. But I don't like, like you're buying this car and then you're going home and you're doing immediately. Not just like driving up the road, you're immediately doing a road trip. So like first off, I. My pride is very silly and when I get new cars, I don't always have the salesman show me like every little thing. I'm like, I know how to do that. I'll figure it out. Which led me to not knowing I could put the carplay icon on the home screen of the Taycan, which was like a game changer. Make sure you know how to really use the radio. Make sure your favorites are preset. If it's like serious or whatever. If it has. I don't think that has M modes, but if it has an individual drive mode, you set that, that, you know, mirrors memory seats. If you've. If you're doing a driver swap, memory seats is a good one. I bring my Valentine one. Make sure that's.

[Zach]

Make sure you know which buttons control the radar. Cruise control versus regular cruise control. Like I think getting familiar with that before you get on the road because I don't do that a lot of times. And then I'm trying to figure out on the highway.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah, I mean, but when the car's gonna be yours, it's worth it to take the extra time to go through all the settings. I mean also like if it's brand new, like your ADAS settings, like if you want lane keep off, like do that shit before you leave. If you want to set. I don't know if the 230i has it. Does that have like hot buttons? Is there like a universe? I don't know if it has a universal button. The Porsche has two of them and you can make those buttons like 10 or 15 different things. So you might want to make that. Set that hot button to something you're gonna use all the time and then make sure your phones, your carplay, all that stuff is set up. Good question. Pretty straightforward, but a little more like, I don't set my favorites in press cars. I'm just like, I don't have the fucking patience for that. But Hannah sets her favorites. So Hannah, when she goes to work in Colorado for Her gig gigs, she has to go there like once a month for a week. And she rents a car, and it's in Fort Collins, which is like 90 minutes to two hours from Denver. So she has to fly to Denver, get in a car, and from the exit of the Denver Airport, there are no traffic lights or stop signs until. For two hours. So it's just exit the parking lot, and you're going south 70 the whole way. So she, who can't get used to a car necessarily as quick as I do and isn't as quick to adapt to new radios and things like that. I mean, it's more how every person would adapt to this. She really now has to make sure that everything is set before she leaves. Like, puts the car in drive. So she'll set all her favorites on, like, Sirius. She'll make sure her, like, her carplay is also, like, everything has to be. Her mirrors are fully good. Like, because once she's driving anything else like that sky, it's just like, there's nowhere to stop for just a second to, you know, do it. So. But yeah, sometimes I'm in a hurry and I don't set anything, and I'm in a new car, and that first drive, I'm trying to do everything while

[Zach]

I'm driving, and it's like, it gets stressful.

[Matt Farah]

It's a mess.

[Zach]

Yeah.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah, it's a mess. How are we on time, Zach? Are you okay?

[Zach]

We're good to start early, so it's very helpful.

[Matt Farah]

Great. Johnny Ev Geuberman says, do you think there would ever be a market for a restomod Countach? Not. Not well,

[Zach]

huh? I think there's always a market for everything. But with a car, the more celebrated the car is and the more perfect it's viewed in terms of, like, especially design and the aesthetic, the riskier it is and the easier it is to fall.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah. And they're just like. It's an interesting question. I think people who want a better driving Countach just buy like, a later Diablo or, like a Mercy or something. Maybe there's one lunatic out there that thinks that that needs to be a thing. I. I don't. There's only. There's only 2,000 Countaches ever built. So to try to make a business out of that would be very hard, very expensive.

[Zach]

You'd have to make your own unibody, I think. I think that's what you'd probably have to do, because to find enough people who are willing to chop up their Countach to turn it into Something.

[Matt Farah]

Maybe there's a couple crashed or like half burnt ones out there that you could scavenge. Like do a couple where you get a VIN number and you could do something. But like.

