Crazy Toyota Driving; Mercedes Engine Surprise; Lawsuit Update

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Smoking Tire – "Crazy Toyota Driving; Mercedes Engine Surprise; Lawsuit Update"

Hosts: Matt Farah & Zack Klapman
Date: October 9, 2025
Episode Focus: This episode covers a whirlwind of topics including Matt’s wife’s victory over Elon Musk in court, Zack’s wild drive of Toyota performance cars on both tarmac and dirt, surprising love for the new Mercedes inline-six, and in-depth discussions about racetrack closures, content strategy for YouTube, and listener questions about cars, mods, and more.

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Episode Overview

Matt and Zack kick off the show with characteristic banter before diving into heavy industry and personal topics. The main points revolve around:

• The community’s fight to save a beloved racetrack and broader legal support for motorsport venues
• Matt’s wife’s recent legal victory after being laid off from Twitter by Elon Musk
• YouTube algorithm struggles and the harsh realities of content creation for car channels
• Zack’s hands-on, high-adrenaline experiences with the latest Toyota performance cars—on both racetrack and rally stage
• First impressions and critical praise for the new AMG inline-six Mercedes
• Lively listener Q&A with advice, automotive opinions, and car culture observations

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Key Discussion Points & Memorable Moments

1. Racetrack Closures and Legal Protections

[Timestamps: 03:50–08:35]

• Pit Race Facility at Risk: Matt laments the potential closure of Pittsburgh’s only real motorsports facility, which is set to become a data center.

  • “It’s not like they’re putting housing or something there… they’re putting a data center. That’s the most insulting. Ugh.” — Matt [04:19]

• Fighting Back With Petitions: Hosts discuss grassroots efforts and successes elsewhere:

  • “Microsoft just bailed on building a data center in Minneapolis because the community pushback was so aggressive.” — Zack [05:19]
  • New laws in North Carolina/Iowa: If you move next to a racetrack, you can’t file complaints about the noise or nuisance.

• Importance of Supporting Motorsport Venues:

  • “That’s why it’s very important that Willow Springs is a success, so we don’t end up in a place where they have to sell it and build some fucking data center.” — Matt [07:56]

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2. Matt’s Wife vs. Elon Musk: Lawsuit Victory

[Timestamps: 08:40–13:25]

• Background: Matt’s wife Hannah, a former Twitter employee, stood strong after mass layoffs, refused the initial settlement, and sued for wrongful termination.

  • “She sued, and it took two years…but she fucking won. She won essentially, you know, two years of salary, all her stock—and at 30% interest on all of it.” — Matt [09:54]

• Encouragement for Others:

  • “The percentage of people winning their trials—just in Hannah’s law firm—is high 80s. If you fight him, high 80s is your percentage of winning.” — Matt [10:39]
  • “Most importantly, you beat bullies by standing up to them.” — Matt [10:31]

• Infamous ‘Printer Story’: The hosts tease an untold, hilarious Twitter layoff anecdote.

  • “Google ‘print your code’ and add ‘Twitter’—you’ll find it.” — Matt [12:42]

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3. YouTube Content Realities & Algorithm Games

[Timestamps: 17:50–24:48]

• What Gets Views: Matt reviews their top 10 viewed videos—three themes always win: drama (e.g., shitting on the Cybertruck), money topics, and Porsche 911 reviews.

  • “By a long shot… All seven of the remaining [top 10] are Porsche 911 videos. They’re a feverish audience.” — Zack [19:16]

• Algorithm vs. Passion: Frustration over YouTube rewarding content styles that the hosts don’t actually enjoy creating.

  • “The top three videos are literally the three things I don’t like doing.” — Matt [22:14]

• Channel Reboot Consideration:

  • Sharing MotoMan’s experience (rebranding/restarting his channel and suddenly getting better views).
  • Considering splitting or rebooting their own channel: “Do we fucking shitcan the whole channel and start a new… like TST Porsches or something?” — Matt [20:34]
  • “You could… make more money with fewer subscribers on a new channel because they’d be real and engaged people.” — Matt [20:50]

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4. Toyota Performance Driving: GR Corolla, Supra, GR86

[Timestamps: 37:57–47:56]

• Toyota’s Big Track Day (Toyota-thon @ Sonoma):
  • Zack drives nearly every Toyota performance car currently on sale, on track and on a rally-style dirt course.
  • Highlights: 2026 GR Corolla, Supra (Final Edition), GR86 Yuzu Edition.

Dirt Rally Experience

• “We hit 106 miles per hour up in the hills above Sonoma. On dirt?” — Matt [40:46]
• “It was the greatest… I was sliding this car at 60 mph, left hand, third gear, handbrake turn at the bottom of a hill. So much room for error.” — Zack [41:14]

GR Corolla Progression

• Driving 2024, 2025, and 2026 models back-to-back reveals real improvements:
  • “The leap from 24 to 25 in the GR Corolla was so noticeable… the 24 car feels soft, steering just feels a little bit too squishy… 25, that was gone; 26, even more refined.” — Zack [44:21]
  • “They are changing the car every year and it is improving.” — Zack [44:48]

Supra vs. GR86

• Supra gets mostly software tweaks; GR86 remains the “better car in a lot of ways other than speed.”

• “Through the S’s, the GR86 obviously changes direction more quickly… it just feels lighter and more fun.” — Zack [46:29]

• General Praise for Toyota’s Fun Factor:

  • “It was a really fun day.” — Zack [47:25]

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5. Mercedes CLE53 (AMG Inline-Six) Review

[Timestamps: 34:44–37:57]

• Matt test drove the new CLE53 Cabriolet, powered by AMG’s latest inline-six mild hybrid engine.

  • “This has this real nice, slick inline-six… like a BMW on a good day.” — Matt [34:38]
  • “This is way better than the four-cylinder… This is a luxury engine for sure. I’m into it.” — Matt [35:08, 36:50]

• Zack, the BMW enthusiast, wholeheartedly approves:

  • “I know I’m biased, but the inline-six is the lack of vibration, it’s a smooth, luxurious experience.” — Zack [37:29]

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6. Listener Q&A: Rapid-Fire Insights

[Timestamps: 52:32–86:26]

Notable Questions & Advice

• Biggest Missed Opportunity Car:

  • Matt regrets not buying a Ford GT when it was (relatively) affordable.
  • Both discuss cars they considered but are now priced out of (Skylines, Testarossa, etc).

• Modifications Before Your First Track Day?

  • “Don’t fuck with your car. Just leave it alone, go to the track, see what happens… Take that money and spend it on tires, track days, instruction.” — Matt & Zack [83:56–84:42]

• Car Owner Stereotypes:

  • Volvo owners listen to NPR (and wear turtlenecks)
  • Tesla drivers: inattentive, equivalent to the “new BMW M drivers”
  • Porsche people obsessed with color codes and options
    • “It’s nice to kind of have a white Porsche because… nobody.” — Matt [86:21]

• Manual Swapping MB SLKs and SLs?

  • A resounding yes: “Manual swap, all day, every day. Let us know how it goes.” — Matt [75:23]

• Best $20,000 Convertible Challenge

  • C6 Corvette convertible, Miata (NC), and 370Z discussed as top value choices.
  • “Twenty K gets you a pretty nice Miata… not a shitty one.” — Matt [53:55]

• Watch vs. Car Value:

  • Under $10K: buy the watch. Over $10K, more case-by-case.
  • “A $10,000 watch is an unbelievable thing. That's it, you could tap out right there.” — Matt [62:10]

• Should Cars Have Instagram Handles?

  • For Matt, still lame—despite logical arguments about connecting at car meets.

• Future Contentment in Automotive Journalism:

  • Both see themselves evolving; miss the adventures and budget of TV, but value the creative freedom and periodic “living the dream” moments from magazine and YouTube work.

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Notable Quotes

• “You beat bullies by standing up to them.” — Matt [10:31]
• “By a long shot… All seven of the remaining [top 10] are Porsche 911 videos.” — Zack [19:16]
• “The leap from 24 to 25 in the GR Corolla was so noticeable… 26, even more refined.” — Zack [44:21]
• “This is a luxury engine for sure. I’m into it.” — Matt [36:50]
• “Don’t fuck with your car. Just leave it alone, go to the track, see what happens.” — Matt [83:56]

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Timeline of Major Segments

| Timestamp | Segment | |------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------| | 03:50–08:35| Racetrack closures, community pushback, legal protection for tracks | | 08:40–13:25| Matt’s wife’s lawsuit victory | | 17:50–24:48| YouTube content struggles and channel strategy discussions | | 37:57–47:56| Toyota driving event, GR Corolla, Supra, and GR86 analysis | | 34:44–37:57| Mercedes CLE53 (AMG Inline-Six) review | | 52:32–86:26| Wide-ranging, insightful listener Q&A |

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Episode Tone & Delivery

The episode is classic Smoking Tire—irreverent, sharp, funny, but deeply knowledgeable. Matt and Zack move effortlessly between personal stories and hardcore automotive nerdery, laced with playful rants, inside jokes, and a few NSFW analogies (see: new Mini exhaust).

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Bottom Line

This episode is a must-listen for:

• Fans of candid behind-the-scenes takes about YouTube and car journalism
• Listeners curious about the state of modern motorsport venues and legal efforts to protect them
• Enthusiasts hungry for up-to-the-minute impressions of Toyota’s most exciting new performance cars (and how they’re changing, year by year)
• Anyone who likes their car talk peppered with real-life victories, hard-won advice, and a healthy dose of skepticism about industry trends and social media

Don’t miss:

• Zack’s tale of sliding a GR Corolla at 100+ mph on dirt (41:14)
• Matt’s breakdown on algorithm hype vs. the joy of making “good car content” (22:14)
• The full-throated praise for the new AMG inline-six (36:50)

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For the full experience, check the full episode on your favorite podcast app or at The Smoking Tire YouTube Channel.

