Alpine A110 Review; "Can I Drive on This?"; 15 Yrs of TST

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Smoking Tire
Episode: Alpine A110 Review; "Can I Drive on This?"; 15 Yrs of TST
Release Date: June 26, 2025

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Introduction

In this episode of The Smoking Tire, hosts Matt Farah and Zach Klapman delve into a variety of automotive topics, celebrating Zach's 15-year anniversary with the podcast, reviewing the Alpine A110, exploring mechanical mishaps from Reddit, and sharing personal stories and insights from their extensive experience in the automotive industry.

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Celebrating 15 Years with The Smoking Tire

Timestamp [05:00] - 13:45

The episode kicks off with a heartfelt celebration of Zach Klapman's 15-year anniversary with The Smoking Tire. Matt reminisces about their early days, highlighting the sacrifices Zach made to support the growing podcast.

Matt Farah [05:08]: "That was 2010. Wow. That was a VF engineering car."

Zach reflects on their humble beginnings, working tirelessly for minimal pay, often sleeping on motel floors and waiting tables to fund their passion.

Zach Klapman [09:12]: "But you did sleep on some motel floors. You also rode for pretty long distances in the backseat of my short cab Raptor."

Their dedication paid off as The Smoking Tire evolved from a small project into a respected name in automotive media.

---

Kitten Adoption: A Heartwarming Update

Timestamp [02:14] - 04:00

Matt shares uplifting news about the adoption of three kittens they rescued. Michael Tio Van Runkle and his wife provided a loving home, allowing the kittens to stay together and acclimate quickly.

Matt Farah [03:08]: "They're so pretty and they're really, really, really sweet. Unbelievably good around humans for cats that were just found."

The story underscores the hosts' commitment to giving back to the community beyond their automotive endeavors.

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Reddit's "Can I Drive on This?" Segment

Timestamp [28:00] - 46:52

A significant portion of the episode is dedicated to discussing hilarious and alarming mechanical mishaps shared by listeners on Reddit. The popular segment "Can I Drive on This?" evaluates whether questionable vehicle conditions are safe for driving.

Example 1: Floating Brake Caliper

A listener posts an image of a brake caliper dislodged from the rotor, questioning its drivability.

Zach Klapman [28:52]: "And Matt's right. It looks like the pad has stuck to the rotor and the caliper has ejected over because this..."

The consensus among the hosts is clear: Do not drive in such a condition.

Matt Farah [29:18]: "No. It's not like an 80s tire. That looks interesting. It's just a fucking PSS."

Example 2: Broken Suspension Bushing

Another post shows a torn CV boot with extensive rust, debating the safety of driving the car.

Zach Klapman [39:03]: "It's gonna bounce around."

Matt Farah [39:09]: "I think that's fine, but it's only gonna get more expensive to fix the longer you drive it."

The hosts emphasize the importance of addressing such issues promptly to prevent further damage and ensure safety.

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Alpine A110 Review

Timestamp [48:53] - 66:43

The highlight of the episode is an in-depth review of the Alpine A110, a lightweight, mid-engine sports car admired for its agility, performance, and engineering excellence.

Performance and Design

Matt and Zach praise the Alpine A110 for its impressive power-to-weight ratio and responsive handling. Despite having 246 horsepower and weighing 2,450 pounds, the car feels significantly faster due to its wide torque band and dual-clutch gearbox.

Matt Farah [52:48]: "It has a very wide torque band and a really nice shifting dual clutch gearbox."

Zach adds that the car's lightweight construction enhances steering feel and reduces the need for oversized tires and brakes, contributing to a more balanced and enjoyable driving experience.

Zach Klapman [53:01]: "It's like compound interest but for lightweight stuff."

Interior and Practicality

While the Alpine excels in performance, the hosts note some compromises in practicality, such as limited storage space and the absence of cup holders. However, they appreciate the car's luxurious interior and comfortable seating.

Matt Farah [58:14]: "The interior is really good and it doesn't sound offensive on the outside."

Comparison to Other Models

The Alpine A110 is favorably compared to other sports cars like the BMW i3, Volvo XC70, and even high-end models like the Cayman and Boxster. Its versatility makes it suitable for both spirited driving and everyday use, though it may not be as storage-friendly as some competitors.

Zach Klapman [55:19]: "It's the most luxurious with the brown Sebelt leather seats."

Limitations and Market Availability

Despite its strengths, the Alpine A110 faces challenges in the U.S. market due to regulatory hurdles.

Matt Farah [63:14]: "David said if it wasn't for that pesky something something test, we would have been able to sell it in the US."

The hosts express a desire for broader availability, praising the car as a "fabulous automobile for a road car."

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Live Show Announcements and Community Engagement

Timestamp [66:43] - 87:07

Matt and Zach announce upcoming live shows in Texas on July 24th in Houston and July 25th in Dallas, featuring guest Christian James Hand. They encourage listeners to attend for an engaging automotive experience, including interactions with fellow car enthusiasts and exclusive content for Patreon members.

Matt Farah [68:53]: "Join us for a part of our show. But you get a double feature and Christian's gonna fucking bring out the big guns for our audience."

Additionally, the hosts acknowledge their loyal patrons, highlighting limited edition merchandise and upcoming products, fostering a strong sense of community and gratitude.

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Listener Questions and Automotive Advice

Timestamp [75:18] - 86:59

The episode addresses various listener questions, offering expert advice on automotive concerns:

• Building Confidence in Car Purchases: Matt and Zach suggest utilizing services like Turo to rent cars for extended periods or joining local car clubs to gain firsthand experience before making a purchase.

  Zach Klapman [80:38]: "If you can make friends with someone that has one and they at least let you take it for a short drive."

• Hybrid and Manual Transmission Dilemmas: Discussing the scarcity of hybrids with manual transmissions, the hosts explore the balance between performance and practicality.

  Matt Farah [82:35]: "They should, they absolutely should have made that car again."

• Protecting Vehicles from Environmental Factors: Tips on preventing UV damage and safeguarding cars from the elements are shared, emphasizing the use of protective products and car covers.

  Matt Farah [92:55]: "There are all kinds of product ammo. Makes a great package here at the shop."

---

Automotive Industry Insights

Timestamp [87:07] - 93:10

The hosts delve into broader automotive industry topics, including:

• CAFE Standards and Legislative Changes: Matt explains how recent budget bills have creatively undermined CAFE fuel economy standards by setting the multiplication factor for violations to zero, effectively nullifying fines.

  Matt Farah [76:07]: "They basically just set the multiplication factor to zero."

• Electric Vehicles (EVs) and Shipping Challenges: A humorous discussion on the difficulties of shipping EVs, suggesting innovative (albeit impractical) solutions like making planes electric-powered using the cars' battery packs.

  Matt Farah [25:56]: "We're going to ship all EVs by air."

These insights highlight the evolving landscape of automotive regulations and the challenges faced by the industry in adapting to new technologies.

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Conclusion

The episode of The Smoking Tire offers a rich blend of personal anecdotes, expert automotive reviews, community stories, and industry insights. Celebrating a significant milestone, Matt and Zach demonstrate their enduring passion for cars and commitment to their listeners, making this episode both informative and engaging for automotive enthusiasts.

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Notable Quotes:

• Matt Farah at [05:08]: "That was 2010. Wow. That was a VF engineering car."
• Zach Klapman at [09:12]: "But you did sleep on some motel floors. You also rode for pretty long distances in the backseat of my short cab Raptor."
• Matt Farah at [28:52]: "No. It's not like an 80s tire. That looks interesting. It's just a fucking PSS."
• Zach Klapman at [53:01]: "It's like compound interest but for lightweight stuff."
• Matt Farah at [52:48]: "It has a very wide torque band and a really nice shifting dual clutch gearbox."
• Matt Farah at [58:14]: "The interior is really good and it doesn't sound offensive on the outside."
• Matt Farah at [76:07]: "They basically just set the multiplication factor to zero."

---

This detailed summary encapsulates the essence of the podcast episode, providing listeners with a comprehensive overview of the discussions, insights, and memorable moments shared by Matt and Zach.

Transcript

[Matt Farah]

What's up, folks? Welcome to the Smoking Tire podcast. My name is Matt Farah and today me and Zach are talking about homes for kittens. No, really, we got homes for the kittens. Also, we're reviewing the Alpine A110. We are laughing at some hilarious mechanical mishaps on Reddit. We're talking about the dates, we're coming to Texas to do live shows, talking about the Trump's big beautiful bill neutering cafe standards, and we have some fabulous questions from our patron. Plus, it's Zach's 15 year anniversary with the Smoking Tire and we're remembering his sacrifices for the company. I. I can see, but I know what you mean. Definitely fun corners of Reddit for sure.

[Zach Klapman]

But you have to go find them because it just. All it wants to show me is the same clickbait shit.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah, it's not. I mean, welcome to the algorithmic.

[Zach Klapman]

Welcome to the Internet.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah. Hi, everybody. This is the show. Interesting day. There's an Aston Martin press launch happening outside at WCCS today, which is a nice thing. I can't take part in it, obviously, but I think Zach is gonna take part in it tomorrow and will give us a report on what CarPlay Ultra is like in the DBX707. And then what they said to me was, you know that roadster that you came to Palm Springs and drove? If you want to make a video about that, because you didn't. CarPlay Ultra will be in that in like three weeks.

[Zach Klapman]

Aren't you getting that car for the road and tracking thing?

[Matt Farah]

Yeah, but that's in September, so that.

[Zach Klapman]

Oh, right.

[Matt Farah]

And it's going to be up north and so I wasn't going to make a video, but, like, if we wanted to do something.

[Zach Klapman]

Oh, like we get a full week. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Cool. Okay.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah. I realized that I should have put a no strings in the contract for the facility rental. I realized I definitely should have put I would like a no strings DBX for a week. And they were like, yeah, I'd say that's a missed opportunity from you. Other people have asked for that. I was like, shit. But yeah, welcome. Am I talking at an iPad right now? Are we okay?

[Zach Klapman]

No, we're fine.

[Matt Farah]

Okay. There are things that happened this week and a couple of them are really good. For instance, Michael Tio Van Runkle adopted all three of the kittens that we found and sent me Instagram approved pictures, which is fantastic. I really, A lot of people inquired about the kittens, but I really wanted them to go to a home together if Possible when they're that young and that bonded. I think it's really to their benefit to stay together if possible. And, yeah, he and his wife. I don't know if they're married. I'm sorry. Ibi. Whatever they are, they live together. They're fabulous, and they're very excited. And the cats seem to have acclimated to their home real fast.

[Zach Klapman]

Nice.

[Matt Farah]

They're so pretty and they're really, really, really sweet. Unbelievably good around humans for cats that were just found. So that's awesome. Took one day. Couldn't believe it.

[Zach Klapman]

I see no wedding bands, so I think girlfriend.

[Matt Farah]

Thank you. Clapman.

[Zach Klapman]

Kittens are adorable. They. I mean, all small animals are. But, yeah, adult cats. Also adorable at times. Yes, they have. They have more attitude.

[Matt Farah]

Also stressful. Today I was driving from Beverly Hills to Gardena, and Monty chased a squirrel over my back wall that I was sure he couldn't do. And Hannah called me in a panic, and I couldn't help because I was so far away. There was just no way I could get there in time to be of any real service. And she was able to get him, but, man, was that. It was very stressful for her. It was very stressful for me to know about it and not be able to do anything.

[Zach Klapman]

Sure.

[Matt Farah]

But she did get him back. It took about 25 minutes.

[Zach Klapman]

I never thought. Because you explained, like, the cat jumped over onto a fence on the other side. It couldn't jump back.

[Matt Farah]

Correct.

[Zach Klapman]

Most of the time. I think a cat knows how to get home. It can find its way. Because your old cat Eddie would wander the neighborhood in return, but Monty got himself in a pickle.

[Matt Farah]

You know, the wall is much taller than. Sure that he couldn't find his way. There isn't. He would have a very hard time finding his way back. The wall is not equal.