[Zach]

Yeah, but I think it would always have to offer far more than what the original does. And you know, like Lamborghini doesn't have the racing pedigree that Porsche does. Like for Singer they could go, okay, we can take, take the horsepower from this and the handling from this and we can make you, give you a car that drives far better and closer to like a race car than the streetcars ever did, but also looks amazing. But for Lamborghini, like, you know, what's your North Star there? I don't know.

[Matt Farah]

Well, and there's an entire industry of people, I mean, thankfully a lot of them are in Southern California that could make singers go fast. It's not like fucking Rob Dickinson and Maz, like knew how to specifically engineer a suspension or an engine. Like the engines were built by people who knew how to build engines and specifically people who knew how to build Porsche racing engines. And so there isn't really a bunch of people that are building Countach racing engine. That engine isn't really a motorsport engine. I mean it, it's a bunch of power because it's big. It's a V12. It's not a bad engine by any means, but it's not a race.

[Zach]

It hasn't been studied as much. It doesn't have all that R D built into it.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah, I think it's the kind of thing. One day, what's his name? Lambert fucking Guinea.

[Zach]

Oh, Nick, Yeah.

[Matt Farah]

One day Nick is going to get enough money to pay Steve Maxwell to build a restomod. Like that's how. That's gonna be the extent of restomod. Countach is gonna be that guy paying that guy to build it.

[Zach]

He'll be the Sir Edmund Hillary of that, like first summit Everest. But like, you need that person to prove the concept and then a bunch of people will copycat it.

[Matt Farah]

If anybody could do it, that's who could do it. Grilled Peanut butter and Pearl Jam.

[Zach]

Mmm.

[Matt Farah]

That's good for a couple reasons. One, because Grilled PB and J is, is a classic.

[Zach]

You never had that. Is it good? Doesn't the peanut butter like run off and melt the pepper?

[Matt Farah]

No, no, you need to. There's a management system. You don't spread to the very edge. You gotta keep it tight. You also don't wanna use. You do need to use a more commercial grade peanut butter. You can't use the really natural.

[Zach]

It can't have peanuts the in. In it.

[Matt Farah]

No, it can it.

[Zach]

But it needs other things.

[Matt Farah]

It can't be the kind where the oil rises to the top and you got to stir. But I know, but like if you want to do this, it's going to be a little messy. You can do that.

[Zach]

You need some stabilizer. You need a little bit of. You can do that concrete in there.

[Matt Farah]

So I actually, when I grill my PB and J, I actually sometimes I just deal with the mess. But I just, I. My ingredients are more like a pile in the middle that I sort of spread as I press a little bit. Let me tell you what a delightful thing. The best first time commenter though and coming in with a fucking humdinger of a name like that. Graduated on Saturday with a bachelor of Science in marketing Business and management. Congratulations. I want to know if you have any advice that you wish to give some that you wish someone gave you two days after graduation situation.

[Zach]

You won't know exactly what you want to do or what you will want to be two days after graduation.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah.

[Zach]

And that's fine. And you can change your. The course of your career or life as many times as you want.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah.

[Zach]

There may be downsides to that, but you can do that.

[Matt Farah]

So yeah, you want to. You want to consider a big picture if possible. If you have a dream, definitely follow it. But if you don't have a dream, just try to do something productive that feels right and like be ready for the next cool thing to pop up.

[Zach]

Yeah. You know, and whatever you do the first thing you do, you will take lessons from that to the second thing, the third thing. And it may not seem like it at the time, but you will.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah. Try not to be too stupid.

[Zach]

That too. Yeah.

[Matt Farah]

You're just after college is a really good. Good time to die doing something stupid.

[Zach]

Yeah. You're still real dumb. But now you have your full autonomy and no class structure and you might have like a little more spending money. So yeah. Risky time.

[Matt Farah]

Murray long last name says my baby cousin just graduated. I knew it. Graduation weekend. This whole weekend.

[Zach]

You see around here getting taken nuts this week.

[Matt Farah]

Weekend baby cousin just graduated high school. His first car with his part timer money and dad is matching it. That's exactly where I was. I respect. Must have airbags and no convertibles. Also respect it. I'm taking him to look at a 2009 Civic Si and a 2001 Prelude Type SH. He has 6,000 bucks to spend. What else should he look at in that price range.