Transcript

[A]

What's up, everybody? Welcome to the Smoking Tire Podcast. Today's podcast is brought to you by off the Record. We love off the Record over here. They're looking out for us all the time. Wherever I drive, I drive confident that if I get a ticket, off the Record is gonna defend it to the death or to the pain or in court. They would go to court if you get a ticket. Don't plead guilty. Get off the record. Go to offtherecord.com TST off the Record will defend that ticket in the prec. Jurisdiction where you got it up to and including going all the way to court, trial, etc. You don't have to do nothing after you hire them. You just let them get the work done. And offtherecord.com TST we'll get you 10% off all legal services with off the Record. They're great. We love them over here at the Smoking Tire. Make sure you use them and drive safe. All right, folks, on this episode of the podcast, we talk about the beauty of AMG in line sixes. The statistical predictions for what would succeed and fail in our YouTube channel have actually come perfectly true. My wife beat Elon Musk in court, and Zach got to try a smorgasbord of fast Toyotas on both the racetrack and a rally stage. It's the Smoking Tire Podcast. Let's go. Shout out to Ms. Lala. Hi, everybody. Welcome to the program. We have a whole bunch of things to talk about. Did you just pour, like, regular water into your coffee?

[B]

It's tea, so I'm cooling it down so I can drink it faster so I get the energy during the show, not after the show.

[A]

Right, right, right.

[B]

Gotta time this plane. It's just English breakfast. Good. Yeah, good.

[A]

Dessert. Is it the same amount of caffeine in a cup of tea cup of coffee?

[B]

It's less. It's less, and it's different. I just. I'm reading Michael Pollan's book, like, plant drugs, your mind on plants or something. So the first. First one was about opium poppies. Like, it's four sections.

[A]

Sure.

[B]

I'm on the caffeine section now. So there's other things in tea that, like, mellow out how the caffeine feels. It's not just about how many milligrams there are.

[A]

Got it.

[B]

But there's also usually fewer milligrams roughly. Don't come at me bros like, then in a cup of black coffee.

[A]

Got it, got it, got it. I'm on plants.

[B]

Yeah, you are.

[A]

I'm on, you know, some.

[B]

You're kind of vegetarian.

[A]

Sometimes I'm on plants. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, sometimes I'm drinking them. Right. Sometimes I'm.

[B]

Alcohol is made from plants, smoking them.

[A]

You know, what do you. Sometimes you're on plants. I'm not snorting them. I just got insta congestion from a SNEEZE that happened 15 minutes ago. And despite all the nose blowing I could muster, it's not gone away yet. Thanks to everybody who bought a ticket to the Willow Springs event. I see no profit sharing of any kind, but it is now sold out. There's apparently a flip market. Multiple people have contacted me. Wow. About. Yo. You know where I can hook those tickets? I'm like, I don't. I'm sorry.

[B]

I might have actually bought extra ones.

[A]

Did you?

[B]

The links were a little wonky for. For me for a minute.

[A]

Oh, I. I did have extra tickets that I gave back to them because I don't know what to do with them. So I don't have no extra tickets. I'm not participating in the flip game. Cannot.

[B]

That's the circular economy. Matt Nvidia is doing it with open AI. We should do it.

[A]

I know. I. You know, we could be really much richer if I was willing to just scam every dollar out of every little thing. You know, that's usually how people get richer. But no. Doing a live podcast. Don't know what time yet. But during the event, we will figure.

[B]

We'Re gonna be there.

[A]

We're gonna be there. Figure it out. Yeah. In the meantime, like, three people emailed me and said, you have to talk about the fact that this racetrack pit race outside of Pittsburgh is. Was bought by somebody and they intend to close it and not just redevelop it. It's not like if they were putting housing or something there, I'd, I would be like, that's a bummer, but we need housing. No, they're. They're putting a data center.

[B]

Oh, God.

[A]

Ew. Like, you're.

[B]

All your electric bills are going to go up and the water use.

[A]

That's the most insulting. Like.

[B]

But have you seen Sora 2 map? Look at this video. It's a dolphin driving a car. And you're going to remember it for. And you forgot. And it's gone. And it's gone.

[A]

Yeah, exactly that. Exactly that thing. And yeah, I've never been there. I don't have any personal connection to it, but from the emails I've gotten, it's apparently like the only even moderately legit motorsports facility in the area. It's where they did that vintage Grand Prix. This overhead view looks like a pretty nice place to drive a sports car.

[B]

Yep, does.

[A]

So. It's a very. It's a real bummer. But there's also. There was a petition. I sent Zach the email. There was a petition that we'll put in the. In the notes of this show. So all you have to do is sign the petition. I don't know what the petition's gonna do. This is a.

[B]

Actually, it might work because Microsoft just bailed on building a data center in near Minneapolis, I think because the community pushback was so aggressive.

[A]

Oh, really?

[B]

Okay, cool. Yeah.

[A]

I mean, there. Oh, there it is. SafeKit racetrack from closurechange.org 4800 signatures. And that's an important part of our car culture. And I think. I swear I'm so overloaded with news that it's hard to keep it straight, but I swear someone just proposed some common sense legislation that says if you move near or build or buy a house near an existing motorsport facility, you are not allowed to complain.

[B]

I saw that too. What state was that?

[A]

I forget what state it was, but finally someone. Same kind of thing. You know, like, let's fucking go over here. So I signed it. And. And you guys certainly can too. It doesn't cost you nothing.

[B]

See, Iowa did it. And.

[A]

Land famously full of racetracks. Iowa.

[B]

Oh, North Carolina just passed it.

[A]

Okay. People might be in NASCAR country.

[B]

Yeah. Nascar Protect the Right to Race act or bill. Yeah. A racing facility shall not be subject to any action brought by a surrounding property owner under any nuisance or taking cause of action. If the developer obtained all the permits for construction while the track was there, where the facility's located. On this track. Yeah.

[A]

Yeah. You can't move near a racetrack and then complain about it. That's like. Fuck.

[B]

Oh, yeah. It's like if they. If they built the track or even got all the permits for it before the other developer around it showed up, then you can't complain.

[A]

AKA finders keepers. AKA fucking. I mean, I got. It's got. It's very American. There's nothing more American than saying, got mine. Fuck you.

[B]

Well, it's funny. It's two conflicting parts of America. There's. There's. I was here first.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Which America didn't listen to when we first arrived. And then there's actually, this is ours. Can you turn this racetrack down? That's actually more American.

[A]

Oh, it's actually shit. You're right. It's more American to do the shitty one. Yeah. Oh, you're totally. Actually. Well, yeah, yeah, no, it's definitely more American to do the shittier one. You're very right, Clavin.

[B]

If your last name is Custer and you own a racetrack and you're mad about the neighbors getting mad at you, that's an awkward moment.

[A]

Come to the final night of destruction at Custer Raceway. It's gonna be a big one down, so. But anyhow, to go back to. To that. That's why it's very important that Willow Springs is a success so we don't end up in a. In a place where they have to sell it and build some fucking data center. Cuz, dude, that's where they would build a data center. Isn't it? Like, just on the edge of, like, a smallish town probably doesn't have the power to fight them.

[B]

Kind of middle of nowhere, you know, they should build the data center at California City if they're gonna do it right. Like, just put. No one's there.

[A]

Yeah, yeah.

[B]

For the most part.

[A]

Yeah. There's, I think, like 12,000 people there.

[B]

Then go further east. There's no one there. Just go to the desert.

[A]

Speaking of, did we actually ever talk on the show? Because it happened while I was gone. Do we talk about it when I called in from the racetrack that. About Hannah's lawsuit?

[B]

No. You texted me.

[A]

I texted you.

[B]

Are you allowed to talk about it?

[A]

Yeah. Okay. I just want to. Fucking done.

[B]

All right.

[A]

So, I mean, for those who didn't know, my wife used to work at Twitter, and there's a lot of people that, like, don't understand how timelines work. And like, to think that, like, I only don't like Elon Musk because of the Twitter layoffs, which is a hilarious thing to think because I literally. Also, they use the same one where I called him a fraud on Joe Rogan. They use that clip also. That happened before she even worked there. So those two things can't also be true.

[B]

Right.

[A]

Point being, right? It's the same. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So point being, when she and, you know, 3,000, whatever other people were fired, more than that, however many it was, she didn't take the settlement. She fucking fought the fascist. She sued, and it took two years and whatever, during which time she mostly was not working, but she fucking won.

[B]

That's awesome. She.

[A]

She. She won essentially, you know, two years of salary. She won her. All the stock she would have gotten, but at like, 30% interest on all of it.

[B]

Really?

[A]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. So it's not. It's not like it's not like retirement money by any means, but, like. And it doesn't necessarily make up for the mental anguish of being, like, cast aside as worthless and then along with thousands of other people and then not being able to find a job for two years. But it does more than financially make up for it. And like, most importantly, like, you fucking beat bullies by standing up to them.

[B]

Totally.

[A]

Like, you don't, you know, Like, I think. I think it'. The percentage of people that are winning their trials just in Hannah's, the law firm that she worked with is like high 80s. Like high 80s. If you fight him. Like, high 80s is your percentage of winning.

[B]

Because they didn't have grounds for firing.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Cause it wasn't bullshit and hoped it would go through. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[A]

So anyway, she has won a fucking enormous amount of money, which is great. Now we're going to redo the landscaping in the front yard. She's going to go get herself some fucking diamonds get iced up. And we're having T shirts made that says, I beat a fascist in court and you can too. Which everybody should be wearing those.

[B]

Yeah, pretty much.

[A]

But yeah, I mean, look, it's. I guess it was in some ways like a privilege to be able to fight. She didn't need to, like, live on the one month so salary that they were offering in that one month. And maybe other people did, but it, you know, definitely was the right move to, like, tell him to go himself and sue.

[B]

Another reason, among so many reasons that having like, your own emergency fund for everybody is like, you should do that if you don't have one now. Start saving for one. For so many reasons. But sometimes these companies will fire people and they'll offer them pen. Offer you pennies for silence or acceptance.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And to be able to say no and keep your integrity is. Is a privilege and a strength, if you can.