[Zach Klapman]

Right.

[Matt Farah]

My neighbor's house behind me is significantly lower than mine. And so on a wall at my place, there's a flat level ground to a wall immediately on the other side of that wall is a very steep drop down.

[Zach Klapman]

Getting from San Diego into Mexico. Much faster than getting back.

[Matt Farah]

Yes. So we got him. But. Whoa. Oh, boy. But what's the date today? The 25th.

[Zach Klapman]

Yes.

[Matt Farah]

Okay. Do you know what June 20th, five days ago was?

[Zach Klapman]

No.

[Matt Farah]

It was, according to what is generally considered to be the first significant smoking tire video, your 15th anniversary with the company when you and Thaddeus met the first time and drove those BMWs to Vegas together.

[Zach Klapman]

Yeah.

[Matt Farah]

That was June 10, 2010.

[Zach Klapman]

That was 2010.

[Matt Farah]

Wow.

[Zach Klapman]

That was a VF engineering car.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah.

[Zach Klapman]

That was quite a trip. That was nuts.

[Matt Farah]

It aired July 1, 2010. Super chat. There were videos before that. Yeah, but the production of that video was your first involvement with the video team.

[Zach Klapman]

Really?

[Matt Farah]

Yeah.

[Zach Klapman]

Wow.

[Matt Farah]

15 years.

[Zach Klapman]

Wow.

[Matt Farah]

15 years five days ago.

[Zach Klapman]

Cool.

[Matt Farah]

Where does it go?

[Zach Klapman]

Where does the time go? Indeed.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah.

[Zach Klapman]

That was quite a start, too.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah.

[Zach Klapman]

Supercharged. Both of them are supercharged. Right. You had the E92 that had like this Air Force wide body with Air Force livery on it.

[Matt Farah]

It was.

[Zach Klapman]

Yeah, it was like, true Fight.

[Matt Farah]

Warbird. Shit. Warbird.

[Zach Klapman]

Shit. And then the silver E46 was like, very basic looking.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah. But I think it had a Dinan suspension. And then it had a snail supercharger on it also. And I was like, zach, this is Thaddeus. You guys follow me.

[Zach Klapman]

Yep.

[Matt Farah]

Me and Tom were in the black E92. And then we're going to Vegas in these cars. You've never met this person?

[Zach Klapman]

Yep, correct.

[Matt Farah]

And you're correct. Worked out.

[Zach Klapman]

Look, you open a door and Thaddeus, 6, 426-with- tattoos. He's like, you're riding with me.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah.

[Zach Klapman]

And I'm like, all right. And then when we get on the. What is it? The 135 going from.

[Matt Farah]

When you exit the freeway and head towards Spring Mountain, Baker, you stop and get best Gyro usa, because of course, as is tradition, and then you do.

[Zach Klapman]

120 miles an hour.

[Matt Farah]

You better have a full tank because you then are going across Death Valley very, very fast.

[Zach Klapman]

Very fast with someone you didn't really know.

[Matt Farah]

Which was one of the great drives, though. One of the great drives from Los Angeles is going. Once you exit that freeway and you get to cross Death Valley to get to Spring Mountain and there ain't fucking nobody out there. And you can stick that motherfucker at 140 and do these nice sweepers, and you're not like endangering anybody. You're just enjoying. Wide open. Merka. Don't wanna get rid of that.

[Zach Klapman]

I think I found the car.

[Matt Farah]

David Zipper won't like me saying that, but, you know, me and David Zipper get along on other things. Is that it?

[Zach Klapman]

Was that it? I think.

[Matt Farah]

Oh, that is it. Yeah, that is it. That was it. Yeah. Wow, look at that.

[Zach Klapman]

For people listening, this has, like. It has the star on the. That covers the whole door. Like, you know, an F15 would.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah. And it's got. It looks more like a nom chopper, actually. It's got that stenciled in, you know who's the pilot on the side.

[Zach Klapman]

Oh, yeah. Danger. Exhaust. Above the exhaust.

[Matt Farah]

It's so wide. It's cool. Yeah. Yeah.

[Zach Klapman]

Because then we got there and then we drove a supercharged 996 and an R8.

[Matt Farah]

Kind of neat.

[Zach Klapman]

That was the craziest shoot. I mean, as far as shoots go, it still holds up as a very good one.

[Matt Farah]

That does hold up as a. That kind of. If you provided free track time in all of those cars, that would still get me to your racetrack today. Yeah, that still would. Yeah.

[Zach Klapman]

Supercharged 911.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah.

[Zach Klapman]

It's a good car.

[Matt Farah]

And it's fucking straight downhill from there. It's never happened again.

[Zach Klapman]

Well, Pahrump's gotten better, the money's gotten.

[Matt Farah]

Better, so then worse and then better and then worse and then much better and then worse.

[Zach Klapman]

But back then was like, you know, sleeping in the motel floor.

[Matt Farah]

No. Yeah. No. I think. I don't know if people. I think we should probably take a minute to talk about Zach's early sacrifices for the company, which, like, when you're, you know, when you're 26 and, like, you know, you can be paid in alcohol, it doesn't take much for any of us to go to work, including myself.

[Zach Klapman]

But, like, I was 28, I guess.

[Matt Farah]

I think you were probably 27. 28.

[Zach Klapman]

Yeah.

[Matt Farah]

We're the same age. Yes. Yeah. There was some. You definitely slept on some motel floors.

[Zach Klapman]

Well, the joke. True. The true joke that Tom would say was, we'll work for sandwiches. Because for literal years, we. And was. We all knew what we were doing. And for. Like, this is. Essentially, we're all trying to get into entertainment media, and we know you have to do it for free. And all of us were fine with that.

[Matt Farah]

Everybody.

[Zach Klapman]

Everybody was fine. Yeah, all of us.

[Matt Farah]

Like, I took side gigs and put the money into the smoking tire, too. Like, everyone kind of did.

[Zach Klapman]

Yep.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah. But you did sleep on some motel floors. You also rode for pretty long distances in the backseat of my short cab Raptor.

[Zach Klapman]

I did, yeah. And that was back when you chain smoked?

[Matt Farah]

Oh, yeah.

[Zach Klapman]

I would go home to my parents.

[Matt Farah]

We were four up.

[Zach Klapman]

Four up.

[Matt Farah]

Me and Thad were in the front, and you and Tom were in the back.

[Zach Klapman]

Yeah. And Tom would edit, and I'd go home to Santa Cruz and my mom would go, do you smoke cigarettes? I say, no, but Matt doesn't. And she didn't believe me. She was like, I think you smoke. I'm like, I'm telling you, Mom, I'm getting.

[Matt Farah]

Oh, I wish I could have called her mom and Been like. No, that was me.

[Zach Klapman]

You know how long that phone call would go, man.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah, that's something you don't like to learn about yourself later. But it was, you know, second year.

[Zach Klapman]

You knew, you knew that you smoked. You were there.

[Matt Farah]

I did. And still to this day, there's nothing I like better in life than a road trip in cigarettes. I haven't done a cigarette since 2016.

[Zach Klapman]

I was thinking of this the other day. Do you think that your in car coffee consumption has followed the similar pattern and ritual of getting in car with cigarette or getting out of car? Cause you know how there's those triggers.

[Matt Farah]

Oh yeah.

[Zach Klapman]

So when you go to your car, are you like, I have to fill up my pink cup?

[Matt Farah]

No, no, no, it's not like that. In reference to. And I got a couple nice emails about my panic attack that I talked about on. No, it's just when you're doing like when you're starting at 7am and you're doing nine hours and you're by yourself and you're just listening to podcasts and sipping, you know, it's just a nice thing and it's easy to get, you know, to not keep track of actually how many ounces of coffee. I couldn't tell you how many ounces my pink cup is. It's probably bigger than 16. Probably 16 to 20.

[Zach Klapman]

Yeah.

[Matt Farah]

So you fill that thing up twice and have two cups before that.

[Zach Klapman]

Whoa, if it's 16, that's two full cups of coffee.

[Matt Farah]

So. So we're talking four cups at a minimum, six cups at a minimum. But possibly more.

[Zach Klapman]

Yeah, yeah, that's a problem.

[Matt Farah]

I've had no caffeine since Sunday.

[Zach Klapman]

Oh.

[Matt Farah]

And here's what I can tell you. I don't need caffeine at all.

[Zach Klapman]

Oh, nice.

[Matt Farah]

At all. For anything. There's no reason for me to ever have caffeine.

[Zach Klapman]

Then you could just skip it.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah, yeah. That's a lesson to learn. Anyway, that's. We went away from you and to me, I'm sorry. So early sacrifices include.

[Zach Klapman]

Sure.

[Matt Farah]

Secondhand smoke.

[Zach Klapman]

Secondhand smoke. Working for no money. It was like being a coal miner, but like a 10 year old coal miner, you know, they'll pay me a penny a day.

[Matt Farah]

Sure.

[Zach Klapman]

But whatever. And I think I was still waiting tables until. Until we got the car show. I was waiting tables like during the.

[Matt Farah]

Week that was 2011. So it was like a year or so of that.

[Zach Klapman]

Yeah, yeah. Writing for the, the website, you know.

[Matt Farah]

Oh, before that. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, sure. Yeah, that's true. We could have Celebrated this a year ago, but I didn't. The. Our articles weren't archived.

[Zach Klapman]

But that video though, that's a better celebration because. Supercharged track day.

[Matt Farah]

So. Yeah. And then. And you did. Yeah. You didn't have to sleep in the kitchen of the house like Thad did. You did. You were above that.

[Zach Klapman]

I did because I, I had. I. By then I got other writing side gigs and I started working for jf. Yeah, I had a bunch of stuff going on.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah.

[Zach Klapman]

And Thad was like just doing JF stuff, so he had to sleep in the kitchen.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah, but you did. I think you probably did more work for free than anybody. Like before money came in, you probably did more work for free than anybody.

[Zach Klapman]

Maybe I don't used to pay me cash to write for the site.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah, but, but then I. Sure, I think we pay. I think I paid you like something for doing something at some point. I think we paid you what we could, which was not everyone always got.

[Zach Klapman]

Paid what was possible. I mean, you and Tom, you know, covered more of the stuff because like Tom was editing, so he got paid first and then it depended on it.

[Matt Farah]

You understand why that was.

[Zach Klapman]

And I understand why you paid yourself when you edited all the one take videos. Yeah, it's. It's a grind. Yeah, totally. But we, but it was all in an effort to get somewhere and we got that place. Yeah, like the snowball just keeps going as long as you keep pushing it.

[Matt Farah]

It's just funny. But the goal post did change. I mean, the beginning it was we wanted to get a TV show and then we got a TV show. We're like actually, actually TVs for suckers.

[Zach Klapman]

Yeah. So unless it's your third show and your agent negotiates it. Well, and even then it's complicated, but at least you'll get paid.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah, but you know, usually unless you're. Unless you're like a genius, unless you're Guy Fieri or Anthony Bourdain or Clarkson and Willman, you're not able to negotiate that kind of TV deal in America. In the 2010s and up, I think.

[Zach Klapman]

2020S, it's really hard now.

[Matt Farah]

2020'S for sure.

[Zach Klapman]

In the 2010s, there were definitely some shrewd EPs that were getting paid way too much.

[Matt Farah]

Oh, EPs. Yeah, but like not the people on camera.

[Zach Klapman]

No, no, like, like you said, you have to be experienced enough to realize you've gotten fucked twice. And then you go, if you want me on the show. And now I have a big enough name to do it here's. What I want.

[Matt Farah]

That is what I started saying to people. Never on tv. Seriously. Literally, people were like, you should stand up for yourself. And I did, and I was out.

[Zach Klapman]

Yeah.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah.

[Zach Klapman]

Do you feel better having stood up for yourself?

[Matt Farah]

100%.

[Zach Klapman]

Right. There you go.