[Zach]

Those are cool toy choices.

[Matt Farah]

Those are cool. I want to know how nice the O1 prelude is. Like I would be worried that that. Because that's sweet.

[Zach]

Yeah.

[Matt Farah]

01 Preludes. Awesome car. Actually. Talk about your. Talk about your proper front wheel drive performance cars.

[Zach]

For reference on cars and bids, the most recent one there was bid to 10 grand and did not sell. That was a year ago. 01 shot manual and this had 106,000 miles on it. So maybe he found one that's got more miles or I don't know, found a deal. But that's a cool car.

[Matt Farah]

That is a cool car. Both of Those are nice cars. 09 si. Totally fine. Isn't that the one with the split gauges though? Isn't that the one where the speedometer is like way down here in South America and your tach is right here in front of you? Is that the 09 dashboard? What do they look like? I think, I think that's 09. Either way, like, those are great first cars. Yeah, that's that one. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Good first car.

[Zach]

Very fun. Feels fast, but isn't. Which is a good thing. Stick shift person, stick shift. Good handling. Yeah.

[Matt Farah]

I support this. I support both of these decisions. I'm. I'm partial to the. If that Prelude is like not a shitter. Yeah. You see the speed up where your tack is right in front of you, but the speedometer's like way down on.

[Zach]

The speedometer's on the dash.

[Matt Farah]

It's way down.

[Zach]

Not by the windshield.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah.

[Zach]

Which is actually better in your line of vision. But I mean, I would go Prelude for sure.

[Matt Farah]

If the Prelude's not a shitter, I would go Prelude just because it's super cool. That's the car I couldn't get in high school. That's why I got my first super Subaru.

[Zach]

Oh, wow.

[Matt Farah]

I got. Yeah, I got this. I got.

[Zach]

I didn't.

[Matt Farah]

The Subaru was fine. It was a good car. But I really wanted either it was. This was. I wanted the Civic SI or the Prelude type sh. And it was like a year waiting list to get both of them. And so I was like, well, I need a car now and got a Subaru.

[Zach]

I mean, anything else in that price, you know my.

[Matt Farah]

You know who fucking who got the end up getting the Prelude is my boy, Adam. Adam M. Adam M got the Prelude. And this is how I learned that you actually can't kill a Prelude because Adam M got a Prelude and Matt H got an Accord coupe, four cylinder, manual Right. And also Modi the Shaman had a cord coupe, four cylinder, manual. And these are, or at least were the three least responsible drivers. The three least mechanically sympathetic mechanical humans I've ever met. Modi. Not anymore. But like if these three cars didn't die.

[Zach]

They can't. Yeah.

[Matt Farah]

Then they can't die. That's it. Like, you can't believe how badly this set of three 1999 Hondas were treated and fucking survived. It's unheard of.

[Zach]

Yeah. Just redlined from cold start and then crashed.

[Matt Farah]

Matt H's brother Mark H got the same Honda when they were both 16. They made the same car. It was the first year was when Mark turned 16. He's my age. Second year was when his little brother got one. Matt. Abusive fucking.

[Zach]

Just makes sense.

[Matt Farah]

Just the alcoholic stepfather of Honda Accord ownership. Just all the clutch drops, as many as you can imagine. And the car made it about six years. Actually. His brother got an automatic and was not interested in sports cars or being a shithead behind the wheel at all. He drove the car until he was at least 40.

[Zach]

24 years.

[Matt Farah]

24 years.

[Zach]

It lasted four times.

[Matt Farah]

The car he got in high school, he kept until he had like two kids.

[Zach]

That's so funny.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah.

[Zach]

Yeah. That's why rental companies don't rent manuals anymore.