[A]

And I will have to see how much she's comfortable saying and it'll not until the fucking money hits the account. But, like, you know, she signed the original, you know, the original paperwork when she went to work there, but she did not sign the thing, you know, when, when she was fired where it was like, take this money and sign the fucking non disparage. Like, she definitely. She signed the NDA beginning, but did not ever sign, like, the non disparage.

[B]

So that's the one.

[A]

I think she could tell some stories. Pretty sure she. The printer story is too good. A little bit that was reported on the printer story. The tiny bit that was published in the news isn't anywhere near as funny as the entire truth of the printer story. It's fucking too good to not tell. Yeah, the tiniest bit. Just Google, print your code. You'll find it. Add the search term Twitter.

[B]

That's kind of like these two things should not exist at once. It's like, you know, put this code on paper, print your code, write it in cursive.

[A]

Yeah. But there was a whole bunch of other reasons that print your code is really, really stupid and bad. But yay for my wife. Fuck fascists. So that's a good thing. But like, here's a kind of a bad thing, folks. This episode is brought to you by Delete Me Right now. The headlines are chock full of data breaches and regulatory rollbacks, making us all vulnerable. But you can do something about it. Deleteme is here to make it easy, quick and safe to remove your personal data online. Deleteme is not just a one time service. They're always working for you, constantly monitoring and removing the personal information you don't want on the Internet. In fact, New York Times wirecutter has named Deleteme their top pick for data removal services. And it's, this is so great. I use it. It's so easy. All you do is you make an account, you sign up at delete me and then you put in your information, like where I live and used to live, phone numbers, employers, et cetera. And then delete me goes to all the big data broker websites, searching for the things that I want to search for, automatically deleting it, filing takedown notices. It could be Social Security numbers, it could be addresses, it could be information about my family members. And they send me this report of what they found and then they delete it all. And then every month they send me new reports and the number keeps going down, down, down, down, down by a little bit. And it's an ongoing service. I know they're always looking out for me, not just the one time. And I have seen a reduction in like spam texts and phone calls and scammy things and things like that. You can do it too. Take control of your data. Keep your private life private by signing up for Delet Delete Me now at a special discount for our listeners. Get 20% off your delete me plan when you go to www.joindeleteme.com tire and use promo code tire at checkout. The only way to get 20% off is to go to www.joindeleteme.com tire and enter code tire at checkout. That's www.joindeleteme dot com tire code tire also brought to you today by Rula. Rula is guys, this is so money. Because it is so hard to find the right therapist. That's just hard in itself. How do you know you're gonna go, I'm gonna tell a stranger all the things about me that I really don't tell anybody else. That's why you go to therapy, to have that impartial, dispassionate person help you talk through things where you can't talk through them with your friends or your family or whatever. I've seen a therapist for the last 20 years and it's immensely helpful. But starting over, I wouldn't even know where to start, right? And then you have to talk about insurance. Your health insurance covers medical stuff, but it shouldn't be so hard to get it to cover mental stuff. And so Rula is here for you. Telehealth from Rula is more convenient and accessible for millions of people. Rula isn't just affordable. They stick with you through your journey, making sure you get the best therapy and that you're making progress. With Rula, every provider is carefully vetted and chosen for their experience. You'll always know you're in the hands of quality providers who are dedicated to making real progress in your care. The first step on your journey to mental well being is easy. Rula starts by just asking you a few questions about what's important to you and then provides a list of licensed in network providers who match your preferences. You can schedule your preferred time and meet with your therapist as soon as the next day. So go to rula.com tire to get started today. That's R U L A.com tire for convenient therapy that's covered by your insurance. Now back to the show. Remember when we talked about like, like, you know, like what's depressing about YouTube? Like things that are work, things that don't work. Like basically what Kevin said, like you want to be successful in YouTube, talk about drama or like shit on something popular. Talk about money, right? Or like do the like big, the big risk thing, right? Take a, take a big financial risk. And I was talking to someone about our video top videos of the in the past 12 months and I had pulled it up in the. In the analytics Top Videos Numbers 1, 2 and 3 are shitting on the cybertruck.

[B]

Yeah. By a long shot I'm sure the.

[A]

Zinger which said which the title of which is a title I hate but need which is this is the Only car that's worth $2.3 million. I can't even believe I had to write a title saying that. Because to say to an audience with a straight face, this thing is worth $2 million is like a fucking douche ass move, but it undoubtedly works. And number three is buying a depreciated used Taycan. Those are like, literally the three things that he said are our number one, two, and three videos. One, I didn't enjoy making the Cybertruck one. One I loved making but didn't. I'm ashamed that I have to title it that. And the other one, yeah, it did. Well, I had to spend $70,000.

[B]

To.

[A]

Buy a whole ass car.

[B]

All you have to do that is do that every two weeks like, you know, some other influencers have done.

[A]

And then, by the way, in case you're wondering, do you want to take a fucking whack at what all seven of the remaining top 10 have in common?

[B]

Money.

[A]

The Porsche 911.

[B]

Oh, my God.

[A]

All seven of the remaining ones are Porsche 911 videos.

[B]

They're a feverish audience.

[A]

So, like, it begs the question. Like, I mean, it genuinely begs the question, especially based on what I was saying to Moto Man. George Notaris. A couple weeks ago, while Zach was gone, he shit canned his whole channel because it was baggage and started over with a new channel.

[B]

Why did he just get rid of old videos that were dragging stuff down?

[A]

Yeah. He was told by experts that his own channel was holding him back.

[B]

Wow.

[A]

And he. And he shit canned it. Made one last video that's like, here's where I'm going. Here's where to find me. And, you know, he was getting 25,000, 35,000 views. You know, his first video he puts up at the new channel is like 90,000 views, and his second one is 50,000. It's still way above, you know, and his engagement is up, his comments up. People are finding him that have never heard of him before. So it does beg the question, like, do we fucking shit? Can the whole channel and start a new channel that's like TST Porsches or something? I mean, seriously, like, if that's what it's gonna be like, we didn't. We've made videos about a million other cars.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

But like, this is where. This is what people are going to.

[B]

I don't know. I have to talk to more experts in person for sure. But that is curious that you could, because we've talked before about the algorithm helping out new people. And if it thinks you're New channel.

[A]

Might be too old.

[B]

It might be too old. Which it is.

[A]

Our channel might be just too old. And like, I'm pretty sure that, like with the podcast and with the Instagram and with whatever, like, we probably could get a good chunk of whatever our million subscribers are like, whatever of those are like real active people. We could probably get them. And like, who knows, maybe we could like, make more money with fewer subscribers on a new channel because they'd be real and engaged people.

[B]

I wonder if there's something in the algorithm we're having like, you know, quote, dead subscribers. Like if.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

If so many of your views are coming from outside your subscriber base and your views are not that high. If the algorithm just goes, ooh, okay, we're just gonna keep burying this. Yeah.

[A]

So, I mean, it is entirely possible that. That we could be getting crushed under the weight of our own channel, of our own success.

[B]

Let's. Let's be nice.

[A]

I mean. Yeah. I mean, well, that's the other thing is you. That doesn't happen unless you first are. You have to have been around for a while, but we might have to go Jefferson Starship, you know?

[B]

All right.

[A]

I mean, it doesn't mean, like throwing away the brand. It literally just means a new, like, URL.

[B]

Right. And you call it tst.

[A]

Yeah, you would call it. Yeah. Something, you know, something.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

That would be immediately identifiable as us, but just like a different link. So.

[B]

Kevin, I know you're listening, dude. He.

[A]

I mean, like, he couldn't have been more. Right. He was the 1, 2, and 3 each an example of the three things he said would work. All of which I don't like doing.

[B]

Yeah, I mean, that's the hard thing for sure.

[A]

Right?

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Right? It's. Dude. And I. And I'm so, like, I was thinking about it this morning, like, I'm really jealous of Doug because Doug's car review videos are experiencing the same trajectory as ours. Bigger numbers, but still. And. But now he's got all this data from the auctions and so now he's got, you know, his clips and his videos are like market analysis, which God bless him, he likes doing. But like, he has the data. Sure. And like, you can talk about money in sort of a non douchey way by doing that.

[B]

Yeah, that's true. Vin. VIN did that a little bit on his channel. He's done some of these, like used 911 comparisons where it's like, my friend bought this for 20, this for 30, this for 40.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

So it's like approachable amounts of money and relative of course but like compared to what 9 11's cost new, you know, it's a tenth or a fifth of that.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And it's kind of like market analysis with driving and sounds. Yeah.

[A]

I mean there's, there's, there's different ways to do things but it is, it was depressingly clear by looking at those things like what, you know, what, what is going to be successful.

[B]

I should look at the click through rate because I think I played with the titles of Zinger a bit.

[A]

Didn't you do an A B test or something?

[B]

Yeah, they do like ABC test now which is really handy that it's built into YouTube. I wonder how much is like from the picture, the craziness of the car. The story is kind of exclusive and then how much is the title?

[A]

It comes together. Yeah, there's not a lot of people that have driven those cars. They are weird. They immediately look different and the story had just come out about them setting the track records, et cetera, et cetera. So that one, yeah, good Storm of Things title didn't hurt. You know.

[B]

Definitely didn't hurt.

[A]

Sure. And there's other things about the Taycan video other than host risk is risks, huge amount of money on depreciating thing. And, and there's you know, maybe something about the cybertruck video besides it's just popular person shitting on other popular, you know, thing. But, but it just, it brings that kind of thing into focus.

[B]

Definitely. Yeah.

[A]

Pretty sharp because the other end of it that was bumming me out because now I remember why I was talking about it because we did the Totem GT video and I was talking to my dad up at pebble beach and he was asking how videos were going and I was like it kind of fucking sucks because it has nothing to do with how good a job like you do. It's like it's that you could do, you could make a nice video. But like I showed him this tote, the Totem video which is like such a beautiful car. Really interesting in theory. Like all the things that we want, you know, analog and light and blah blah, blah, blah blah crazy. And it's just not done very well compared to the hypercar that everyone says they're sick of, you know and.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And oh by the way, here's the revenue on this one and here's the revenue on this one and yikes.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

You know, and so, you know, for what is effectively the same amount of.