[Matt Farah]

100%. I decided, would I rather be rich or famous? And I decided if I was going to be famous, it was only as a means to being rich.

[Zach Klapman]

Right.

[Matt Farah]

And, like, if I can fucking park cars and be a little famous from this fucking thing, well, that's just better.

[Zach Klapman]

Yeah. Under your control, too, versus under.

[Matt Farah]

We can go. We can go to a place and be minor celebrities and then leave that place and be nobodies again. And that's a great place to be in your life.

[Zach Klapman]

Yeah.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah. You don't want to be stopped in the street by everybody. You want to be stopped once a day. That's a. That's ideal.

[Zach Klapman]

Yeah, I agree.

[Matt Farah]

But, man, I wonder where that car is. If it still exists, that. That supercharged M3. If that car still exists. I never. You know how many times people request us to drive the same car again later? That car is the only car. I would do it.

[Zach Klapman]

Oh, that'd be cool. We should hit up Nick.

[Matt Farah]

He might know where it is.

[Zach Klapman]

Yeah.

[Matt Farah]

He doesn't still own it, certainly, but he might know where it is. I don't know that. That wide body VF Engineering, M3, it's.

[Zach Klapman]

Got nine owners now.

[Matt Farah]

Florida title.

[Zach Klapman]

But Montana tags. What? Yeah.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah. And so that's why I had Morgan bring you these quadratinis for the.

[Zach Klapman]

These are. I don't know what these are made of, but they're great.

[Matt Farah]

So in honor of Zach, he gets to control. He gets to produce for the next bit. You had some things that you found that you thought were fun to talk about.

[Zach Klapman]

I thought about a little bit for us.

[Matt Farah]

All my things on my list are.

[Zach Klapman]

Like, depressing, but I have good things.

[Matt Farah]

You should do the good things. And then we can talk about the Alpine A110, because the video is going up tomorrow, and by the time the show goes up, everyone will have seen the video.

[Zach Klapman]

Got it. Okay. We could do that. Someone is trying to sell their old Carrera GT tires.

[Matt Farah]

Guys, we gotta take a quick break because support today is incoming hot from Deleteme. Deleteme makes it easy, quick, and safe to take your personal data off the Internet. At a time when surveillance and data breaches are common enough to make everyone vulnerable. DeleteMe does all the hard work of wiping you and your family's personal Information from data broker websites because they know that your privacy is worth protecting. So you can just sign up and provide Deleteme with exactly the information that you want deleted. And they're experts taken from there. That's exactly what I did. I got the membership to delete me. They sent me sort of a questionnaire where I put in previous information about where I used to live, old phone numbers and email addresses, plus like my parents names, my sisters, et cetera. And it does take a few minutes but like these are the things that you want protecting and so you want to be thorough and then you submit it and then a couple days later they send you this huge report of all this stuff that they found. And then they send you regular personalized reports, ongoing, once a month or so, showing you what they found, where they found it and what they have removed. So it's not just a one time service. Deleteme is always working for you, constantly monitoring and removing the personal information that you don't want on the Internet. And I have to say, since I started with Deleteme, compared to my wife who has not used Delete Me, she gets way more like spam calls, texts, emails than I'm getting. Like, I still do get some because Deleteme is always looking for new stuff. It's always popping up, but I get way, way less than my wife does who didn't use Delete Me. So take control of your data and keep your private life private by signing up for Delete me now at a special discount for our listeners. Get 20% off your delete me plan when you go to JoinDeleteMe.com Tire and use promo code Tire at checkout. The only way to get 20% off is to go to JoinDeleteMe.com tire and enter code Tire at checkout. That's JoinDeleteMe.com Tire CodeTire and also Fitbod. Coming in hot. Listen, I work out every single day and here's what happens. You plateau, right? You get bored with your current workout. Maybe you're new, you don't really know what to do, or you've been working out on the same plan. You just can't get any further. That's where fitbod comes in. They set you up with a custom workout plan tailored to your fitness goals. When you use the app right, you, you input. You know where you want to be, right? And then whether and how you want to be in the future, right? Like here's where I am now and I want to, I want better biceps. I want Better legs. I want tighter abs. And then fitbod customizes a workout for that, right? It's very, very easy. It's straightforward. And actually you do sort of feel the pressure of having a real trainer there, right? I've only been using it very, very shortly, so I can't say that I've improved. Right? It's been, it's. They're new. We just started with fitbod this week, but I'm gonna get on it every day and we're gonna see over time how well it works out. Maybe I can fire my trainer, you know what I'm saying? Save myself a little scratch, you know, a lot of coffees to drink around here. But if you are struggling with what to do, how do I come up with a workout to get these goals? Fitbod is for you. They create a personal workout routine based on your goals, fitness level and the available equipment and workouts that adapt to your growth. So each workout is challenging enough to push you to make progress. Fitbot also tracks your muscle recovery to help you avoid burnout and keep up your momentum. All their workouts are fine tuned by experienced, certified personal trainers to bring best practices and exercise science to you. And you can level up your workouts with customized fitness plans that work for you with over 1000 demonstration videos. So get in shape this summer with Fitness Fitbod. Join Fitbod today to get your personalized workout plan. Get 25% off your subscription or try the app free for seven days at Fitbod. Me Tire. That's F I T B o D metire and now back to the show.

[Zach Klapman]

Now I want you to look at this. They're old, I think. Well, they're Michelin Pilot Super Sports.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah, that's old.

[Zach Klapman]

That's old, right?

[Matt Farah]

So with 2k gentle road miles for $2,500.

[Zach Klapman]

Now, is this someone who's saying, hey, if you have a museum quality Carrera gt, should you buy these to put it on there? Or do they just not know what.

[Matt Farah]

Tires are worth is my guess. My guess is there's someone out there who has a collector grade one that wants to put it on the original tires. And he might, he's fishing. He may not get it right. But like I kind of, I look.

[Zach Klapman]

Is there any reason to do that?

[Matt Farah]

No.

[Zach Klapman]

When the tire. No, it's not like an 80s tire. That looks interesting. It's just a fucking PSS.

[Matt Farah]

In there are like. There's probably a hundred cars, a hundred literal individual cars on the planet where their individual tires matter and none of them are mass produced cars. Like if there's a car where Ayrton Senna won his last race and it's on as.

[Zach Klapman]

Absolutely.

[Matt Farah]

That's what I'm talking about.

[Zach Klapman]

Yeah.

[Matt Farah]

If it's a production sports car, nobody gives a shit.

[Zach Klapman]

No one cares.

[Matt Farah]

Nobody.

[Zach Klapman]

Because everyone's looking at the car. Especially when it's a cgt, like stunning car. No one's going, it's all right. But these tires are gorgeous.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah. I mean, maybe, maybe someone buys them for a few hundred bucks, they get bagged up, shoved in the back of the warehouse. And when they go to sell their own Carrera gt, they go. By the way, it comes with original tires.

[Zach Klapman]

Sure.

[Matt Farah]

What else are they good for?

[Zach Klapman]

Yeah, but I don't. But $2,500 seems way too high for tires you should not drive on.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah. I don't even know if you'd find many shops that are. That are able to mount those without damaging them with 20 year old tires. They probably rip them apart, fall apart.

[Zach Klapman]

Like one of these crackers.

[Matt Farah]

I don't know, you know what it's like. I respect the ask, I guess, you know, he might actually get some money for them. But if I had a Carrera GT or. I mean, look, I have an old expensive car. I don't give a fuck about original tires. I don't want them. Get them out of here. I want the tires that are on the car to be good. And beyond that, tires are a waste of space.

[Zach Klapman]

So one of our very frequent listeners, Dan McKenna, says he knows this person because they're in Colorado and this person does not. They don't need the $2,500. They probably don't know what these should be worth. And they're just like, I just trying to get rid of these tires.

[Matt Farah]

I like that. You know, it's like Joe Rogan saying, Elon Musk won't fuck us because he's already so rich he doesn't need the money. It's like that. Like people that are that rich, trust me, I know. Are always trying to find a way to get $12 out of somebody like me.

[Zach Klapman]

That's a good point.

[Matt Farah]

Because they do it every month and for amounts that are literally $12.

[Zach Klapman]

Are you saying rich people want more money or power mats more than they.

[Matt Farah]

Have everything? Why would they want more?

[Zach Klapman]

Yeah, it's crazy. You can't fill a cup up more than that. And then we have this little story that popped up.

[Matt Farah]

Oh, no.

[Zach Klapman]

Cargo ship carrying more than 3,000 cars is now abandoned off coast of Alaska. It is on fire.

[Matt Farah]

Is this the one that was on fire weeks ago?

[Zach Klapman]

This is 10 days old. I just heard about it and we had to talk to it. Yeah.

[Matt Farah]

All right, got it. Yes. So I do.

[Zach Klapman]

It caught fire June 3rd.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah.

[Zach Klapman]

And this story in June 12th, it's like it's still on fire, but it hasn't sunk yet. That's.

[Matt Farah]

I think it took the Felicity Ace like a week or so to sink maybe. Wow. I think. But yeah, I mean, if it's, if it's like a smolder, you know, that hasn't gotten like. Maybe they're spreading out the EVs now in a way that they don't put them next to each other. So the gas powered cars break it up a little.

[Zach Klapman]

Let's see. The ship with your car sank. It said it took two weeks and then.

[Matt Farah]

Oh, it was two weeks for the Felicity Ace to sink.

[Zach Klapman]

This one, it says EVs were on board, but they're not sure where the fire started.

[Matt Farah]

I mean, is that smoke white or dark?

[Zach Klapman]

Like a light gray?

[Matt Farah]

I don't know.

[Zach Klapman]

This is very. I mean, look, this is very white.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah, it's pretty white.

[Zach Klapman]

So I don't know. But that's, that's a thing that's happening. All right, so this, this bit. So here's my solution.

[Matt Farah]

We're going to ship all EVs by air. I just drove by Mojave. Lot of 747s sitting out there. We're going to recommission them all. Every ev, it's coming in air.

[Zach Klapman]

Here's what you do. You make the plane electric powered. You plug the plane into the cars, you fly it. And because the battery, you have the battery pack.

[Matt Farah]

Whoa.

[Zach Klapman]

This actually isn't a bad idea. And then land. And then you offload the cars.

[Matt Farah]

You use the cars on board as a reverse polarity battery pack to fly.

[Zach Klapman]

The e electric plane like the Ford Lightning.

[Matt Farah]

We got to call somebody.

[Zach Klapman]

We should. Patent pending.

[Matt Farah]

Ev, do we call the evtol people who we call.

[Zach Klapman]

Who's the smartest electric.

[Matt Farah]

I got to call the integrity folks. They'll know.

[Zach Klapman]

They.

[Matt Farah]

They'll know. They'll know why this and this podcast is a record. This is as good as mailing yourself. This is live streamed. As good as mailing yourself a stamped envelope.

[Zach Klapman]

Yeah.

[Matt Farah]

With the idea in it.

[Zach Klapman]

This is like if you ship lawnmowers, you just take the gas out of.

[Matt Farah]

The lawnmower mower and drive around.

[Zach Klapman]

Then you get it there and you're like, here's your lawnmower.

[Matt Farah]

Call engineers. We also call. Are you garbage?

[Zach Klapman]

Yeah, that's a good point. Yeah. If you've ever ran a hose from your lawnmower in your truck bed into the actual gas cap, and someone surely has.

[Matt Farah]

Oh, yeah. Now, remember we used to roll around in Gotham with the gas pump in the back of the 3500.

[Zach Klapman]

Yeah. What do we. Just in case for the sprint, for the. The auto crosses. It was shady. Yeah. The whole operation. I don't want to talk about it on the record.

[Matt Farah]

It was the action park of car experiences.

[Zach Klapman]

Yeah. You just go past the. The waystation. Just go right past it.

[Matt Farah]

That's. That's funny.