[Matt Farah]

Expectant widowmaker says I use sheepskin rugs in bright red as floor mats in my dune buggy and they're perfect. That fucking rules. I have sheepskin mats for my Manx and I will be swapping them in as soon as we. That's the thing with floor mats. I got two sets and then I put one in and then I kind of got lazy and didn't swap. Mint. I gotta swap mint.

[Zach]

Well, it's sandalweather now, so it makes sense.

[Matt Farah]

It's about to be flip flop weather. Would you consider using the Swatch Royal Pop as a dash clip clock? You know, actually that's not a bad idea for a royal Pop if you. It could be kind of fun to like turn a pair of these things into like one of these into like a dash. A set of dash clocks. They don't have a chronograph. I'm not as like, these things are really fun.

[Zach]

That'd be fun. Are these expensive? Basically. Would these get stolen from your dune bug?

[Matt Farah]

Probably. Probably. Probably. They're not expensive. They're like a couple hundred dollars. But they'd probably. But they're trendy so they would get swiped. Yeah, Yeah. I found that though. The cooler your car is, the more likely People are to not fuck with it when it's parked out on the street.

[Zach]

Yeah. Because they go, oh, I like that. Let's not mess with that thing.

[Matt Farah]

Duffel Shuffle Retirement club says, will the Nismo Z fill the void left by the R35 GTR for Nissan enthusiasts who refuse to buy a sports or performance car from anyone else? That's a funny question because it's never occurred to me that that is a person. Somebody refuses to buy anything.

[Zach]

Buy Nissan, Ford people, Chevy people, Nissan people.

[Matt Farah]

That's crazy.

[Zach]

Yeah.

[Matt Farah]

I have an article idea for Road and Track that's like, it basically just starts. Like, don't Stan automakers, like, they will let you down. Like, don't be a fan of anybody.

[Zach]

Of course,

[Matt Farah]

I don't think people who want an R35 GTR will be happy with a Nismo style. Yeah. Having said that, you know, we have some friends here in LA that are genuine, like Nissan fans that. That are into the Z. Speaking of which, sidebar. Did you happen to see on his Instagram that after he saw my little Instagram video with Shont about the Mercedes, Joey Lawrence, the owner.

[Zach]

Oh, yeah, he told me this.

[Matt Farah]

Brought his Nissan Z over there and is like doing like a body kit and a bunch of stuff. Stuff that Shant is doing for him. Wow.

[Zach]

On a Z. Yeah.

[Matt Farah]

Whoa.

[Zach]

Interesting.

[Matt Farah]

On a Z. He's in. He's really into his Z. Yeah. He just got one.

[Zach]

Not like, but isn't there. I'm surprised he didn't go to like, what's the Z Wizard in LA that Larry Chen took his car to?

[Matt Farah]

Oh, I don't know.

[Zach]

Basically there's someone who specializes in Z's,

[Matt Farah]

but I don't know. He just does. Good.

[Zach]

Yeah. Cool.

[Matt Farah]

I blow horns, says, what would be your favorite big engine based on smaller engines. Think V12 made out of two RB26s or similar.

[Zach]

I have two answers. I think a K V8 would be fun. Put two K Honda 4 cylinders together, make a small V8. Could be rad. The fun answer is, doesn't someone do that?

[Matt Farah]

No. I guess it's two Honda. Is it two Honda motorcycle engines that make a V8?

[Zach]

Maybe.

[Matt Farah]

Okay, go on.

[Zach]

But the other one is just, just let's. Let's bolt two LSS against each other and make a V16. Which.

[Matt Farah]

Somebody did that. Yeah, somebody did that.

[Zach]

I think that would be awesome.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah. I would like to see two BMW K 1600 motorcycle engines put together at the crank to make a 3.2 liter V12.

[Zach]

Very cool. That probably sound really Bad.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah.

[Zach]

Put that in the little N600 you drove. There we go.

[Matt Farah]

Yummy. Lincoln park plug in hybrid.

[Zach]

That is such a great name.