[B]

Work, I mean I think that makes Sense to me, because the Zinger is, if you're in India, if you're into any kind of car and you see that thing, you're gonna go, what the is that? I'm sure the Totem's like, you have to be, I think, into Resto mods, into European resto mods, maybe into Alphas. Like, I think it's just a smaller market. Even though I think the craftsmanship, you know, of it appeal should appeal to everybody. But to get that across in a thumbnail is really, really hard.

[A]

Yeah, I guess. I guess maybe Zinger's SEO is better than I think it is. But also, it does look like alien spacecraft. That. That goes a long way. Alien spacecraft is a thing.

[B]

It looks insane, man.

[A]

Yeah. It doesn't look like a car. Yeah, yeah.

[B]

It's F0. Like you said, the front shot straight up. F0.

[A]

Yeah. They can't all be that, unfortunately.

[B]

And if they all were, the audience would get bored.

[A]

Yeah. And actually, you know, I read through some of the comments in the Totem GT video. It seems like every. Everybody. A lot of people were commenting about the tire. I mean, on the one hand, to give a car like that to the media, to drive on video where you know it's gonna happen is sort of terminally stupid. That's just a dumb thing. It's because people are gonna remember that, like, people are. When people. Someone goes, oh, did you see that video? Have you seen this totem thing? Someone's gonna go, yeah, I saw Farah's video. It, like, rubs everywhere. Like, what the fuck is that about? And they're gonna remember that thing. It's not. No one's gonna be like, oh, well, you know, if it's a magazine test and they can't hear it, you could forgive it. It was basically set to, like, show show car height, for quail to, like, look cool. Like, they. They lowered it, essentially, and they didn't raise it back up a little bit for us to drive it. That's what Ricardo said.

[B]

Okay. I didn't think. I think it was that low. But I. I will say that it's a new company, and if that's all that's wrong with that car, which, to my opinion, really was the only negative, then they can change that pretty easily.

[A]

Well, there was two negatives for me. One was the steering feel.

[B]

Oh, that's right.

[A]

The geometry and the way that that changed. And Ricardo from Totem pretty much said that that really can't be changed. That's because they had to bend the steering Shaft around the much Wider Twin Turbo V6. Remember, there was a straight line 4 there, so the shaft would just go straight past it. Now it's got a knuckle in it. So that. And then other geometries, like, there's just not really a way around that.

[B]

Got it.

[A]

Because they have to sort of use the firewall from the original car. It's kind of like all that's left. So. Yeah.

[B]

Okay. And then.

[A]

So there's that. But then it also was rubbing in corners. He said, look, we set it really low, so it looked really cool. At Quail, the normal ride height is, like, you know, half an inch higher, and it doesn't rub, which I believe. I believe they set it low to look cool, and I believe they didn't take the 30 minutes or whatever. However long. 30. However long it takes to raise it back up. I believe they didn't do that. But I believe that the car has another option besides rubbing.

[B]

That's what I'm saying is, I think that that is. It's not a flaw, like a fundamental flaw to the construction of the vehicle. It's something that they can get rid of.

[A]

Right.

[B]

The steering, unfortunately, it sounds like they can't get rid of. So, you know, if you're shopping for these, test drive one first. But. Well, and I think they. They. They're gonna see this video and they're gonna go, we don't want this to rub. And they're gonna, you know, make adjustments or have someone else drive it or whatever. And, like, I. I have faith that that company will be around because I think their work is so good.

[A]

Sure. Yeah. No, it's not even the steering. Like, it's the. It's. It's not great, but it's like, man, the rest of that thing is so nice. Like, maybe I wouldn't like it, but, like, most people would live with it. Most people wouldn't see it as much of a problem as I do. But, like, it's a very beautiful car. It sounds really cool. It's. Clearly. It looks fast on video, which is a tough thing.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

You know, for a car like that, it's. It looks fast, but, like, it's. It's actually far faster than it looks. It's really, really, really nuts. So please go check out that video. It's over on the. The dead and dying YouTube channel to figure this one out. And before we get to some questions, because we do have a lot of those. Some saved from last episode, some new ones. You know, I'm driving. I've Had a revel. A bit of a revelation today I'm driving this Mercedes CLE53 convertible and this has the inline six in it. And I gotta say, folks gotta take one more quick break because support is coming in from true work. Fall weather changes fast. It gets hot, it gets cold, it gets wet, it gets windy, it gets hot again. Sometimes all in one shift or one hike. TrueWerk is performance workwear built like it matters, because it does. TrueWerk is founded by a trade professional who is tired of wet, heavy gear weighing him down. TrueWerk set out to make workwear that keeps pros comfortable, capable and ready for whatever the day throws at them. Designed with advanced performance fabrics for lasting comfort, all day mobility and year round job site protection, every piece is tested on job sites with trade pros so when conditions change, you're still ready. With over 50,000 5 star reviews from pros in every trade and every climate. I wore the TrueWerk button down T shirt on my most recent trip because I packed it specifically for its temperature flexibility. I had absolutely no idea what the weather was going to be. It turns out it was going to be completely different than I packed for. I did not need to bring shorts at all. But my truewerk over shirt was good for every single condition. It got hot, it got cold, it was excellent. You can get this gear too. Upgrade your day with workwear built like it matters. Get 15% off your first order at truework.com with Code Tire. That's T R U E W E-R-K.com Code Tire. Also today, Smalls is coming in hot. And I love Smalls because Smalls loves my cats like I love my cats. We are, we are one big happy family. And I was just gone for two weeks. They are so happy to see me again. They are sleeping in bed with me. They're sitting by the fire. It is fabulous. And I want them to live long, luxurious, happy, healthy lives. That's why I feed them Smalls, my cats. They can't live without it. It's so delicious. They prefer small Smalls way more than the Fancy Feast, way more than the Blue Buffalo. I did the side by side tast. They all went to the smalls. They've got fewer hairballs, they've got great energy, healthier weight and they've got a very, very soft coat. My cats love me. And I've actually done a new thing where I used to for a long time. I mean really like 25 years of owning cats. I had all my cats eating from the same bowl and they would eat one at a time from the same bowl. It was kind of an interesting thing. And then I saw in Jackson Galaxy's book to do, you know, four separate bowls and have them eat at the same time every day you morning and night for sort of better energy flow. And I actually did this with the smalls. And now the cats are not eating dry food in between the wet food. Smalls breakfast and dinner. It's money. And I first used the smalls as the topper to transition the cats to it and now they are eating it twice a day every day. It is great. So what are you waiting for? You can give your cat the food they deserve too. For a limited time. Because you're a listener of the smoking tire, you can get 60% off your first order plus free shipping when you head to smalls.com tire that's smalls.com tire one last time. 60% off your first order plus free shipping when you head to smalls.com tire and now back to the show. And I gotta say, this is the motor. AMG once did some pretty cool inline sixes. Like back in the day, like the W124s had inline sixes and they had a couple of nice inline sixes. There was like a C30 or E E36AMG that was like pretty cool. I had like a hot, you know, dual overhead cam head and it was sort of like a BMW S54 type of engine. So this has this six cylinder and man, when you kind of. It's smooth. Really nice. The car. I think the car looks great actually. It's. And, and when you rip it, this thing is like, this has this real nice slick inline six like a BMW on a good day. Like a, like a good BMW inline six.

[B]

I hear what you're saying. Yeah, go yourself.

[A]

I'm into it.

[B]

Now. Would you take this over and 4 liter, you know, twin turbo.

[A]

Well, like that's not like an option right now. Like I, you, you know that 63 is like the four cylinder.

[B]

That's right.

[A]

That's gone.

[B]

So this is definitely better.

[A]

This is way better than the four cylinder. Way better. And like obviously that four liter V8 in the, in the big E63 is awesome. But given like what's great about AMGs is like the, the real AMG engines that feel special are like real are good. And, and, and that's kind of what makes it. And so this one is one of those where you go, okay, it's not, it's not the most powerful. Can you actually look up. I don't even know how much power it makes. I mean, I'll know when I need to know. I don't need to know yet. I've been driving it for one day. How much power does this make? Let's see.

[B]

429.

[A]

Yeah, it feels quick. It's got. It's a. It's a mild hybrid. So it's got a little bit of electric, a little bit electric assist. The stop starts really nice. Got good seats. I actually really like the ride. And is there more information? The. The convertible is 100 grand even, and it's got. This one's got a bunch of options on it. You know, good, good paint, good wheels. But.

[B]

Oh, wait, I might have been wrong. Might be 600 horsepower.

[A]

No, that's an E. This is the CL, which is more like. Gonna be more like the, I think the C class. Let's see.

[B]

443. That's.

[A]

Yeah, that's probably okay. Yeah. Okay. 443 at 5800. Yeah, that seems right. So it scoots. It feels. It feels powerful and quick. I. I like this.

[B]

It doesn't feel problematic the way, like the inline four is so buzzy and that ruins the luxury.

[A]

Yeah, that's the problem with those 45 with those four cylinders is like they're juiced up. Like, yes, they objectively make a bunch of power, but they feel like tuned up Evo motors. They don't feel like luxurious product. Yeah, this is a luxury engine for sure. I'm into it. Yeah. And actually my. My trainer, who is the. Is the. The arbiter of like, is this car cool in the streets? He was like, he saw that car and he was like, how much is that? Like 150, 160 grand? And I was like, no, it's 100 flat. And he was like, that's it. That's the one right there. It looks good. It looks better than the sl. It looks nice.

[B]

Nice. I haven't seen the front of it. I think it's parked here when I got here. But yeah, the engine makes sense. I love. I know I'm biased, but like the inline six is the lack of vibration. It's a smooth, luxurious experience.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

In a car like that, it makes a lot of sense. You know, if you're gonna go lesser than the big rowdy, rumbly thing, don't drop to this buzzy four cylinder.

[A]

Yeah. Especially like, this is the 53. But that's somehow the 63, like out of here. That's not good. That's no good.

[B]

Yeah, so.

[A]

So, yeah, let's go to the people.

[B]

Actually, we talk about Toyotas for a little bit.