[Zach Klapman]

All right, so I follow a Reddit sub called mechanics Advice. And there are two main types of content on mechanics advice that I love, that I told Matt about. One is people put up estimates for their cars for work being done, and they're saying, is this fair? Yeah, great resource.

[Matt Farah]

That sounds like advice that you would want to get from a mechanic.

[Zach Klapman]

And it's a great resource for anyone who's listening. The mechanics respond quickly. They're fair. They go, well, where do you live? Yes, that's good. No, you're getting ripped off. Get a second opinion. My other favorite content is called can I drive like this? And these are really the two main things. So what I've got is a little buffet for Matt. I just want to show them, can.

[Matt Farah]

I drive like this?

[Zach Klapman]

What gets posted with can I drive like? And so we even play a game. You could say, here's what's going on. Do you think people said, you can drive like this or you can just look at it and enjoy? So the first one's mild.

[Matt Farah]

Can you command plus a couple times and make this bigger so everyone can enjoy it? There we go.

[Zach Klapman]

So we got a bolt that fell.

[Matt Farah]

Off a brake caliper that seems like the part of the caliper has exited another part of the caliper. Yeah, that's called a floating caliper.

[Zach Klapman]

And I love. So many of them are like, I heard a noise. Because of course we do. Floating caliper is a good joke. I didn't mean to ignore that. It is good.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah. Heard a noise and kept going.

[Zach Klapman]

So this person, like, can I drive like this to a shop 10 miles away? Our speed limits are 45 miles per hour. Top response. No way. You're gonna fuck something up. Get a tow. 956 upvotes.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah. Love it.

[Zach Klapman]

Right.

[Matt Farah]

That's a tow truck. Oh, wait. There's a second picture, though. Is this in the slideshow?

[Zach Klapman]

Is it.

[Matt Farah]

Is there a better image that may be better described? Yeah. Oh, that's. The entire caliper has come off. It looks like on this.

[Zach Klapman]

Here's where the brake pad was. And it is for people who are listening. There's all the rotor is showing. The caliper is basically banging. It's gonna hang in against the wheel.

[Matt Farah]

No, hang on. Is that rotor showing or is the brake pad stuck to the rot and the caliper has come off the pad.

[Zach Klapman]

This, to me, looks like polished rotor. I don't know.

[Matt Farah]

Texture change there. It looks like. Yeah, I don't know. Zach has gotten up to get a close. He's literally walked up to the TV like your uncle. I think the. No, I think what's happened there is that the pad has stuck to the rotor and the caliper has ejected over because this.

[Zach Klapman]

The caliper is hanging against the wheel. And then the pad is gonna go. Can't get a. Can't get a. Can't get a. Can't get a. As it spins around.

[Matt Farah]

Oh, no. Here's the bit. The bit is we have to come up with the noise that we think they heard based on the photo. That's the actual bit. Okay. This I hear, I think was Ka Chank.

[Zach Klapman]

Yeah, I think that's pretty good. I think with the wheel. Let's see the wheel spinning counterclockwise probably.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah, I think. I think it's like. I think it's like grinding into the inside of the wheel.

[Zach Klapman]

Yeah. Or the wheel is kicking the caliper against the rotor. Then it falls back. So it's like, oh, yeah. And then they stopped. Matt's right. Okay, next one, folks.

[Matt Farah]

We gotta take one more quick break from the show for hellofresh. Listen, I love hellofresh. And it's the summertime now. It's hot out, it's barbecue season, it's beach season, it's workout season, cycling season, surfing. Whatever is from home improvements to self care to having fun in the sun, whatever it is. But you don't want to waste the time this summer spending time in the kitchen, or worse, the supermarket. You can make your summer both enjoyable and delicious by getting the number one meal kit as voted by USA Today's readers. It's hellofresh. They make it so easy. Hellofresh makes it easy to fit quick home cooked meals into your schedule every week by curating delicious recipes right to your door. Like panko crusted chimichurri barramundi or sun dried tomato grilled cheese. Sando's as well as over 100 seasonal snack sides and treats. And man, I loved HelloFresh. Here's what I really liked about HelloFresh. They sent me recipes that I could choose from their website that looked great but that I might not find on my own or that might be too annoying to make on my own. But because HelloFresh sends you the exact right amount of ingredients, you don't need to buy like a big jar of something and then use a third of it. You don't need buy an expensive spice and then use it once because they send you exactly the right amount of ingredients to make this meal. There's less waste and there's less stuff rotting in your fridge or your cupboard. It's great. You can choose from 60 recipes every week including prep and bake and ready made meals. Plus those snacks and shakes and everything. It's delivered right to your door. It's so good. Make your summer enjoyable and delicious by signing up for [e-mail] Are you readyfor for this Smokin Tire 10 FM that stands for 10 free meals with a free item for life. Hellofresh.com Smokingtire 10 FM for 10 free meals and a free item in every box. Hellofresh.com smokingtire 10 FM one per box with an active subscription, free meals or applied as a discount on the first box. New subscribers only. Varies by plan and finally we are brought to you today by Smalls. Listen, in this program I'm talking about three kittens that I found in a tree and you all know me. We love our cats. My cat, my four cats are the best and they don't ask for too much. But they are picky on what they eat. Like my little cat Monty. I have a little spreadsheet of what he will and won't eat. Right? My cat Finn sometimes has some digestive issues. He throws up a lot. Mainly I think it's because he eats bamboo, which is not great for them. But Smalls is here and Smalls is the best. I've been feeding my cats Smalls for the last couple months and they love it. Even Monty, who's picky as long as he gets chicken. He doesn't like tuna or salmon, he likes chicken and turkey. Smalls cat food is protein packed, made with preservative free ingredients you'd find in your fridge delivered right to your door. That's why cats.com named Smalls their best overall cat food. So get 60% off your first order plus free [e-mail] with promo code tire for a limited time only. Smalls is so good for your cats. My cats really, really prefer it. I used to give them a very well known healthy brand and they got pretty bored of it, honestly. And when I stood a side by side, the cats did go to small. I mean, look, they know how much I need. I have a regular order with them. It comes right to my door. I don't have to go to the store. And my cats are happy. Their coat looks good. They're not shedding so much. I really, I really, really like it. After switching to smalls, 88% of cat owners reported overall health improvements. That's a big deal. And the team at Smalls is so confident that your cat will love their product that you can try it risk free. That means they will refund you if your cat won't eat their food for a limited time only. Because you're a smok tire listener, you can get 60% off your first order of smalls plus free shipping by using my code tire. That's 60% off when you head over to smalls.com and use promo code tire again. Promo code tire for 60% off your first order plus free [e-mail] and now back to the show.

[Zach Klapman]

This is a good little mystery one.

[Matt Farah]

Can I drive like this? I noticed this the other day. I know it's keep going down. I know it's a pretty urgent fix to protect the suspension, but what is the risk if I drive it to work until payday? 1 hour commute on curvy roads.

[Zach Klapman]

What we're looking at is the bushing where a control arm connects to, I guess, the subframe.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah, you're looking at where a bushing once was.

[Zach Klapman]

I think little bit of too much space where the bushing should be. What do you think?

[Matt Farah]

I think the bushing looks a lot like a chanterelle mushroom, not like a fucking suspension bushing. Yeah, it looks like something I'd find at the farmer's market and put in a pasta with garlic.

[Zach Klapman]

Yeah, it's like the inner cloves of garlic, you know, it's no longer a bulb, it's more vertical.

[Matt Farah]

A solo garlic clove and put it in a broiler for a couple of minutes. That's what you've got here, right?

[Zach Klapman]

So, yeah. And of course, the control arm is very round like the mounting point. So I don't think you have enough bushing there. Now. Do you think they said you can drive or you can't drive?

[Matt Farah]

I think that they said that you can drive, but it will be terrible.

[Zach Klapman]

I think you're right, if I recall. I mean, that's just a joke.

[Matt Farah]

Completely drivable. This is the. Is this the most. Are we sorted by most? By best comment?

[Zach Klapman]

I think it just. I think, yeah, it's auto sorted, I think.

[Matt Farah]

Is it?

[Zach Klapman]

So 51 upvotes. Completely drivable.

[Matt Farah]

Drivable. You will hear a clunk when accelerating and braking. You should absolutely repair it. Yes, but you can. But you can drive on it. Yeah, I think you can drive on it. It would just be awful.

[Zach Klapman]

It'll just clunk around a bit.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah.

[Zach Klapman]

Like you've made it this far.

[Matt Farah]

So do you remember Zach? Let's go back to 09010 for a minute.

[Zach Klapman]

Sure.

[Matt Farah]

When I moved to Los Angeles, I shipped my Corvette, my C5, and I drove across the country in my girlfriend Tracy's Volvo XC70 cross country. Do you remember that car?

[Zach Klapman]

Yeah.

[Matt Farah]

It was the first gen cross country. It was actually an amazing car. It had, to this day, some of the best seats I've ever sat in. And even when we left New York, this motherfucker had no bushings in it. None. And we drove all the way across the country and everybody. And it was just. And we finally got here and. Remember that place in Hermosa beach, the Swedish Pro Tech?

[Zach Klapman]

No, it was a good one.

[Matt Farah]

If you're Swedish and a mechanic, you, I guess, are contractually obliged to only work on all Swedish cars. And so it's a good Volvo shop. We took it there and they gave us a bill for suspension. It was like $7,500. The car was worth, like three grand. So I was like, trace, you're gonna drive this until you can't take it anymore. And then to the scrapper.

[Zach Klapman]

Yeah. Until you get a concussion from ga gunk. Ga gunk. Ga gunk.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah.

[Zach Klapman]

Y. Suspension labor is. Or suspension repairs. It's just a lot of labor, especially if you get a torch. All right.

[Matt Farah]

Oh, what part is this? Is it safe to drive? It is a very torn CV boot or axle boot.

[Zach Klapman]

A lot of rust around it also. I mean, you know, it's rust belt, folks.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah. Car looks generally shitty, but there's a hole about the size of a golf ball in the boot.

[Zach Klapman]

Yeah.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah. Is it safe to drive? I mean, I would say it's safe to drive, like, to the shop, but it's only gonna get more expensive to fix the longer you drive it.

[Zach Klapman]

I agree. I think it's fine, but it will. Obviously there's a boot on there for a Reason. And if you leave it off, it will cause a problem. What do people say? Safe to drive.

[Matt Farah]

Should be changed soon. Okay, well, I'm glad that idiot me is at least agreeing with the top of the thing. I don't think that will really make a noise. Except, I don't know, maybe if you're steering just a little like a. Some grindy. Sort of like there's sand in there if the grease is gone or something. Yeah.

[Zach Klapman]

So. All right, now the last two are my favorites because one is called neighborhood. Found this.

[Matt Farah]

What is that?

[Zach Klapman]

Her neighbor found this in my driveway.

[Matt Farah]

Oh, my. Okay, so this. This person left their home.

[Zach Klapman]

Right.

[Matt Farah]

Went three hours away, and a bit of.

[Zach Klapman]

They got a text from their neighbor that's like, hey, found this coiled thing sitting in your driveway. Can I drive the car? Assuming it's rear springs, not sure.

[Matt Farah]

Wow. And it looks like one coil from a coil spring.

[Zach Klapman]

Yeah.

[Matt Farah]

I have a question.

[Zach Klapman]

Sure.

[Matt Farah]

How would just that part of your coil spring come off your car?

[Zach Klapman]

I don't know. I've read further down this and there's other theories. It happens to people.

[Matt Farah]

It does.

[Zach Klapman]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Matt Farah]

Shit. I would probably not. Three hours from home. I'd feel it out. I would feel it out. I would drive the car incredibly gently and I would take exceptional care. And if it felt weird for like a second, I would stop. But I would probably try to baby it home and get it fixed when I got home. Home.

[Zach Klapman]

Okay, let's See.

[Matt Farah]

Top Comment 600. Make sure nothing's rubbing on the inside wall of your tire first. That's very good advice. I recently had something similar, and it carved a large groove into the sidewall of my brand new tire. That's. That is very good advice, actually. That spring may have caught your shit up.