[Matt Farah]

Shopping for a sporty but comfy 4 seat convertible. For my dad his pick was a 996. But the 2000's CLK55AMG has caught his attention with clean examples of Both going for 25 to 30k and 10 to 15k respectively. Is the 996 really a 15k better car and experience? Okay, well, it depends what you want. If you want a real sports car, like you say, relatively sporty and comfortable four seater, is someone going in the back? If someone's going in the back,996 might be tough. I'd rather put someone in the back of a CLK than a 996. Are you cruising around Florida? You know, are you at the villages or are you in the mountains and the canyons? If there's curves and things, Then yes, a996 in the manual is better. If you're just cruising the highways and byways, a V8 Mercedes might be nice. It's gonna have a slush box. It's gonna the, you know, classic. Like we say this a lot but like, like old depreciated V8 luxury cars with automatics are like really cool in theory and on paper but are often just kind of boring to drive because they're slushboxy y. So you may or may not find that interesting. If you really want a sports car. CLK is not going to do it. Just.

[Zach]

It's going to be loud and heavy and kind of quick. But yeah, man. An old roommate, I had just remembered he had one of these and it broke all the time.

[Matt Farah]

Time gluteus Nissan Maximus, I think also Nissan Maximus Desmoris meridius would be pretty funny. Why do you think Ford hasn't released a hybrid Bronco? Do you think there's demand for it?

[Zach]

I left this in someone else. She rubbed on my bub until the tip was whistling. Also great name. Replied with some good stats. Ford sold about 800,000 F series trucks in 2025. Only 10% of the those were the hybrid. So they sold 146,000 Broncos. Are they going to develop a whole hybrid just to sell 14,000 a year? Optimistically, probably not. I think it's a good. I left that in. Great point.

[Matt Farah]

I think it is. And I think the hybrid pitch on the F150 is at least 50% about the kind of tools you can power

[Zach]

off of the truck?

[Matt Farah]

Yeah.

[Zach]

The job site stuff.

[Matt Farah]

The job site stuff. Which. The Bronco. I mean, yeah, okay, maybe there's a camping angle you could take, but I don't think Bronco people are looking for hybrids the same way. I don't think Jeep people were looking for hybrids with the Wrangler either. I think that got forced on them.

[Zach]

Yeah. And the camping thing, Nowadays there's so many companies like Jackery or whomever that make a battery pack meant for camping, and you put it in the back and you can take it out and move it around the campsite. Like that adds all the convenience without any of the complexity the Ford has to deal with.

[Matt Farah]

Gavin Sullivan thoughts on the AMG E53i. I haven't driven it yet, but that 53 engine, that inline six, is really nice. I drove a. I drove a car I did not expect to like, which is the C53 convertible. Sweet. It's really nice. Beautiful car. Really enjoyed it. That inline six kicks ass. Rockin Grc. Wait. Rockin Grc Corolla. Rockin Grc Corolla. Rockin Rolla Grc Corolla. Got it. As a GRC owner, I can assure you that you're correct about its nerdiness. What? Other cars scream Nerds. Nerds. Nerds. Skylines are nerdy cars. I'm sorry to people who like Skylines, but they are a little bit.

[Zach]

Deloreans.

[Matt Farah]

Are very nerdy.

[Zach]

Extremely.

[Matt Farah]

If you drive a Chevy Vega, you're fucking nerdy.

[Zach]

Was it the Pulsar? The Pulsar gti. That's true.

[Matt Farah]

If you have a Japanese car that actually. I said Skylines, but actually strip that, that's a dude magnet. If you're a gay man who wants to pick up straight dudes, if that's your kink, you need a Skyline. If you drive other Japanese car that isn't a Skyline, that's nerdy. Like. Like. Like a. Some hatchback or something.

[Zach]

Like JZXs. Yeah, they're big in the drift community, but outside of that, it's. You have to explain why you bought what looks like a Camry, but it has the steering wheel.

[Matt Farah]

For sure. K cars are pretty nerdy. If you have a British sports car from the 60s, it's fairly nerdy.