[A]

Oh, dude, I've completely forgotten because I.

[B]

Went last week, two weeks ago, I went to Sonoma to drive every Toyota available on the planet.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

This was, this was Toyota thon. And what I think it was is, I mean, me being a cynical sarcastic was like, they don't have any major changes to any of the cars, so they just brought everything. And like, do you want to drive all these little increments at the track? I said, yes, I would love to do that. Because the great thing they did, they had the 2026 GR Corolla out there. They had a new, the final edition supra GR86 Yuzu edition and then Yuzu edition. Like fruit. Yes. It's yellow, it's got quad exhaust and.

[A]

It tastes delicious when you lick the dash.

[B]

Yeah, exactly. Yeah. You can eat the car. You can eat the car.

[A]

The snozzberries taste like snozzberries.

[B]

100%. I mean, it's, it's a very cool. It's a good yellow. It looks a lot like sonic yellow or anything else. And then they had the Corolla, like cross cabrio hybrid thing and I was like, I'll drive on the racetrack, please.

[A]

But open lapping.

[B]

Open lapping. Wait, no. Yeah, yes, open lapping. Once you do like orientation. But they, you had to do a pit in, pit out, couldn't do flyby on front straight into turn one. Kind of understand why. Also disappointing. I don't understand why they made up for it. They let us drive a rally course like a dirt road with no walls. I was shocked. In the GR Corolla, it was like two miles long. Really? Yeah. So I'll tell that story first. All day I. Their line for it was big, so I got in line for that. And you go for a ride with Ryan Turk. Super fun video. Putting up a little Instagram video tomorrow. Ryan is not a rally driver as he stated and as we know. And what was funny about it, he's.

[A]

A formula drift driver.

[B]

Yeah. If you're, if you're listening, like, yeah, he's a formula drift driver. He's a very good one. He's been doing it for a long time for Toyota and they kind of put him in this because he's like a brand ambassador. But meanwhile there was a gentleman who was doing like the Scandi flick instruction over at a dirt lot who's like a seven time national rally champ in the United States.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And I said this around. I was like, that's how you know how little money there is. An actual rally. Like, people do it for the love of the game, and it's the most fun in the world.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

But, like, the champion is like, champions over there. Because no one knows who he is. And he was such a nice guy, I forgot his name. I'll remember later. And so he would just teach. You know, the pro guy would just teach you to do a scandi flick in a dirt lot. So Ryan takes me on this ride. We hit 106 miles per hour up in the hills above Sonoma. On dirt?

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Over crest, big slides. And we get done. And he's like, all right, you can get in line and then get in one of the other cars. And I do. And there's a guy sitting right seat. He's driving instructor. The lack of oversight was perfect, Matt. Like, it's not like the guy just didn't say anything. And I was making a video, so I said, all right, let's do hand gestures. So if I need to slow down or stay right, just do that. And he's like, great. That's what we did. I didn't hit anything. He didn't feel. He didn't poop.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

But, I mean, I was sliding this car at 60 miles an hour, like, left hand, third gear. And then there was a handbrake turn at the bottom of a hill. So much room for error.

[A]

Wow. With using the handbrake and stock car.

[B]

Yeah, dude, it was. And this is Toyota.

[A]

Like, they automatics or manuals?

[B]

No, manual.

[A]

They were having you use the handbrake.

[B]

Yeah, it was the greatest.

[A]

That's shocking.

[B]

Shocking.

[A]

How was it on? How were they on dirt?

[B]

Really good. The car I drove under, it was a 20, 25. And we can get into the differences. I was very impressed with how it soaked up all the little bumps and ruts, and it just felt like really composed going around. Thing rotated really easily. Tires. I think it was on PS4s.

[A]

On the dirt.

[B]

Yeah. So at 70 miles an hour, it starts to, like, hum and skim. I felt it much more than when Ryan was driving. When he was driving, I was having a good time, but When I hit 70, I was like. Like, this feels up on its toes, you know? But, dude, the rotation was good. I mean, turbo lag is very evident after the handbrake turn especially.

[A]

But those things are no balls below, like four grand. That's why the tach is like, so 1,000 to 4,000 RPM is like an inch and a half. And then 4,000 to seven is like six inches.

[B]

Yeah, it's very clever of them to do that. But the shocks did a great job. The diffs did a great job. I didn't do left. I think I had left foot braked once and of course it's Toyota, so it cuts the throttle. So you really have to be careful about that kind of on off stuff.

[A]

You know what did the Audi RS3.

[B]

Oh, really?

[A]

RS3 would let me left foot brake.

[B]

Actually.

[A]

I was, I was kind of impressed. And the Golf R did too.

[B]

Did you have to put it in a mode to do that?

[A]

Yeah, the maximum. Whatever. I mean, it wasn't like a special mode, but it was like whatever. The highest performance track or I think in the Golf R was Nurburgring mode.

[B]

Yeah, I wish I understand why this car doesn't do it because of, you know, a little unintended acceleration thing back in the day.

[A]

Right.

[B]

But. But it did a great job on. On the dirt. It was a really good time.

[A]

That's sweet.

[B]

And then drove it on the track. And driving generations back to back to back is so valuable because the leap from 24 to 25 in the GR Corolla was so noticeable. They had changed. They put a little. There's a new spring inside the shocks. They had a softer rear sway bar, firmer rear springs. They made. Put thicker bolts in it, which they had on display, which I thought was. I made fun of it at the time. And then the rest of the presentations, like, we also changed the bushings, the springs, put a spring inside the shock change the sway bar. I was like, you should focus on that.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Because that did a lot bolt kind.

[A]

Of while you're in there.

[B]

They did the bolts for the 20, 24 year. But what I noticed is that the 24 car feels soft, feels the steering just feels like a little bit too squishy and light. And you could feel the rear inside wheel picking up on some of the tighter corners. In Sonoma 25, that was like gone. And then 26, they retuned the steering even more. They changed some suspension pickup points. And then the big thing was they added 46ft of glue to the shell. And they, you know, that was like 25 was like. They did a big changes.

[A]

Yeah, yeah. And then now they're like, we added glue.

[B]

We added glue. Which does a lot. I mean, I think they did that on the Civic Type R or something. That was a big story. But coming from the 25 where you could feel these huge changes, the car Was way more planted. It rotated better. 26 was like small tweaks. Did feel better.

[A]

And had to use the car every year though.

[B]

They are changing the car every year and it is improving and it was good to have that perspective. It was fun.

[A]

The only 24 I drove was the Marizo, which was like the crazy one. And I, I didn't love. I mean, I liked it on the track. It was, it was very stiff and abusive on the street. I thought it was kind of silly. The. The 25 premium was nice or whatever. The, the middle one, the good bits. Is it premium? Whatever it is, was. That was nice.

[B]

That's all you need. I think I had a great time driving it on the track. It felt way more like planted, agile. Everything about it was better and the 26 was even better. But if you get a 20, 25, like, you'll still be happy.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

But I would definitely get that over the 24.

[A]

Cool. What else did you drive?

[B]

I drove a Supra, which. That was like really small changes. Where's my note? Super. Was like a lot of software stuff. They changed diff maps, shock maps. They changed. They quote revised the camber angle. That's called an alignment. That was in the. That was in the. The presentation.

[A]

Revised hammer angle. That's a pretty good one. I like that. I'm going to use that.

[B]

That was funny. Little stronger underbody brace and some arrow tweaks. That was harder to notice the difference. And like, what it was interesting is jumping from the GR86 to the supra and then you notice how heavy the Supra feels And you know it's a fast car, but you just don't feel like you're as, I don't know, like locked in. It just doesn't feel as focused most. You are so good.

[A]

The 86 is actually the better car in a lot of way. Other than just speed.

[B]

Other than speed. But through the S's.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

I mean, the GR86 obviously changes direction more quickly. It just feels lighter and more fun and. Yeah, I like that car so much.

[A]

Yeah. I wouldn't be surprised if the downhill sections of Sonoma if your sector times are better in the Corolla. Yeah, obviously uphill. Yes. Power is going to. Is going to carry you. Although a lot of the uphill sections at Sonoma. 1, 2. Two of the three uphill sections of Sonoma are breaking zones.

[B]

That's true.

[A]

Turn one is a breaking zone, turn three is a braking zone. And then whatever turn up the hill before going down the big carousel. That one's on power, but that's only one power. Oh, the inside mildly uphill inner back straight.

[B]

Yeah. Almost flat nearest makes no difference kind of thing. But I mean, the Supra was much quicker than.

[A]

For sure.

[B]

For sure, for sure.

[A]

But like, I think. I bet the difference would be less than you think.

[B]

I mean, I think so. It was a really fun day. But yeah, the changes to the. The 86 was Brembos and better dampers and like the Yuzu gets the performance stuff that the other ones got.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

But it's mostly just appearance stuff. It has quad exhaust, which, like, it's a lot.

[A]

One per cylinder.

[B]

I know. And that's. But I know they did it with the STIs. But the GR86 engine is like naturally aspirated. Yeah.

[A]

Come on.

[B]

We don't need it with naturally aspirated for. It's just too many exhausts. It's trying the try hard.

[A]

Speaking of which, the new John Cooper Works Mini, you know, they do the center tailpipe. The new one is center. It's just one, like Boxster, not a double. It's just one, but it's one round, like two. It literally looks like a bung hole.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And here's what's really crazy. It's actually a dual exhaust, but the other outlet is hidden under the fucking bump. So there's a dual. There are two outlets, but you only. You have to look at the rear. Rear angle. I bet you no one's actually taking a picture of it. Yep, there it is. Look at the little blue bunghole. It's so weird.

[B]

It's weird looking that. I feel like I'm looking at a specific species of baboon. Where. Where'd it go?

[A]

I bet you Mini doesn't show that angle on their website.

[B]

Oh, come on, dude.

[A]

You're not. They're not even gonna show it. But so ashamed of their exposed pooper. They're not gonna show it.

[B]

It's quite big, dude.

[A]

As soon as they pulled that car up, I was like, yo, what are you. Doesn't it look stupid?