[Zach Klapman]

This is so funny.

[Matt Farah]

No worries in the winter. Cars in the wild shed unnecessary parts. That's funny.

[Zach Klapman]

All right, so here's the first. I love this. You're at three hours already and didn't notice. You're likely finding three hours back.

[Matt Farah]

67 up, I think on the last show. On the last show, were we talking about Affliction shirts before or after we went live?

[Zach Klapman]

It was off air.

[Matt Farah]

It was off air. Okay. But yes, it was the girl that bought me the Affliction shirt. Her car. She had a first year Kia Rio and it was six years old or seven years old by the time that I dated her. And you've never seen anything fall apart like this. Now, granted, she was not capable of taking care of a car and she lived in the Bronx and street parked it. But like. Like things were just like falling off it, like all the time. And she would drive it like it was a regular ass car. And I got in it once and I was like, whoa. Like, you need to be fucking careful. Cause like, this is gonn. This is gonna happen. She's like, what? And I was like, this car falling apart. And she was like. She just. I think it was like her obliviousness to it that somehow kept it together.

[Zach Klapman]

The belief that's like. That's very. What am I thinking of? Like wizard of Oz or something like that. It's like she wished it into existence.

[Matt Farah]

I wish stanza. Like if you believe it.

[Zach Klapman]

Right.

[Matt Farah]

And I got in this car and it was burning oil through the shifter. Bo.

[Zach Klapman]

Jesus.

[Matt Farah]

She's like, no, it always does.

[Zach Klapman]

Imagine the smell behind her. Yeah. The oil dripping on the exhaust coming up through the shift boot.

[Matt Farah]

And she would have to add a half a quart of trans fluid every two days. Trans what?

[Zach Klapman]

Every two days.

[Matt Farah]

I was like, have you done the math on what you're doing? So crazy. All of it was crazy.

[Zach Klapman]

That's more often than gas.

[Matt Farah]

She married a guy who looks exactly like me with one key dip difference. He's a fucking cop.

[Zach Klapman]

Makes sense. Let's see. Oh, yeah, I forgot. Someone said my dad's old Toyota had a broken spring and we didn't know for three years.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah.

[Zach Klapman]

I guess it just happens.

[Matt Farah]

That's crazy. I've never heard of that just happening, but yeah, I mean. Yeah, drive it home. But get that looked at.

[Zach Klapman]

Oh, wait, no, that's the last one. All right. This is one of my favorite buzzer. One of my favorites.

[Matt Farah]

Oh. Oh, wow.

[Zach Klapman]

It looks.

[Matt Farah]

Holy shit.

[Zach Klapman]

Look how much metal is hanging down from this vehicle.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah. Is that like. It's like subframe. It's like.

[Zach Klapman]

Is that a. I think it's. No, I think it's the knuckle.

[Matt Farah]

The knuckle.

[Zach Klapman]

I think it's the knuckle tire.

[Matt Farah]

Knuckle.

[Zach Klapman]

We actually had a similar problem in autocars too. I think the whole knuckle came out from the. From the wheel.

[Matt Farah]

Oh, my God.

[Zach Klapman]

And it's. And I think. Right, like. Because that's the. That's the front. Well, that's the shock mount going to the knuckle.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah. And the shock is just fully extended because there's nothing holding it in.

[Zach Klapman]

And they said they just went to the shop and they had new shocks put on new pads, and then they drove. I've been hearing an odd rattle ever since.

[Matt Farah]

Well, yeah, no, no, but don't the rattle. Isn't this. The next sentence is I drove over a bump and heard something break loose. So I'm guessing whatever bolt holds that knuckle in was not tightened correctly and.

[Zach Klapman]

It was rattling back itself out.

[Matt Farah]

The washer was rattling and then it went ka ching.

[Zach Klapman]

Is this car safe to drive?

[Matt Farah]

The shop is half a mile away. Is the car safe? Yes. Half a mile. You wouldn't drive that for half mile. I would unbolt the knuckle from the shock if I could. Right.

[Zach Klapman]

Here's why I wouldn't do that. Because if I'm gonna go back to the shop and say, hey, this shit wasn't tightened and I also wouldn't drive it the half mile. Cause they might say, well, it might have happened, you drove it or something. That's why I would do it for legal reasons.

[Matt Farah]

That's true. And if you have like triple and a half mile tow is going to be short.

[Zach Klapman]

Yeah. It'll take longer to hook it up.

[Matt Farah]

The driver would be like annoyed probably.

[Zach Klapman]

I think they still get paid. So. I mean, you're right, it is such short distance.

[Matt Farah]

But that is short enough where the driver would be like, why didn't you drive this? I would. And actually the first. If you're half a mile from the shop, this mechanic. I'd fuck it. That's it.

[Zach Klapman]

I'd walk over that there, come over here.

[Matt Farah]

That's a move.

[Zach Klapman]

Yeah, that's the move.

[Matt Farah]

On foot.

[Zach Klapman]

Yes.

[Matt Farah]

He's. This the first thing says call the shop and have them handle it. But if you show up on foot and go, my is a half a mile from here. You go get it. Cuz your thing fell apart. Yeah, that's the move.

[Zach Klapman]

And they also, with 2,000 upvotes, said I would not drive it because your shock is at risk of damaging the tire. Good point.

[Matt Farah]

I mean, right, like, yes, no, that's true.

[Zach Klapman]

It's gonna bounce around.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah, yeah, no, that is a. That is a good piece of advice. But like, without thinking it necessarily through in terms of like evidence gathering against the shop, I'm thinking like, I would in a just get it there mindset, a half a mile at like 10 miles an hour. I would, I would do it with that and risk the tires. True, you'd probably. And even if you got a flat tire, I'd fucking. Just fucking yolo it the rest of the way.

[Zach Klapman]

All right. And then we can skip these if we're done with this.

[Matt Farah]

But the last one, funny bit.

[Zach Klapman]

So this is someone.

[Matt Farah]

Okay, this is a dash. Or dash. Wait can we guess the car?

[Zach Klapman]

You can. I've already read further downstairs.

[Matt Farah]

Oh. You know what kind of car this is?

[Zach Klapman]

But what we're looking at a gauge cluster in the middle. It says service transmission. This is an 86D. Do not shift or turn engine off.

[Matt Farah]

Is this an 86?

[Zach Klapman]

No, it's not. It's not. I'll tell you that. Look at the scroll work on the bezel. On the bezel of the gauge here.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah. It looks like a Chrysler crossfire. Scroll work.

[Zach Klapman]

You're closer.

[Matt Farah]

Is it.

[Zach Klapman]

It's a Chrysler product.

[Matt Farah]

Okay. Yeah, now that I see the font, you're totally right. It is a Chrysler product. Okay, go. This is very funny. Go back. It's a. It's a big warning light on a crate. A heavily scroll. Is this got a lay. It's got to be like a Laramie. It's got to be like a Ram fucking Laramie or something. Or lariat. Some western shit. Yeah. Texas edition. Fucking junk.

[Zach Klapman]

All the scroll work. This is very. What's the word I'm looking for? Like tribal tattoo. Speaking of affliction, this is like the barbed wire tattoo of ages.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah. They tried to do western and ended up at affliction accidentally. That's really funny. It says, service transmission, continue in drive. Do not shift or turn engine off.

[Zach Klapman]

So, but then it also says.

[Matt Farah]

And then it also says, until you reach a desired location, you may not be able to shift again until service. So it's stuck in drive.

[Zach Klapman]

Yeah.

[Matt Farah]

What's really funny to me about this is the fuel range, which is 53 miles. So you have a limited amount of time to solve this problem.

[Zach Klapman]

Yeah. And you're averaging 10 miles per gallon. I can go pretty far. 134,000 miles on this vehicle.

[Matt Farah]

Yep. Ram 1500. There we go.

[Zach Klapman]

55.7.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah.

[Zach Klapman]

They heard a big clunk.

[Matt Farah]

And it wouldn't shift out of first.

[Zach Klapman]

Oh, this is funny. They came and they left alone for six hours, came back, turned it on, no warnings.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah. Yeah. This is a fixed itself software problem. I mean, this. What. When you leave it off for a few hours, there's a. There's there's a. There's a soft restart and there's a hard restart for your codes. Like a soft restart is probably like two minutes. And this is with Porsche. I don't. I mean, who knows? But. But my guess is six hours is enough for a hard restart.

[Zach Klapman]

That makes sense.

[Matt Farah]

But what did you guess? That's crazy.

[Zach Klapman]

Oh, yeah. So drivers are the closest mechanic is what most people say.

[Matt Farah]

I mean, I wouldn't not take that advice seriously. I would definitely take that advice seriously.

[Zach Klapman]

Yeah. I mean, there's no.

[Matt Farah]

The warning on the dash I would take seriously.

[Zach Klapman]

They say anything that sets limp mode is potentially severe. Very good point.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah.

[Zach Klapman]

And then, yeah, most people, yeah, the eight. The eight speed transmissions aren't great. This is just the funnest in the fucking world.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah. Yep. That's very shitty and very fun for us. We should keep doing that. Should we talk about the Alpine? Yes, the A1 10. God damn. This is a fucking. That is a delightful automobile. There's a photo on Instagram if you scroll down a little bit. Yeah, there it is.

[Zach Klapman]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Matt Farah]

In my driveway with my van. Nobody understood the metaphor. In my driveway, by the way. It was that they were immigrants, they were from other countries. But that's okay because it was happening the day of the things. But it was the day. Yeah, it was the day. Sergio was on the podcast.

[Zach Klapman]

Gotcha.

[Matt Farah]

So the Alpine. What an automobile.

[Zach Klapman]

So great.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah. And maybe do you. Do you have handy. The email from David Twig, that was after we drove it, that had. Is that handy or not really.

[Zach Klapman]

I can.

[Matt Farah]

Don't worry about it. But. 2,450 pounds, right. 246 horsepower. So basically, you know, 100 horsepower. How does that work? Whatever it is? I don't know. It feels way faster than that power number would suggest. It has a very wide torque band and a really nice shifting dual clutch gearbox. And it really. It annoys me how successful they were. I mean, it annoys me. Not because they were successful at it, because no one else really seems to have been able to master this. To create a very lightweight, yet incredibly comfortable and spacious, but also small on the outside. A car that can really do pretty much everything other than hold a carry on.

[Zach Klapman]

Other than holding a rolling carry on, I should say.

[Matt Farah]

It has some. You'd have to have the odd shaped or soft luggage, but I don't care. Because when you have a light car and a rigid chassis, you can make the suspension very soft and it will still handle well and it will like sail over undulations in the road. And you don't need to have fancy suspension because being lightweight is enough. And then that drives when it's light, then it doesn't need wide tires. And when you have narrow tires, you have amazing steering feel. And then because it's light, you don't need like all this other shit. And it just like you don't need big brakes. So that reduces the rotating mass and you don't need big wheels. It's like everything. The more you take away, the more you can take away.

[Zach Klapman]

It's like compound interest but for lightweight stuff. And that's what's great. It just feeds itself, removes all of these problems. When you add the weight in the car you have to solve that weight problem with more tire whatever. And now it's going the other direction.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah.

[Zach Klapman]

Fantastic.

[Matt Farah]

What is. Can you look up the Amira four cylinder ways? Because I don't remember. I looked it up at some point but it's.

[Zach Klapman]

So there's the email. This is his first email. And then there's. That's his reply if you want it.

[Matt Farah]

Okay. You know I asked for that but I definitely don't need it. In hindsight I'm sorry, I thought I did, but now I do. You do have to give up a couple things. There aren't cup holders. There is no real in cabin storage. And if I owned one I would find someone to make me some kind of cup holder because I am a heathen who likes coffee while I drive as there.

[Zach Klapman]

I think he said last episode there's like an add on cup holder. You can get I think like the NSX thing. Oh I don't know where, I don't know where it lives.