[Zach]

Peugeot 205 in the United States is very nerdy.

[Matt Farah]

Any French car in the United States is extremely nerdy. Yeah, except a Bugatti.

[Zach]

Well, yeah, but that's

[Matt Farah]

carbon monocoque and ball torture says. Been thinking about bands that. Oh, music bands that fit cars well. Porsche 911 is Rush. Corvette is Van Halen. Dodge Charger is Pantera. Oh, we need the explanation. Porsche 911 is Rush. Technically good. Huge niche fan base. Start in the the 60s. Very nerdy. Corvette is Van Halen. No explanation needed. Dodge Charger is Pantera. Powerful and racist. What is the most Nickelback car? Dude, Chad Kroger owns the most Nickelback car. Type in the words Chad Kroger car collection. Chad Kroger has a very dorky car collection. That is so Canadian. And just see with what images come up and if the photos come up that I know about. He had a pretty dorky car collection. He had like, like a. Like, yeah, whatever. This like fuck van is with a dually conversion, which I love, actually.

[Zach]

Six by six. Dodge street fan.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah. I don't know what this Hyundai Elantra is.

[Zach]

4th gen Elantra. That's his daily commute around the city. City.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah, boss. 429 Mustang. He had a Prowler at one point. There was for. He was for sure featured with his Prowler, but he had a D. Oh, there he had a Diablo on like ugly rims, which I think is kind of dorky if you ask me. So.

[Zach]

Yeah.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah. See, that's no bueno, right? That's not great.

[Zach]

Oh, well, this is the car with the regular rims, which look great.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah.

[Zach]

Phone dials. But up here that's not.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah, it's not great. So anyway, he had some dorky cars. So Nickelback's car collection just could be Nickelback's actual cars.

[Zach]

It could be. It could be. I mean, not to say like Camry, like Nickelback was so popular, yet seen as lame. Like, there's nothing tough about it. About that. Music.

[Matt Farah]

Music.

[Zach]

It's like not respected. But 2010 is everywhere.

[Matt Farah]

It's the V6. The V6. Camaro.

[Zach]

V6. 1 LE.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah.

[Zach]

V6 Camaro 1 LE. Yeah.

[Matt Farah]

Two Renault's one cup chassis.

[Zach]

Nice.

[Matt Farah]

How do you manage. Is that the. Is there. Is that.

[Zach]

No, there's a lot.

[Matt Farah]

How do you manage. No, no, no, I just finished. No, no, it's fine. Oh, how did you. I didn't know if that question had further clarification. How do you manage professional disability appointments?

[Zach]

I feel like it's gotten easier with time and I don't know if you. Who told me to do this? Someone in the last couple years is just like. If you don't get too excited about the professional opportunity when it goes away and not to like diminish your joy, but just because in media things can come and go so quickly. Basically a media brand that can hire you can suddenly dissolve. They'll choose someone else for a thing, last second or whatever. And you just. Sometimes there's going to be a lot of wins, sometimes there's going to be a lot of losses and you just kind of take each one in stride and always move to the next thing and it just kind of protects yourself a little bit.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah, I think I want to say it was like Al Pacino or De Niro or, or someone. It was like some, that when you're talking about that, it's like, I think I remember seeing it in some like actors roundtable thing where it's like Tom Hanks and De Niro and whoever talking about. And he said like, you know, when you're on a roll, like, don't get from. Don't get too excited and prepare because it'll swing the other way. And then don't get too sort of law of averages kind of thing. Hedge your happiness when it's going really well and know to hedge your sadness when it's not. And for me, I'm able to manage any professional disappointment that I can get a good lesson out of. I'm happy to lose some money or have to say I'm sorry to a customer or have to fix something that's broken or talk to an employee if there's.