[B]

It looks really weird. Yeah. What is it reminding me of? You know when you're behind like a Baja Bug?

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And they have that one big, like, boom tube thing sticking out the back. Yeah. I think that's the only time it's. Because the bodywork around it is squarish.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Yeah. The dual. It needs the dual.

[A]

There's no good reason for not making that. The dual thing.

[B]

Yeah. Really, it looks aftermarket. That's the problem.

[A]

I don't know, like, like mini. Like, come on. What are you guys doing?

[B]

Because they're doing their dual exhaust. Looked great.

[A]

It did.

[B]

It was always a great symmetrical fit.

[A]

Dude.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

This is the jcw. Like it's always the whole always Mini has been base one single tip. Sjcw. Double tip. Always. Like this is very sad looking. It looks like it's just got a prolapsed anus.

[B]

Honestly, it has a busy weekend.

[A]

Wow. The mini poppers edition. All right, let's go to the people for a few minutes. I know they got a lot to say [e-mail] the Smoking Tire Podcast. Ask us questions for the show. Get the show live. Get the show before everybody else. Get the show extra and a whole lot more. Oh, schnikes. I thought I almost forgot. I gotta do a shout out to built by Basil. I think it's built by Basil. Might be Basil Bezos. Not Bezos. Definitely not Bezos. Built by Basil. Basil for making me this custom shifter knob for my spider. It's made from old skateboard decks and it's color matched for my interior with a sort of iridescent dyed red and then a black, I think it's ash of some kind. A black ash with a shift pattern on top in red and silver sort of a shaft to match the silver trim on my interior. I am very stoked. Yeah, I, I, I, I don't regret getting the alcantara race text on the seats and the doors. I love that steering wheel and the shifter. I don't love it. I, I don't grip it like I would normally grip it.

[B]

It's annoying because, you know, it's a precious material.

[A]

No, it's precious.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

So I, I'm waiting for the. Eventually the alcantara or the race techs on the steering wheel will wear out and I'll just have it replaced with leather and that'll be that. But the shift knob with the built by Basil, we get to avoid that. This is nice. This won't wear out. I like when the shift knob won't like isn't affected by my palm sweat.

[B]

Yeah, it's cool. I like those wooden type. Yeah, wooden shift knobs.

[A]

I do too. This is very, very pretty. I'm excited for this. I hope I can install it without breaking it. And it comes with a little Allen key, so I should be fine. Right? So the people say lucky man to count on both hands. The one I love, I respect for just, for just using Pearl Jam quotes as usernames. But let's try and tie it into something like I'm a lucky man to count on both feet. The clutch I press like that kind of thing.

[B]

Make it automotive themed.

[A]

Do you remember what the aha moment was when you made the decision to leave your normal jobs with to pursue a career in automotive journalism? Yes. I was stopped on the street by a my first fan in New York.

[B]

Interesting.

[A]

That was it. Done. You're good at this. Okay.

[B]

From like 08.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

Full time. Let's go.

[B]

Cool. I. I just. When we started doing the car show and I was able to quit waiting tables and. And then we lost the car show and I was like I definitely don't want to go back to waiting tables. Like I'll just be be. I'll just be broke for a while.

[A]

Dual wielding chevy Berettas say 2000s 20k convertible challenge NC Miata Z3 or Z4M Boxsters C5 or something else. 20k.

[B]

20. Wow.

[A]

That's like a lot for Miata C6 manual for. For 19k.

[B]

Yeah. It needed work.

[A]

But that wasn't target top.

[B]

That's true. That. That C6 did need seven grand to work.

[A]

True.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Convertibles are cheaper than than coops though.

[B]

Yeah. Okay.

[A]

You can get a nicer C6 convertible than you could a C6 coupe. For 20k.

[B]

I would go C6 coupe and then I would be below that. I would go Miata.

[A]

20K gets you a pretty nice Miata.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

It's like not a shitty one. Like 20k could probably also get you at 370z.

[B]

Yeah. But I gotta listen to it. My thing with Miata. Miata is the only car that when I drive it now with the top down I go this is great. But when I drive a Corvette with the top down I go I wish this was a coupe.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

One the top up.

[A]

I'll tell you what wild card you could get a the nicest E46 330ci convertible around around like the nicest one around for 20k.

[B]

That's true.

[A]

Yeah. Or probably like a driver grade E46 M3 SMG if you wanted to as well grounded to the ground. Do you remember a time when you saw a nice build go one mod too far? Yes, I've seen that. I've seen it a lot. You know where I see it a lot is like. Like in Porsches with like specifications where they do one one custom color thing that's like too much that it up like you know what does they say an engineer knows how to. How to build an artist knows when to stop. So people don't like know when to stop. And so I've seen people, yeah, they get one thing custom color matched or contrast colored and the whole thing sort of fucking falls apart. I don't, I don't want to name names but, but like you could. I mean with ma. With, with mods. Like I mean with mods the thing that kills it is like fake badging.

[B]

Like yeah.

[A]

Inventing a model that doesn't exist or like, or pretend badging it is something.

[B]

It's not a good example. Sad. Sent me this like 67 Mustang for sale because he knows Sarah and I are like curious about owning a fastback and it had a good engine, good transmission, blah blah blah. But they had stuck those three Buick holes, those press on things onto the fender which looks wasn't any ever part of Mustang. And also it makes me question this person's decision making ability entirely.

[A]

Right. I have seen cars where the car mods chosen were so bad that you then can't. Yes. You then can't trust this person to do anything else either because like that's where you decided that was good.

[B]

Yeah. This person used like castor oil for oil changes, you know. Or like peanut oil.

[A]

Yeah. Into the void says Zach. How content would you be with a G80 M4 and a Rivian as your 2 car garage? Why is that specific to you?

[B]

I have no idea. But I, I just rode in a Rivian R1S when I was up at Button Willow. Nice car ride isn't good. We've talked about this before. R1T rides well. The R1T is bad and the G80 M4 I think also rides too stiff. So I'd be stuck with two cars that I don't like the ride of. Also I wouldn't want the M4 because the two door is just too long. It's. It seems wasteful to me. So that's not my jam.

[A]

Yeah. Datsun says started listening to the beginning from the beginning and got here. Wow. Nicely nicely done given the amount of tech and ADAS systems that are so common now. Beyond the Manx, any interest in older cars where a relay is as advanced as technology gets? Not really, no. I mean, I mean even the Manx runs on a Motec. Dude. The Manx has an old vibe but is a modern engine running on a full on motorsport grade ecu. I was thinking this month I would write a column for Road and Track about why it's important to support these companies that are building really nicely done old Cars, but that are designed to be driven in the modern era. That could be Revology, it could be Manx, it could be Icon, it could be like, you know, Singer, whoever the fuck, you know. And there's other people making different stuff. But like, that shit is just way more interesting to drivers than even like the newest supercars or whatever. So like, I don't, I don't want something that's like carbureted. I don't, I don't really give a shit about that. But I just. But stick shift, you know, key start, you know, simple interfaces, not a lot of screens, knobs, levers, like, yeah, count me in for that. But electronic controls on the engine. Engine. I like fuel injection, I like an ecu. I'm okay with those. Those aren't. That's not too much for me. Right. Are you in that same boat?

[B]

No, but. But I like old cars. We've talked about it. Like, I like muscle cars, so. But I want to work. Some cars, it seems like, work better with an EFI system. Some cars get confused or grumpy and they work fine with carburetors. I just want something that works. But old simple is a good time.

[A]

And I don't mind the existence of ADAS systems as long as you just turn them off once and then they stay off. I mean, I don't, I don't want to have to hunt and peck for 30 seconds every time I start my car like that, dude. Johnny E.V. gearberman. Do you think manual swapping an SL500 R129 would be worth it for a vintage GT? I think it could. I think it could potentially add some interesting flavor to that car. Yeah, definitely.

[B]

Would that be better than the generation we drove? I mean, that's really just.

[A]

I think you'd end up in kind of the same place. Yeah, R129s are soft, they're squishy. But they did make a factory Manual Camisa owned one six cylinder, only three. A320 manual. 91 to 93. I think you get it. But like, it brought a lot of money. I'm bringing trailer. But like, yeah, I think a manual swapped SL500 would be very interesting. I really do. And I think it probably would be a cool talking piece and it would probably be very nice to drive and you'd probably get your money back out of it if it was done. Well, it's probably easier to do than the more than the 04 that we drove. There's probably less computers.

[B]

Probably.

[A]

Yeah, it makes a little less Power so you could. Your little less wear on the gearbox. But like, like it could probably be cool. I think it'd be fun. It probably feels sort of like a Corvette, honestly. Just like the one that we drove did. Demerit Parkway. Excellent. The Merit. The Merit Parkway in Connecticut is right by my parents house. And Demerit. Very nice. What is the price point crossover between a watch and a car as far as which you'd rather have? For example, I'd rather have a 5k watch than a 5k car, but at 50k I'm probably going with the car. It's an interesting thought exercise but. But my brain doesn't really work like that, you know, like it's not.

[B]

I think it's just very relative though.

[A]

So the question is really like what's the cheapest car you'd want to have?

[B]

Yeah, and what.

[A]

Right?

[B]

Yeah. And I guess what's the most expensive watch you'd want to have? Like there might be a watch out there that you know about that's 500 grand, but. I'm sure there is. But if you had that money to burn, would you spend it on that or would you spend it on, you know, an amazing car that you can drive around in?

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

So Singer deposit.

[A]

Right. So the. So I suppose it's. It's a fun either or. But if you have $500,000 to spend on a toll, whatever it is, let's just. You have to have so much more than that. It's like you, you can't. It won't be either or. Right. So I would say that the cheapest car in today's world that I would realistically want to spend any kind of money at all on is like 10 GS. So like under 10 GS, right? Like you're like, yes, there's some like gems out there. There might be some super special thing for like no money. But like if you're talking about a car, you or I would want to buy tens pretty rock bottom. Whereas a $10,000 watch is an unbelievable thing. That's a fucking. You can, you can go home. That's it. You could, you can tap out right there, right. If you're not a fucking junkie like me.