[Matt Farah]

Okay.

[Zach Klapman]

But it lives. You can get one.

[Matt Farah]

Okay. It lives somewhere.

[Zach Klapman]

And you can get the little kangaroo pouch behind the drivers and there's that little shelf below. The Amira AMG weighs 3180 in that.

[Matt Farah]

I mean so this is, let's call it conservatively £600 lighter than that.

[Zach Klapman]

Yeah, that's, that is a lot.

[Matt Farah]

That's so much for a car that is ultimately targeting the same kind of customer.

[Zach Klapman]

It's like the Amira with no engine or transmission. Yeah, right. That's serious weight saving.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah. And, and it just the, the way that this thing flows up a canyon is in my opinion like joyous. You know what I mean? Like you just, it's, it does every right thing. Which is annoying because we can't. Because I'd buy that fucking today.

[Zach Klapman]

It has, it has so many of the good qualities of a Cayman Mia but it's Miata size. The suspension is so good. I mean the suspension, this double wishbone thing. We've talked about this before. Like you can't get the, that under a hundred thousand dollars except on. And The Amir is $100,000. You know with Porsche products you only get double wishbone front. Not all, not all around. And it's on GT3 money. So. And it's really Magical shit. I mean, also, I think the Type R uses that stuff, and it just. The tire sticks better, the suspension is soft. I can't get over how spacious the car is and how nice, meaning luxurious, it feels inside.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah. This One is the C1, which I think is the most luxurious with the brown Sebelt leather seats. I mean, it's the one I'd like to have those seats. I very much enjoyed those leather seats. David and others. Ben, who owns this car, Ben C. From France and David, who is the project manager for this entire vehicle line, both said, what you want is the base car, possibly with the gt. They said, you know, there's the S, which is faster and stiffer, and then the R, which is faster and stiffer than that. The purpose of the car is the base car. And he said, he's like, I wish David was like, I wish you drove it in the wet, you know, which we won't get to do, unfortunately. But it was fucking. It was great in the dry. Of course, I had to put it down at South Bay, otherwise I would drive it again.

[Zach Klapman]

Yeah, it's.

[Matt Farah]

I can't. I would be driving it. Costly. And Also, it's on 20,000 kilometer tires, and they're fine. And they've done, like, multiple track days. Like, when the car's that light, you don't. You don't go through tires.

[Zach Klapman]

Right. There's less pressure on the tire, and the tire has a good compound. The same compound it would use if you put it on a new Mustang GT.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah.

[Zach Klapman]

But it weighs 1800 pounds less or whatever. 1300 pounds less. So the tires are gonna last a lot longer. It's fucking awesome. Profile is great. Looks so good from the back. Looks like, kind of exotic.

[Matt Farah]

It's funny, some people really notice and other people, like, car people. Nerds went nuts and nobody else gives a shit. No one else. Well, that's kind of interesting. Whatever. Moving on about your day. But, like, the. You know, some cars, you can get the vibe in like 100ft. You get in it and you start it and you just pull away and you get it in 100ft. I understood this car was going to be amazing. I pulled it out of the basement of here. Here out the back. And by the time I was halfway up the block, I was like, oh, shit, this is gonna be something. You could just feel the. In the. The lack of loss in the powertrain. You can feel that right away.

[Zach Klapman]

Yeah.

[Matt Farah]

You know what I mean? Like, you can. You can feel in first gear in 100ft that, like, oh, I can feel that there's nothing that's, there's no slop in this at all. All you put it in D and it's connected, you know.

[Zach Klapman]

Yeah, the transmission's good.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah, it's really good.

[Zach Klapman]

This dual clutch is very nice.

[Matt Farah]

Multiple people said, oh, so much better with a manual. Be so much better with manual. If they offered a manual I would, I would be, I would prefer that just because it's what I like. But like I don't, I don't have any complaints about this existing product at all.

[Zach Klapman]

I agree. I think it's such a subjective question. Our friend Art asked me that today and I was like anyone who prefers manuals will always prefer a manual. You know, you're, you're almost never con going to convince them that paddles are bad better. Unless it's like a proper race car. But what, so what I'll say is that for a dual clutch, this is a very good dual clutch that listens to you. It gives you the gear if it can and if it, if it can't give you the gear, the little gauge wiggles and it's like ah, no, you can't have that right now. Which is a very cool little detail. They do. So. And then you're just allowed to steer and use the amazing steering that is so good. Better than Cayman in my opinion and just enjoy the thing, you know.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah, my car, the steering is much heavier than my car to I don't even think deliver the same result. I think the weight in my, I don't think my car turns in as like this car does. I think, I think what surprised me the most is like, you know, how much, how much like just as much fun the Alpine was as my car. Like my car is like double the power, if not more than double the power. And yeah, it weighs 600 pounds more, but double the power it should, you know, and manual. But like actually when you're going through a series of S's, the Alpine was better than my car.

[Zach Klapman]

Well, because series of S's, you're pretty much constant throttle.

[Matt Farah]

Right.

[Zach Klapman]

So then what's going to shine is agility which is really going to be based on weight.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah.

[Zach Klapman]

And you're, and you're both mid engine cars.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah.

[Zach Klapman]

So the, but even up on the.

[Matt Farah]

Mountain there's just, there's not a lot of places where the, my power to weight advantage matters versus the ability to go.

[Zach Klapman]

Yeah.

[Matt Farah]

Like just super. I mean my car is one of the best cars on the market for that.

[Zach Klapman]

Yeah.

[Matt Farah]

That's what people Go. What's a really agile handling sports car for the road? 718Spyder. It's like, that's like the go to. Sure fucking not if you've driven this.

[Zach Klapman]

What is the front. What's the width of your front tire? Tires. Do you know?

[Matt Farah]

I want to say 255.

[Zach Klapman]

Okay. Because the Alpine's 205.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah.

[Zach Klapman]

So it's a lot easier. So it's huge difference. But it's a lot easier to turn that tire.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah.

[Zach Klapman]

Whereas you have to. You have to overcome all that forward momentum and get it to rotate. I mean, all those little things add up so much.

[Matt Farah]

What's the rear on the Alpine?

[Zach Klapman]

235. This is from. This is from a new GT. So maybe ours might have been different, but that's the spec I have. Right.

[Matt Farah]

That's probably the same. So it's two 35s. Yeah. So the rears aren't even as wide as my fronts.

[Zach Klapman]

Yeah. So you probably have more maximum grip.

[Matt Farah]

Sure.

[Zach Klapman]

But that's not what this thing's about.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah, I mean, actually, I think I probably do. And that. That may in terms of fun, like, not be good. Like, I actually, I. I may have more fun getting this to move around at a lower level of grip. I don't know. I. It's. It's annoying that you can't buy this here.

[Zach Klapman]

It really is. Yeah.

[Matt Farah]

Because it's so great.

[Zach Klapman]

Yeah.

[Matt Farah]

And I'd buy one in fucking in two seconds. It was so great.

[Zach Klapman]

It's rad. And I think it looks awesome too. In the blue, it looks great. Silver is pretty good.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah. I would. I probably wouldn't choose silver blue on tan. The blue. Yeah, that's all right. Yeah, that's all right. And it wrote. It rides nice on the highway. It's. It's an easy car to use. I mean, you just have to. You can't have big, big suitcases. That's all. Um, but like, when, when, like. So we, I criticized. We criticized the Roma a couple weeks ago, the Ferrari Robo for. For not being able to fit normal sized suitcases.

[Zach Klapman]

Yep, true.

[Matt Farah]

I feel like I. I think it's really says something where I would put up with that. No problem for the Alpine. And in the Ferrari, I'm like, nah, I'm gonna need to fit my bags in here. But with the Alpine, it's. The experience is so good to drive that. All right, fine. You want me. We're bring weird luggage. Like, okay.

[Zach Klapman]

Do you think that's because the focus of the Alpine is you See it as like sporty driving, whereas the Roma you see as a GT car. So it's supposed to be a travel.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah, a travel friendly car. Yeah. And yeah, by the way, fucking Ben C. Drove the Alpine across the country.

[Zach Klapman]

Yeah.

[Matt Farah]

He drove it for four weeks. So clearly somebody can travel with it. Yeah. It's just, it's not very storage friendly.

[Zach Klapman]

It's not. Which is like I was gonna say, you know, for listeners, if they go to Europe and you can rent one, you should. But you should also know that it might not be a multi day trip type of car unless you have soft luggage for a day and then, you.

[Matt Farah]

Know, go back to your BMW 318 touring or whatever. Yeah, but that car really. And it's fuel efficient. It sounds great on the inside, but it doesn't sound offensive on the outside. You don't get quite as much turbo whoosh as you get from the Amira with the four cylinder. But I think the tone of the engine is actually fabulous. It sounds really nice.

[Zach Klapman]

It does. Motor trend got 41 miles per gallon high highway on a new GT.

[Matt Farah]

Wow. A gas engine, A light aerodynamic car. I mean that car is fun as hell. And they're getting 41.

[Zach Klapman]

That's like better than a new GR86. But the engine has way more guts.

[Matt Farah]

David said if it wasn't for that pesky something something test, we would have been able to sell it in the us So I think there is a good reason that it wasn't. Wait there, where was that go? It was the most recent email down there. Oh, there we go. Hang on, hang on. I can only apologize to your listeners that we did not manage to federalize it. We really did try. If it had not been for that pesky unbelted crash law and we would have. I don't know a lot about the unbelted crash law law, but I, I believe he's telling the truth. But I guess there's some kind of test that the car won't pass. I don't know why that is, but that's a bummer. And maybe, I don't know, it's not rare enough to show and display. And I don't know if it will be as relevant in 25 years when they're legal or 20 years because the first cars are 20, 17 teens. But God damn, if you can go to Europe and drive one, they are fucking sweet.

[Zach Klapman]

Or make friends with Ben. Every listener, just make friends with Ben.

[Matt Farah]

And everyone who's listening to this show not on the live stream right now, on Wednesday or Later or Thursday. Or later. You will have the videos going up tomorrow, right?

[Zach Klapman]

I thought it was supposed to go up today, so.

[Matt Farah]

Oh, I think I made an oopsie.

[Zach Klapman]

I think you oopsied.

[Matt Farah]

I think I oopsied.

[Zach Klapman]

Yeah.

[Matt Farah]

Okay, well, it's gonna go up.

[Zach Klapman]

It'll be up tomorrow and be up tomorrow now.

[Matt Farah]

Whoops.

[Zach Klapman]

But if you're a Patreon member, you've already seen it.

[Matt Farah]

If you're a Patreon member.

[Zach Klapman]

If you're a Patreon champion tier, you watched it days ago.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah. Speaking of which, patrons scooped up 40 of the green. Notice canyons appreciate that, including about 10 folks that are getting all five and have now bought four of the five. But it's now available for the public. Remaining units of the Green are up on Notice's website under the Design Lab tab. And actually, there are a few units of the Night sky still available as well. That one's funny. The notice guys were. They were like, dark blue. It's the most popular color. And it turned out. I mean, we did sell a lot of them, but it was not as runaway success as either Minty or Orange. And I like the green a lot. The green is for all seasons. It looks great. And of course, do you wanted a green, right? Okay.

[Zach Klapman]

Yeah.

[Matt Farah]

I will get you. It's 15 years, my treat.

[Zach Klapman]

It's gonna match my car.

[Matt Farah]

It's my treat. Absolutely. It will match your BMW. And then, of course, we've got the Tahitian Black mother of pearl, which is the last release. It'll be out in about two weeks. Patrons first 50 units only. And it's a little more expensive.

[Zach Klapman]

Wow.

[Matt Farah]

Sorry about that. But it's a little more expensive to make.

[Zach Klapman]

You gotta dive to get the material.

[Matt Farah]

We had to murder so many oysters.

[Zach Klapman]

You guys, you need a mask, snorkel.