[Zach]

Or

[Matt Farah]

not get a gig for a reason that might be totally valid, you know, and be able to go, all right, well what is the fucking lesson? Because the only thing I'm learned, I'm like trained to do. I went to the best business school in the country. I studied art. So what am I trained to do? Hang the pictures in my office? That's about it. Everything else I've learned by figuring out failing and hopefully fucking not doing it twice or three times. So like, when shit happens, like, you know, my dad was like, you know, getting an MBA is like 250 grand. So if you like run a business that works and you fuck up less than 250 grand, consider yourself ahead. You know what I mean? Like, you can learn that shit in the classroom or you can learn it by ping ponging against failures for 30 years, like, so I've chosen that way. And you know, if it's something that's like not my fault, I'm trying, or like my thing that should have been foreseen, then I try to like just go, okay, well can I do anything to fix it? Yes or no, know, but if it's like, not if it is my fault. And it's something that I. Then I just, you know, you apologize and try to have a lesson out of it and move on, I guess, you know.

[Zach]

Yeah, let's do this one and we'll be done.

[Matt Farah]

Fuck. Okay. It's like a fuck, marry, kill, but of like situations. Oh, choose one. A, never pay for gas again. B, never be stuck behind a slow car in the left lane again and see immunity from ever getting a traffic. Traffic ticket. That's interesting.

[Zach]

Ooh, no traffic tickets.

[Matt Farah]

So do we have to be ourselves in this game? Are we projecting us onto a hypothetical person that doesn't effectively have an on call lawyer for traffic tickets? And oh, by the way, 100% of our fuel is tax deductible, so we're really not paying for gas either. True.

[Zach]

I mean, that's true. But with gas going up, our, the cost of our, the cost to operate our business.

[Matt Farah]

It is, it is. I, I would, I would. Obviously I would never, I would never pay for gas again.

[Zach]

I, I think I would do that because that for, for most people would still be cheaper than having. Off the record, but considering I walk to work a lot, I don't. I actually my gas costs are pretty low right now. So if this was for like the next year, I would go immediately community and just within.

[Matt Farah]

You'd have the Purge. 20, 26.

[Zach]

I would. Except I'm too responsible nowadays. Like, I don't want to drive fast on the 405 in the middle of the daytime. Like, so what am I getting away with?

[Matt Farah]

Yeah. Do you drive? I don't think that either you or I drive fast on public roads or. Excuse me, I don't think you or I, I don't think the fear of getting a ticket is what prevents us from going faster than we go on public road.

[Zach]

I think that's true.

[Matt Farah]

We are not afraid of getting a ticket. We don't go quicker because we think it's morally reprehensible to go quicker than we would go on a road.

[Zach]

Yeah. And I've also, like, after spending years with a V1, you know, trying to shave three minutes on a commute or something. Now I just, I've done all the math and it's just not worth it.

[Matt Farah]

A lot of times it's not.

[Zach]

So I think I would go, I'll go back, never pay for gas again because then I would just feel total freedom to like drive wherever I want any time of the week or month and just. Who cares?

[Matt Farah]

There's.

[Zach]

I do that.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah.

[Zach]

Because the left lane thing you just pass on the right. That's what you do in America.

[Matt Farah]

Now the right lane is the left lane.

[Zach]

Yes it is.

[Matt Farah]

It's inverted.

[Zach]

Inverted.

[Matt Farah]

Thanks everybody. Thank you to our patrons. I appreciate you very very much. Hopefully that notice Canyon watch is is gone on but if not go check it out on their website. It's notice watches.com if there are any left. It will be listed for sale there. Thank you to everyone who supported us through the Canyon project and I the the next watch. I'm not going to reveal a very fun detail about it but I'm I got a very excited text this morning from the guys at notice about a fun detail about this watch that is a major milestone that I didn't know if they could achieve.

[Zach]

Achieve.

[Matt Farah]

But we have achieved it.

[Zach]

The rockets didn't help.

[Matt Farah]

Acceleration theory achieved it. Yes. We're going to be selling a rocket powered car. You can send me 250 thousand dollars. It'll be available soon but you got to buy it today. Thanks everybody. We'll see you later. Bye.