[B]

Right?

[A]

So 10 is the number where watch beats car. Anything under 10 over 10, there's a gray area, right? Because between 10 and like a hundred.

[B]

There'S like amazing watches and amazing cars.

[A]

And amazing cars. And so now it's like, well in.

[B]

That range you're getting cars that might also be appreciating Correct.

[A]

You get both cars and watches that are investment grade. So now we're not necessarily spending. Now we're parking. We're gonna. We could get that money back. And then over a hundred. Like, I'm not. Yes. There's one or two watches that are deep in the six figures that I think are amazing. And if I was really rolling like that, I could somehow justify spending 200 grand on an MB&F legacy machine. I would not feel comfortable wearing it outside. And not because I'm like one of those. They're gonna call it off your hands. People like that shit is not saying it doesn't happen, but that shit is way blown out of proportion. But still, I'd break it, like.

[B]

Yeah. Bump into a railing, smack into something like.

[A]

Yeah. I couldn't be trusted to wear something like that around. And that's why I wouldn't buy it even if I had the money, because I'd fucking wreck it. So with watches, I'm capped out at. I own one watch that it makes that I would be uncomfortable scratching. Matching. Just one out of, like, 30, so. And I only wear that one once in a while, and I feel like a little bit of a weirdo even though nobody else gives a shit. Yeah.

[B]

You only wear it in that room in your house that's just all padded walls.

[A]

I put it on.

[B]

I jack cashmere, and I put it. Because it's got a winder in it, right?

[A]

Yeah. I call it the baller.

[B]

Yeah. That's how you. That's how you wind your watches.

[A]

That would be. Someone should write a satirical column about that, about being addicted to wanking. But it's okay, because that's how I keep my perpetual cal day.

[B]

I take a different one out of the case.

[A]

Oh, boy. Watch question again, Franco. Specials. What is the watch strap you guys always recommend? There's like, a few. I like Bosphorus leather out of Turkey. I like the strap Tailor out of England. I like under the cuff straps, also out of England. Those are for NATO's. I like rubber B and Everest if you want the. The rubber oyster flex style straps. Straps. Horace Straps makes a good. A good strap. And I did taste the. And yes, I did taste the Frank Sinatra, Jack Daniels. It was good. Thank you, Franco. Control. Alt. Delorean.

[B]

That's a good one.

[A]

Good. Yeah. I recently had a child, and I was thinking about starting to get a few watches to keep. To have something to hand down to her when she's older. What would be the best investment? I mean. I mean, dude.

[B]

That'S this one. We. I mean, it's. No one knows what the future is going to be.

[A]

Yeah, this is so. So like, here's the thing. You had a daughter, something to hand down to her. Women like Cartier. So you have two. You have two. Two schools of thought here. One is you buy yourself a watch, you wear it, you make memories with her and stories. And it's your watch and you eventually pass it to her as a of you. Or you buy a. A dope, whatever dope Cartier tank you can afford and stuff it in a safety deposit box. It's not going to appreciate. It's just going to be what it be. But women love Cardi because another thing.

[B]

Is a watch that he might like that fits his wrist may not fit her.

[A]

May or may not.

[B]

So that's another thing of like handing it down. Like, now you can wear it and she might go, that's a 42. I don't wear a 42.

[A]

Right. Yeah. Now that, that's the thing, you know, if you're going to do the move where you wear it yourself, you should pick something on the smaller side so that if a female wanted to wear it, it wouldn't look insane. Hannah wears a vintage men's watch that I got her. Her Watch is a 34 millimeter, but it was. That was a normal size for the 1990s when that watch was made. Our good friend Jen has a whole collection of men's submariners and IWCs that are on the smaller side for men. But then they're a little big on her. But like, that's the vibe they're from.

[B]

Back when men were tiny men.

[A]

My mother. I gave my mother a notice canyon and she has a fucking tiny. The number of links I had to take out of this fucking thing to fit her. I was like, oh, I took out all the links. But like, you know, it's a little big, but. But she likes it, so. But don't go get a fucking Panerai, right? You know, unless you wanted to wear it as like a necklace or something. Something, you know. Brandon Chin. If you had 10 laps on a track of your choosing, would you rather drive the BMW E46 GTR or the Calsonic Nissan Skyline R32 GTR also, what track? Easy, easy, easy. Calsonic, Bathurst.

[B]

I'm gonna go M3GTR because I know that I just want to hear the noise and have the overstreet, you know, the Cal Sonic is such an important car in history. Nerve recording. Yeah, nerve wracking. I wouldn't even make it a lap. I'd probably crash.

[A]

I suffer from lotus. Electric Lotus. Electrode dysfunction. Electric dysfunction. That's pretty funny. You've experienced your stance against Instagram handles on cars in many podcasts, but are you willing to make exceptions? I've personally experienced two positive examples. @ car meets, I see someone's amazing build, but the owner is not nearby. And being able to find their IG to see the build process can be enlightening. Two, it's easier for owners to find cool pictures of their car posted online from the car meet if I can tag them in the post in either of these examples, they don't post any illegal driving. I mean, yes, I suppose that those are helpful situations if you did want to, like, find pictures of yourself and. Or find the person driving that car.

[B]

Right. Look, for every bad spiritual leader that gets caught touching a kid and gets sent to jail, there's probably one that doesn't do that.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

If you don't know what I'm talking about, check the news.

[A]

Yeah, no, look, I think it's fucking lame. Lame. I. I do. I think it's fucking lame if you're at a car meet. Like, that guy will be around eventually. Wait, I don't. Look, it's okay if you don't think it's lame. It's really okay. I don't if you don't think it's lame to put your Instagram on your car or to put other have there for other people to do it, like, that's fine. You don't have to think that I think that. I think it's fucking lame. So what? Whatever. And that didn't. Your. Your. Your reasoning, while valid, didn't change my mind. I don't. I don't need to see pictures of my own car on Instagram. I don't give a fuck. And if people want to find me, they can find me. But like, I get it. Sure, it's either of those two things involve people wrapping up their personalities in their cars, which I don't think they should do. Oscar Myers Manxmobile. That's fucking pretty. Pretty good. Pretty good. I just got new tires and an alignment for my daily crossover. Something seems off, but I can't tell if it's the tires or the alignment or a little of both. Can you describe and differentiate driving characteristics attributable to the tires versus an alignment? Man, that's tough. That's fucking tough. Okay, well, let's. Let's process of elimination this one from cheapest to most expensive. Right? Cheapest fix is you should check your tire pressures. It's possible someone didn't do a good job of setting your pressures.

[B]

Sure.

[A]

So if your alignment is good and your tires are all brand new, your pressures might be off. Maybe one's a little low or two a little low. So once you get that sorted. Next is make sure that. I mean, assuming your daily crossover, these are probably not like directional tires that are where one is mounted backwards, potentially. But if they are for some reason directional tires, there'll be an arrow pointing forward, which way they should roll, that it says rotation. So you want to make sure that those are looking. Those two things cost you zero. Next. I mean, something feels off.

[B]

I mean, I wish they were more specific, but I would say that if you address those things, if the car is pulling in a direction and if you're on a road that you know is flat, it's not crowned, it's not, you know, cut because of semi trucks driving on it. It's not slanted at all. All. It's not grooved. Find a road that is. Let's just call it neutral. And I think if the car is pulling, then it's probably an alignment issue, because if you have new tread on all four tires, they're all. They're all even circles. There's no reason that it should pull one direction or another.

[A]

Yeah. And yes, something seems off is a little vague. So the pulling is your obvious one that once the pressures are set, it shouldn't pull. The last one is your steering wheel could be misaligned, which happens sometimes. A lot. It's happened. I've had to go back to alignment shops multiple times because my steering wheel alignment was off 1 or 2 degrees, and it drove me off the fucking wall. So that's another one where your car could actually be tracking straight, but your steering wheel's off. So you're now holding your steering wheel straight, creating misalignment. So that's it, too. But like, generally like. And also, if you had old, shitty tires and now you have brand new tires, the car will feel different. So something feels off. I wish was a little more descriptive, but if the tires are new, they're set to the right pressures, and they're not facing the wrong direction, it's probably not the tires. It's probably alignment or steering wheel alignment. Alignment. Yeah. Either way, once you check your tires, you're going to probably end up going back to the alignment shop.

[B]

Probably.

[A]

Yeah. Dre from Houston, is there anything a car that you feel like you missed out on owning up to this point, if you're talking about stuff that it was like, buy it when it was new. Sure. I mean, I missed out on the Ford gt. I could have bought for a lot of money, but still less, a lot fucking less than it cost me now. And that's probably gone forever. The one thing is like, there's shit I want and then I don't get it and my brain kind of moves on.

[B]

Yeah. You know, good sign.

[A]

Like the Shelby GT350. I probably get an email once a month like, hey, I know you said you wanted one of these and I'm selling one with a thousand miles. And like you always said you want it one. It's like, no, I wanted to buy one new in 2016 to use as a car. Like it wasn't some childhood dream that I need to circle back on.

[B]

Right. Yeah. I think, I think I, I want to own like I want to own a mid, mid engine car. I haven't owned that. Like there's categories I want to hit, but there's nothing that goes like o. I wish I'd owned that. And now they're too expensive.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

So there's just so many things you can get. Well, actually Skylines, now they're too expensive R34s for sure.

[A]

And, and although I liked my 328 a lot, something tells me that if I had bought a Testarossa, I'd probably still have. Have it. I think they're a little more comfortable, a little more refined and a little more not usable. They're the same amount of usable, but.

[B]

Like, you don't think that would overlap with the Countach too much.

[A]

The Countach hasn't been driven this whole time, so probably not. But I think they're very, they're very, very solid cars. Testarosas are. And I think I, I think over time I'd probably appreciate that A lot. Lot. Plymouth Jewish Space Laser. Nice. Would it be Jewish? Plymouth Space Laser. I think you, I think grammatically Jewish goes before Plymouth.

[B]

Maybe. Yeah.

[A]

You always want to mention that they're a Jew.