[Matt Farah]

We had to. I remember, murder more oysters the average day at the Redondo Beach Seafood Market than to make these watches.

[Zach Klapman]

Oh, yeah. Because you probably eat, what, 20 in a city.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah. Crushing them. We gotta go down there.

[Zach Klapman]

Some fucking oysters. I could. Oysters for me, sure.

[Matt Farah]

No, it's a Thaddeus move. It's me and Thaddeus.

[Zach Klapman]

I'll go. And then I'll eat lobster.

[Matt Farah]

Crabs. Do we do that?

[Zach Klapman]

I'll eat crab or lobster. Sure.

[Matt Farah]

So you're like a cooked shellfish.

[Zach Klapman]

Yeah. And I've had oysters I haven't smoked. They're good, but, like, when you start putting stuff on them, actually, the grilled oyster.

[Matt Farah]

Grilled oysters are rad.

[Zach Klapman]

Yeah. Sarah, And I went to a nice restaurant, had the best oyster I've ever had in my life. But again, it was like they put a nice thing on it and it tasted mostly like the thing.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah, yeah. We went to this weird tasting thing called Effin Effin Bar. And it was like a weird pairing menu, like 20 courses. And there is some very interesting cocktail combinations. Yeah. Let's go to the people, though. The people. Oh, wait, before we go to the people, live show dates. Official TST Live with Christian James Hand live and in person. July 24 at the shop in Houston. July 25 at the shop in Dallas. In the Next, I think, 24 hours, I will have a ticket link to buy tickets. Fortunately, the shop is handling all that for us. I think there's about 200 seats. You do not need to be a member of the shop to go. There's food and beverage on site. Bring out your car. It's going to be a fucking fun time. And you get to see Christian James Hand live. Which in my opinion, when I pitched this to Christian, I wanted him to headline. I was like. And he's like, no, this is the Smoking Tire podcast with Christian. I was like, yeah, but your show is so much better than mine. I'm happy to open for you. And he's like, no. So Christian's going to open for us and then he's going to join. Join us for a part of our show. But you get a double feature and Christian's gonna fucking bring out the big guns for our audience, which is gonna be really, really fun. So July 24th and 25th in Texas. We're coming to you. Let's go to the [e-mail] the smokingtirepodcast. Where you get the live show, it's where you get the show early. It's where you get the show without ads. It's where you get extra show and. And other things. Things like watches. I'm just giving them away over here. Let's see. Oh, these are leftovers from two days ago. Yep.

[Zach Klapman]

We had so many.

[Matt Farah]

Okay. We had so many. I still can't. I guess glasses off for the TV is the way to go. Yellow lead footer that I very much like. That is a really nice contraction there. And I'm pro your username. Would there be any unique automobiles that aren't hypercars that you wish we could bring back the dead? For example, I used to own a BMW i3 and loved it 100%. Yeah, i3 and the Volt. Why Chevy doesn't bring back The Volt is crazy to me. The i3 all they had to do. I mean I say this like it's easy and I'm sure a bunch of people can tell me why it's not. But because they were calling it a elect they the class they classified it as like an assisted ev.

[Zach Klapman]

Right.

[Matt Farah]

Range, extended range, extended EV and not as a hybrid or a plug in hybrid. I don't know if how that moved the needle on the papers or not, but all they had to do was put a bigger fucking gas tank in it so the range to the gas could go further.

[Zach Klapman]

It's a great car.

[Matt Farah]

Other than that, like no notes. They should, they absolutely should have made that car again.

[Zach Klapman]

Carbon monocoque, right rear drive, funky little things.

[Matt Farah]

I would love launch the Stratos.

[Zach Klapman]

Redo the Stratos.

[Matt Farah]

A new Stratos.

[Zach Klapman]

Barely change it. It's so good looking.

[Matt Farah]

That is a good one. I would love, I love to the the Morgan Arrow super sports to continue the. The the more I really love the Morgan Arrow series of cars. I think they're real. The later ones, the early ones can be a little awkward. The later ones are really good looking and I love those Gin and Taconic State Parkway. Oh wait, didn't we already do this? We did this with $2 million. Yeah, we already did that one. I think we did it with more fun money. Enrico Palazzo says I drive 40,000 years mostly on the interstate and we have experience.

[Zach Klapman]

He drives 40,000 miles per year.

[Matt Farah]

What did I say?

[Zach Klapman]

You said he drives 40,000 years. Years. Sorry, just.

[Matt Farah]

He drives 40,000 miles a year on the interstate. What is your experience with Super Cruise and Blue Cruise? My experience has been very good with both but better with Super Cruise than blue versus Ford.

[Zach Klapman]

Yeah, I've used Super Cruise only a few times and I was very impressed.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah, I was less impressed with it in my 2021 Mustang Electric than I was in a newer vehicle that I used it in that was like a 2024. So make of that what you will. Every time I've used BlueCruise I've been impressed going back I used it, I used it for almost an hour on the interstate with no interventions. And it was. I was very impressed at the smoothness and the lane centering and my mother was in the car and didn't even notice that I wasn't steering. I was very impressed with Blue Cruise. But yeah, they're. They. They both essentially the same technology and I think we both have a little bit limited experience. It's not science, but P car photos tips for protecting a car from the SoCal sun I've started to notice some minor cracking and fading on the window seals of my 2019 SI. There are some products that you can use that can sort of rejuvenate those rubbers.

[Zach Klapman]

Yeah, Chemical Larry might sell one. I just bought a new product that I found from Reddit. It was like detailers are saying this was the most effective and it was neither Larry nor Chemical guys. It was like a different vinyl plastic refresher. But my advice, because my car lived outside for six years and the paint went from fine to and the and paint shops told me like the UV here is very intense. Get a cover. Yeah get if you, if you can and no one will steal it or mess it up. Just get like cover it if you can. Park it under a cover if you can. Or get a car cover.

[Matt Farah]

D I L L space D O E Dill Dildo says I don't think I'll be able to afford my dream car which is a gen 1 Ford GT. And Dildo is absolutely right. Would a manual V8R8 with budget to supercharge and convert to rear wheel drive give a similar driving experience? Any other options of manual mid engine cars that give a similar experience? Around 100k. My first question is how tied are you to the vehicle V8? Because buying it's one thing if you, excuse me, already have a V8R8 and you go I love this car but I want more power and you supercharge it. It's another if you're starting from scratch and you go I'm going to buy a V8 car and supercharge it, just buy the V10 if you want an R8 just get a V10 and like a stick shift R8 V10 is fabulous. But to buy a V8 R8, get the blower, get it installed, you know versus to buy the other car and keep it stock, you know, money in, money out, it's a much better deal. And you're talking about budgets here. So I would just get the V10 and accept that it's not a Ford GT.

[Zach Klapman]

And I, I drove an R8 V8 two years ago. Cool sound, great looking car. Etc. It was first gen but like the steering was the biggest letdown and the.

[Matt Farah]

Steering in the Ford GT is fabulous, right?

[Zach Klapman]

And then the steering in the, in the later V10 R8s got much better. Especially like the performance one that trim like if you can get the, get the newer car, the EPS was better.

[Matt Farah]

You know why the Ford GT had such good steering. The rack was out of the first gen Focus. They tried like hundreds of different steering racks and that was just the best one.

[Zach Klapman]

So get it first. This person can get a first gen Focus.

[Matt Farah]

You have first gen Focus and then you have part of the. A Ford gt, right? Yeah. I mean, or. Or habibi, listen to me. You could get a 2011 Shelby GT500 and have a Ford GT engine.

[Zach Klapman]

That's true.

[Matt Farah]

And it will sound a lot like a Ford gt.

[Zach Klapman]

Yeah. You will also have a Mustang.

[Matt Farah]

You'll also have a Mustang. But like, this is where we're at.

[Zach Klapman]

Get the R8. Just save. Save an extra year. Remember this person's question from last week?

[Matt Farah]

Oh, right, yeah. Okay. They asked about a car for an assistant superintendent in a conservative district. Teacher pulls up with a red Mach E. Must be nice to have the money to buy a fancy liberal show car. Someone says an opportunity to have EV chargers installed came up and it got pulled off the table before the conversation started. We don't do electric cars here. God, that's so weird.

[Zach Klapman]

Yeah. So this person's like, I'm gonna go shop for a GR Corolla or a Type S. Yeah, yeah. It is what it is. Did.

[Matt Farah]

Oh, man, we got. I've been kicking this one for three weeks. Did you see in fucking Trump's budget bill that they snuck in a thing to kill Cafe?

[Zach Klapman]

I heard about it, yeah.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah. Do you see how they did it?

[Zach Klapman]

No. Oh, you can explain. Yeah.

[Matt Farah]

So basically they can't change the CAFE fuel economy standards. The only thing Trump can get past with a simple majority is the budget. That's it. He won't be able to do fuck all else because he needs a true majority. Right. Or the 2/3 majority. So anyway, they're finding creative ways to fuck with the budget in order to back channel getting rid of things they don't like. So they don't like CAFE regulations, basically, like fuel economy standards. Why? Having clean air and efficient cars is political is a crazy thing. But it's like lobbyist money and all kinds of shit. And also like owning the libs or whatever. But basically all they did was set. There's like a number of violations. Like if your company sells for every car you build that doesn't meet the standard, there's a number, it's three pennies, $2 assigned to it. There's then a multiplication factor that gets you to a fine. They basically just set the multiplication factor to zero.

[Zach Klapman]

Right.

[Matt Farah]

So you still have to do all the math. You still have to submit A report you still have violated the CAFE standards and they will send you a bill for zero. Cool. It's nice to have government that works, that isn't just like literally trying to pull scams.

[Zach Klapman]

It's very creative.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah, yeah. I mean, you gotta respect a scam artist for being creative.

[Zach Klapman]

I do, in a way. But also, you know, it's like, we need more revenue. If the government wants revenue revenue, and they won't tax billionaires, they go, all right, well, here's revenue that will. We're going to multiply by zero now. But they want. They were thinking about trying to sell a bunch of public land, which they've pulled off the table in Utah, thank God. And I don't know if it's getting pulled off nationally, but the pushback, I mean, from everyone.

[Matt Farah]

People like parks. As it turns out, parks aren't political.

[Zach Klapman]

Well, like, shout out. Like Cameron Haynes, who, you know, famous bowhunter guy, very vocal Republican. He voiced his huge problems with this part of the bill and some of his fans were like, wow, I can't believe you're a Democrat. It's like, no, no. This is affecting, like the land I hunt on and, you know, all these other things. So I respect that little change.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah. Hero here for Zach's pump. Zach. I don't know what that means.

[Zach Klapman]

Me neither.

[Matt Farah]

Zach recently mentioned an E90 is high on your short list of next cars. I just sold an M2 comp manual because I didn't like the shifter. Hesitant about ending up in a similar situation with the M3. What is it about the E90 platform that you find so appealing?

[Zach Klapman]

I like the high revving engine. I like the sound of it. And the M3 is just as they all have been. Is a car that does so many things really well. I don't really like the weight of the E90 and it's a much bigger car than mine, but it gives me V8 noises and higher revving noises and will, you know, is a comfortable GT car and could be a sports car. And I have friends that turn them into like proper race cars. And they do that really well too. So that's why it's appealing. But I think I just like punishment. So I just want to keep supporting my local BMW shop. And then he asked more broadly for people who are not journalists, how do you build confidence in a purchase when you can't do extended seat time beforehand? If you live in a major city, do turn Turo. And if Turo doesn't exist, it's much harder. I agree. If you can make friends with, like, a car club. And, you know, don't do it until you're really sure. Hey, I'm really choosing between these cars. Maybe you could make friends with someone that has one and they at least let you take it for a short drive.

[Matt Farah]

I mean. Yeah. How do you build confidence? I mean. Yeah, I would say find a way to rent one. Turo is not a perfect solution, but has made it easy, Busier than ever. I mean, look, that may involve, like.

[Zach Klapman]

Flying somewhere for a day, depending where you live.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah. I mean, if you live. If you live a commuter flight from somewhere, like, fly somewhere for a day. Turo a car. Go have a nice day of driving. And now, you know, you know, and.

[Zach Klapman]

It'S hard. We're in a rare position. I think we have friends that rotate through cars quickly and, you know, you could also be comfortable with that where if you buy it and after six months, you go, absolutely. Actually, this wasn't the thing. You know, Vinynatra does that. Ooh, I. I don't like it as much as I thought I would. All right, sell it. Yeah, I know it's a pain in the ass, but you could do that.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah. Yeah. I. I don't. I don't know. I would say take advantage of all test drive opportunities. Ask. Ask a lot of questions, you know, whoever. Whatever car reviewer you trust, if they have a review of it, you know, there's that, you know, but yeah. Yeah, okay. That's a lot of words.

[Zach Klapman]

Basically, why don't we have more hybrids with manuals? Because Doug and other folks liked the crz, which, you know, back when that came out, that was a very rare thing. Honda car, little hatchback hybrid, but had a manual.

[Matt Farah]

I don't think it sold very well. I don't think people liked. I think. I think Doug liking it is not success in the market. Doug likes weird. I like weird shit, too. We had one as a press car. It was okay. It ultimately didn't satisfy me as a hybrid and didn't satisfy me as a sports car. So that's kind of where I was left with it. Did we. Did we make a video with it at some point?

[Zach Klapman]

We did a long time ago. It also, back then, the manual transmission got 37 miles per gallon highway. We can get that these days with. With like. Like, let me look up a Civic Si.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah, you can get that. That's true. Yeah. It's probably similar.

[Zach Klapman]

Yeah. I mean, you can get 37 highway in a Civic Si. So what it offered wasn't that great. And I think I mean if you think the take rate on manuals is small, why do you look up the take rate for a manual hybrid?

[Matt Farah]

Yeah, I, I, I don't. Driving the Alpine reminds me that you actually don't need all this fanciness for small light cars. If you want to keep building giant SUVs, giant crossovers and heavy ass porky M5 tourings, then yeah, you're gonna need the technology in order to make those vehicles go stop, turn and be fuel efficient. Or you could build cars of fucking a little bit lighter and you actually don't need any of that stuff to be efficient. But that's not like sexy in terms they want to say. They want to be like it's 700 horsepower. No one's gonna say like it's 7 horsepower but has a worse power to weight than a lot of other things. Yeah. Bad gardener just got back from two weeks in Iceland and saw a surprising variety of sports cars. Oh well, that's incredibly interesting. When I was there, I saw no sports cars. All I saw were like shit boxes and hardcore off road vehicles.

[Zach Klapman]

Yeah, like the G wagon.

[Matt Farah]

I'm glad that's changing. I'm glad people are starting to build sports cars. Bring sports cars to Iceland. That's cool as shit. Question. My rental camper didn't have cruise control, but instead a speed limiter. So you spend hours flat out and it keeps you at the speed you want. Have you come across odd comfort features in your travels that are not common in the US Comfort features?

[Zach Klapman]

I wouldn't call that a comfort feature. I would call that a restriction.

[Matt Farah]

The odd comfort features are all in the US Nobody builds their cars to be like overtly comfortable like Americans. We've talked about this fucking Chevy 3500 pickup truck that we had at Gotham Dream Cars. There was a single cab, not even an extended cab with a fold up so you could three across bench. If you were going two across and you folded that bench down so it was the armrest then for those two people they could share eight cup holders, which is the most egregious cup holder to human ratio I've ever seen in any car. That's America doing that shit. The fucking English always have one thing too few. But the leather smells really nice and.

[Zach Klapman]

You forget, I think maybe like Japan with the long wheelbase or you know, the reclining seats with the footrest.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah, the century shit like that. That maybe, yeah, whimsical 90s Japanese luxury. That's a good time.

[Zach Klapman]

That's where you start. Comfort.

[Matt Farah]

The delicate has that yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I don't act. I mean, I don't have the in depth knowledge to answer that. Although I think we answered the gist of how we feel about it. Okay, wait. Slow car. Slow. If you're both gonna have a daily drive, if you currently both have a daily drive driver, they can do it. All but fun. And we're going to add a second vehicle for 65k. It can't have more than 50,000 miles or be more than 7 years old. So a fun car.

[Zach Klapman]

Fun car.

[Matt Farah]

Okay. A pure fun car.

[Zach Klapman]

Lotus Exige.

[Matt Farah]

I think you could any number of Lotuses you could buy at that budget for even money. You buy it, you drive it 10,000 miles, you sell it for the same exact amount you put into it. I think that kind of money will also get you any number of lovely Caimans and Boxsters, which would still have some kind of practicality to them. But if you really wanted, you know, you wanted to go full stupid, you know, you could get something like an air used Ariel Atom for 35 grand.

[Zach Klapman]

You can get a Caterham for 40. Yeah, yeah.

[Matt Farah]

If you really want to be super stupid, you should.

[Zach Klapman]

I think about it all the time.

[Matt Farah]

But Yeah, I mean, 65K gets you a bunch of C8 core Corvette. It gets you, you know, it gets you a bunch of Cayman. It gets you a bunch of BMW M2. It gets you a whole bunch of fun stuff. It's just like, what dynamics do you want? You want mid engine, you want a convertible? Do you want front for front, rear, you know, yeah, but flat money. Lotuses are. They're a no brainer.

[Zach Klapman]

Yeah. And that's all the way toward the fun scale.

[Matt Farah]

Crap. Two more and then I need to eat lunch so badly because I am dying. What the is my time clock right?

[Zach Klapman]

We're at 1:18.

[Matt Farah]

Okay. Crabhab says, why are most people either motorcycle or car people? Been riding on and off since 2000. And I currently have a Triumph Yamaha Zoomer shout out to Zuma people. That was my first scooter and I had. Okay, I love them all. Is it the lack of experience, the danger? Why do people motorcycle? Why are people either one or the other? I think if you get really into motorcycles, the idea of spending $100,000 or $200,000 on a car to have less fun and go less fast seems really dumb. And so until people get really hurt if they start to go motorcycle, they probably will think cars are a waste of time and money and space and energy. That's just my job.

[Zach Klapman]

I think it's also a very unique experience that you really can't replicate in a car even if you're just cruising on a motorcycle. And also if you get into them when you're younger, like so much of, of what you like is because of what you got into. So if you grew up in a motorcycle family you're going to be into motorcycles. If you grew up in a family that like both, you'll be into both.

[Matt Farah]

And a lot of car people just think motorcycles are dangerous and they are. Yeah. You know and, and I understand that I'm scared every time I ride. So like. Yeah, there's also a lot of people who like both. I mean there's, that's, there is a. I don't think it's a fair assessment to say most people are either car or motorcycle.

[Zach Klapman]

I would say most people that are into cars want to be into motorcycles or are intrigued by them but are just too nervous or whatever or risk averse to ride them. But most people who are into cars and going fast look at bikes and long for them.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah, but I know a ton of people that write about cars and motorcycles changeably. Yeah. I'm thinking more and more about doing that off road riding school. I really would like to learn how to ride on should. Yeah. Pink Pony Car club says there are a few quote stepchild exotics that keep dropping in value and I'm curious at what price they become an attraction. Attractive buy mainly the MC20, the second gen NSX, the Jaguar F type SVR and the BMW i8. Okay. What would I spend for an MC20? Oh, I'm in at 150.

[Zach Klapman]

Yeah.

[Matt Farah]

All day. That's $150,000 experience for the next 10 years.

[Zach Klapman]

Yeah.

[Matt Farah]

Fabulous automobile for a road car. Fast, gorgeous.

[Zach Klapman]

Looks stunning. Yeah, looks like way more money.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah. At 150 grand and they, they're gonna have a floor. A carbon tub. Maserati has a floor. That car does not depreciate to zero. I don't know what the floor is.

[Zach Klapman]

Unless it has massive problems. We don't know. But if it doesn't. Yeah then it'll have a floor.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah, that's a fucking nice car man. 2nd gen NSX. I don't know.

[Zach Klapman]

Zero hundred. It's such a good car. It's a very impressive vehicle.

[Matt Farah]

It feels like a six figure car. I mean I don't know, I don't know what price. I would know. 90 grand. 90 grand. I'm in.

[Zach Klapman]

I think I could drive it for you know 85. Drive it for six months.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah.

[Zach Klapman]

And then sell it again.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah.

[Zach Klapman]

Just. Just to live it a bit. Because it's giving you turbo s performance.

[Matt Farah]

They're great. I don't think it would hold my attention very long.

[Zach Klapman]

Yeah.

[Matt Farah]

Jaguar F type svr. I don't actually like these very much. They're too stiff. I don't like the all wheel drive, what it did to the front end. I like the early F type Rs that are rear wheel drive better than this.

[Zach Klapman]

Yeah. And I didn't like the redesign they did.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah.

[Zach Klapman]

With the first one. Yeah. The first one with the lights that swept back over the curve. That was the way to go.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah. So I'm just a no across the board on SVR, but 35k for a 2017 V6F type coupe with a manual. There was one on cars and bids last week. Awesome. Awesome. Balance. Balance all day.

[Zach Klapman]

Yeah.

[Matt Farah]

That's what you want.

[Zach Klapman]

I ate. I don't think I'd buy one. 30.

[Matt Farah]

30 grand? Yeah.

[Zach Klapman]

30 grand?

[Matt Farah]

Yeah.

[Zach Klapman]

It just doesn't interest me.

[Matt Farah]

Doesn't either. It's a cruiser.

[Zach Klapman]

Yeah.

[Matt Farah]

You know, putter around town, maybe. It doesn't interest me.

[Zach Klapman]

Cool.

[Matt Farah]

When they came out, but. But not. Not now.

[Zach Klapman]

Yeah.

[Matt Farah]

Tim, a question on convertibles. Are you ever paranoid about UV damage and. Or bird poop from parking outside with the top? Dude, the other day Marco came and met me in Malibu for breakfast and brought his spider and a bird shit into his interior. And he was not.

[Zach Klapman]

Did he park near the shit tree while driving?

[Matt Farah]

Oh, no. It happened while driving. Yeah. He did not park near the shit tree.

[Zach Klapman]

That accuracy should be respected.

[Matt Farah]

I know, right? And he was not happy. But I. No, man, no. I am not worried about it. My convertibles, my cars spend so much of their life inside a dimly lit garage that if they are outside for a couple of hours in the sun out of their whole life, it doesn't bother. I think about cars from like the 50s and 60s and, you know, if they're worth keeping, eventually you're gonna redo it, but like, nah, I mean, if it's your daily, like. Yeah, I'd probably put the top up.

[Zach Klapman]

Yeah. I would not park it outside, top down every day. If I'm out for a drive and I can see it when I park or there's nothing valuable in it, then I don't care. I'll just sit down.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah, yeah. If my top comes down for the most part, it's down for the day. And that doesn't bother me because you end up it's 15 days a year or something.

[Zach Klapman]

And I think Tim says, would UV protecting products mitigate wear from exposure?

[Matt Farah]

Yes, absolutely. Definitely. There's all kinds of product ammo. Makes a great package here at the shop. We also use Dr. Beasley's products for UV, which are really, really good. And all my cars have all that stuff on them.

[Zach Klapman]

Cool.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah, man. Good show today. Thank you all for joining us. We placed some kittens. Zach had an anniversary. It's a whole fucking thing going on over there. It's a whole big fucking day at the Smoking Tire. Thank you to our patrons for doing such an excellent job of with their questions as always, as well as with their credit cards. You know what I'm saying? Yeah. We'll be back next week with a whole lot more Smoking Tire. And don't Forget Texas, Houston, July 24, Dallas, July 25 with Christian James Hand. And we will be posting more info about that on our socials and on the Patreon page. Thanks, everybody. See you later.