[B]

You want to mention up front. Right.

[A]

Just so everybody knows what we're talking about here. When I talk about Soros. Yeah. I've had my SLK55AMG for a couple years. Rare cards. Very interesting and rare car. You should manual swap it was looking into supercharging it, but after watching your SL manual swap, I'm starting to think that might be more fun thoughts. Yes, a hundred percent. I guarantee you if you manual swap that car and you hate it. You get 75% of the cost of the swap back when you sell it, if you market it properly. That's a car that somebody would see on fucking cars and bids and go, that looks awesome. And it's already done.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

You know what I mean? And even for you, I think if you've already liked the car, don't supercharge it. It does not need that. That's dumb. The real problem is the traction control system on those, which is heinously bad. You'd have to eliminate it entirely, and then you'd have a little fucking hot rod. It'd be a good time. But, yes, manual swap. All dead, all day, every day. Let us know how it goes. Bad gardener says. Numbers and income aside, how do you feel about your current place in your journalism careers? Do you think you're as satisfied as you've ever been in Kings of the World? Are you still building? Do you miss the TV days even though they didn't pay? I don't know. How do you feel?

[B]

I miss the TV stuff because we got to do adventures and plan the adventures. I mean, we didn't get paid a lot doing them, but the money that went into the. The production budget allowed us to do cool stuff, so that was really fun. A king of the world. No, I mean, I think. I think we're all. I. I feel like I'm still evolving and, you know, finding things to do and, you know, exploring the different ways you can be an automotive journalist, host, whatever you want to call it.

[A]

Yeah. When you work on YouTube and doing podcasts, like, yeah, okay, numbers go up, numbers go down, whatever. But we're just, like, here kind of by ourselves. And so when I go work with the magazine on, like, performance car of the year or whatever, and it's like, there's 30 people there and everyone's got a job, you know, and someone comes up to me and goes, your job is to send all the cars sideways now. And I just go, that's my job. Like, what? Like a. There's, like, fully imposter syndrome. Because I am not Chris Harris, and I can't do some of the things that Chris and Jethro or, like, one of these psycho British guys can do. But at the same time, it's like, okay, like, a little bit of pressure. Like, fucking ratchet. Like, you could. You could have an expensive day right now. So, you know, you need to, like, up your game as high as it goes and, like. Like, fucking do a good job here and make this look awesome, but not break the car. And you know, if you do it right now, you know, but still like to go back to 30 years ago or 35 years ago to go, one day someone is going to ask you to slide a Lamborghini to look awesome for a magazine. And like, that's that, like, that's the, like this magazine that you're reading. Someone's going to go, hey, Matt, you half million dollar car, big fucking slide, 10 guys with cameras. Okay.

[B]

I mean, is that, in a way, that's what you've been working towards?

[A]

Sure.

[B]

So it's cool.

[A]

Yeah. I mean, if you don't get to set the lap times, at least you get to do the slidey bits. Yeah. Like it's one or the other, but like it's not. It's. And, and I do think in some ways the magazine offers a lot of what the TV show offers, but it's more fun because you don't have the stuff that goes with TV production that makes the fun thing less fun, you know, like with the magazine, a lot of ways it's like actually more pure. You have to stop down to do still photos and like, whatever, and you have to sit at your house and write it out. But like, you have the adventure in a very pure way, which is, which is really, really nice. That's fucking good. And also, you know, when you grow up, fucking having people tell you that you're like, only anywhere because you know you're fucking in this or, and, or some, you know, a little bit of money or blah, blah, blah, that didn't come from that.

[B]

He can't drive for shit.

[A]

He can't drive for shit. He tapped out in that McLaren after three corners. Zach's man. Jam a pillars, build a drift car from scratch. What chassis and engine would you pick and what track would you want to test at?

[B]

If I was, if I was going to build one, I'd do S13 or maybe E36 sedan. Like those work. They're known quantity. The dream build, of course, is the 33, like High Boy Ford drift car. But yeah, reality, I would just get an E36 or a S13.

[A]

Yeah, I mean, I, I, it doesn't, it almost doesn't matter what the chassis is. Right. You're, you're building the whole thing kind of. Anyway, I thought the Z was fun. When I did a Drift 101, that supercharged Z, I felt great. Made a nice drift car. Yeah, that LS E46, I thought was a fun drift car.

[B]

I forgot about that.

[A]

Yeah, those are cool. Like the LS240s and stuff. Those are. Those are fine. You know, to me, a drift car is a. Is a tool. It's not. It's. I don't actually care what the outside is like, so I like, yeah, I want to have a fox body, but, like, they're shitty drift car platforms. Actually. They're not that good. Good. I'd rather have the car that actually is the good platform for that activity is just a. Just a tool to do the fun thing. And. And I wouldn't. I wouldn't take that as a. As a style statement necessarily. You know, I watch.

[B]

Did you watch Grid Life at Laguna Seca this year? It looked awesome. I need to go to that. I keep putting other things in the way, but hurt got to drift the twerk stallion like down the corkscrew and he had a 360 camera on the roof and the whole thing looks sick. Did the whole course like that dude is living forza dreams. That.

[A]

That seems like a very good time.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Yeah. What track? Yeah, I mean, drifting Laguna would. Would be really fun. I. I got to do it a little bit with the 750 slide around Coda. That's a. That's a pretty fun place to be doing that.

[B]

What's the. I don't know. What has great, like, back and forth S's, like, linking stuff like that? Something.

[A]

Oh. Oh, well, Road America.

[B]

Yeah, I wrote it.

[A]

Wrote a Road Atlanta. Road Atlanta turns like three through five or whatever, has good S's. And then that whole. At the end of the back straight, you can use the actual formula D section.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Road Atlanta would be fast. Yeah, it'd be a good one.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Tim A. Would I ever drive the Demand Spider on track, like at the New Willow Springs? I'm curious how far off a Spider would feel from a GT4 on track. I mean, they shouldn't feel really any different. I mean, they're the same from the. From the shoulder down.

[B]

They're.

[A]

They're exactly the same car. Exactly the same. The roof structure and there's a wing. So I suppose you have. You'd have more rear grip on track with the. With the GT4. Maybe like a little better turn in, possibly from some difference in chassis rigidity maybe. My. My car now has PS4s's on it, so it wouldn't have as much grip as when it had the cup tires or if it had the Dunlops. But, like, it really wouldn't be like. I mean, it'd be fast because the motor, but, like, it wouldn't. It Wouldn't be that much different. Like, there's. I don't think it would be able to. Like, it's not like I wouldn't drive it on the track, like, but like, I'm not gonna go out of my way to. Because I'm not gonna learn something new. I don't really give a shit. I don't think it's a compelling video. The audience has told us a hundred times different types of ways. They don't like track videos anyway, so that's okay. Comfortable as a streetcar. Okay, wait, what's happening here, Lee? Oh, I have no idea. I mean, that the first half is like, call Paul and. What's Paul and Todd Hooked On Driving.

[B]

Is that what they call everyday driver? Oh, yeah.

[A]

I bought Hooked on Driving. Right? Isn't that it?

[B]

I think so, yeah.

[A]

Whipped cream saves lives. Where do I do track days in Utah and Colorado? I. I don't know for sure, but Hooked On Driving is our friend. Paul and Todd. They're out of Utah.

[B]

High Plains Raceway has great instructional days at right east of Denver.

[A]

Go there, as does Utah Motorsports Campus. And PPIR has stuff too. Pike Speak International Race Way and let's see. And I'll be going with OEM tire sizes. Would you recommend to install parts from carbon for suspension such as mono ball kit and toe link? Or just stick with OEM instead? Okay, wait, hang on. I'm guessing you've never done track days before, which is fine just based on the type of questions here. This is a new track person. Don't fuck with your car.

[B]

Right?

[A]

Just leave it alone. Go to. Go to the track, see what happens. Leave all the systems on, listen to the instructors. Eventually, not in day one and probably not in year one, but eventually you may want to change some of the characteristics of your car. And if that time comes, if. Then you can start talking about it.

[B]

But like, like, because you want to have the knowledge to understand why that part of your car is inferior to what you want to do. So if you just go buy this monoball kit and stuff and put it on because the forums tell you to do so, you won't know what it was beforehand. You won't really feel what it's fixing. So I would take that money that you'd spend on mods and spend it on tires, track days, instruction, and then you'll be a more informed buyer in the future.

[A]

Yeah. Do the Lancer Evolution. Last one and then we're out of here. Here. What car owner stereotype do you think holds the most truth? Mine was When I worked at a Volvo dealer, quite literally 95% of the customers that came in were listening to NPR.

[B]

It's funny.

[A]

It's a pretty good. Everybody's wearing turtlenecks, I would say, here in la. Tesla drivers not being. Not being very attentive Tesla drivers really not being the kind of people that care about the task of driving.

[B]

They're the new BMW M drivers. There are some aggressive of Model Y and three drivers out there. Yeah.

[A]

Yeah, that's one. What's. I would say that Pagani drivers are wearing expensive shoes. That's a.

[B]

Very relatable. Yeah. Everybody around the country's like, yeah, they're probably tired of that example.

[A]

I mean, like Porsche people. And the color, the thing with colors and options, you know, being obsessed over. I did Spike's show earlier today. He must have said whatever the color is of his car, iridium green or something, for his new Spider. He must have said those words eight times in the one hour I was there, which is like, it's a beautiful car. It's a nice color. Great. I'm happy for them. You know, Spider RS with comfort seats. That's a fucking. That's a choice right there. But, yeah, Porsche people in their colors all, all the time. Time, myself included. I'm not. It's nice to kind of have a white Porsche because. No. Nobody.

[B]

It's white.

[A]

Nobody. Which.

[B]

White. Yeah.

[A]

Thanks, everybody. We love you very much. Our patrons are the best. Get in on the [e-mail] thespokentyor thank you to all of you on this one. And more podcasts coming live from Willow Springs this weekend. Hope you got a ticket. It is sold out, but it's going to be a really fun time. And Zach and I will be out there all day on Saturday, so come say hello. Thanks. Bye.