Ferrari Luce; My Indy500 Trip; '27 Aston DB12S Review

Summary

The Smoking Tire Podcast – Episode Summary

Episode: Ferrari Luce; My Indy500 Trip; '27 Aston DB12S Review
Hosts: Matt Farah, Zack Klapman
Date: May 27, 2026

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Overview

In this episode, Matt and Zack deliver a vibrant, in-depth conversation spanning Matt’s first-ever trip to the Indianapolis 500, a hands-on review of the new 2027 Aston Martin DB12S, and their take on Ferrari’s all-electric Luce. The show is packed with humor, sharp automotive insights, and memorable firsthand stories—from the chaotic Indy 500 spectacle to dissecting design choices behind Ferrari’s divisive EV. As always, the hosts’ irreverent energy and industry access make for an entertaining ride.

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Key Segments & Discussion Points

1. Matt’s Indy 500 Experience

Timestamps: 02:00 - 48:26

The Spectacle and Culture

• Attendance & Atmosphere: Matt shares his amazement at the scale: “350,000 people… the largest single day attendance sporting event in the world.” (09:34)
• Vibe: “It’s much more blue collar than F1, but not as trashy as NASCAR.” (09:00)
• Comparison to F1 & NASCAR: The Indy 500 is described as somewhere between NASCAR’s rowdiness and F1’s glamour, but feels “more like a giant football game” (09:32), especially due to the stadium-like immersion and colorful marching bands.

The Racing

• Close Finish: “Closest finish in Indy 500 history—2 thousandths of a second between first and second, and third to fifth was about 3 feet.” (07:37)
• Spec Series Insight: Zack and Matt discuss how IndyCar’s spec chassis and limited variation keep the racing unpredictable: “So much passing… 70 lead changes.” (22:40)
• Rules & Onboard Highlights: They break down the no-defensive-move rule on straightaways: “You can’t respond to a pass by defensive driving… 0 defensive moves at Indy, unlike F1.” (26:27)
• “In a 500 mile race, in the last mile, five cars could've won.” (24:19)
• Hybrid Surge: Hybrid boost tech and its race-deciding deployment are explained: "He pulled out, hit the button… juice pass." (26:24)
• Memorable Moment: Matt describes witnessing the photo finish and the crowd's reaction: “You could hear the crowd… like the whole stadium.” (26:51)

The Scene & Logistics

• People-Watching: Checkerboard outfits, tailgate scenes blocks from the track, and the infamous “Snake Pit” party area.
• Museum Visit: “The prevalence of externally mounted giant turbochargers from the '70s is unreal—I'll post all the external turbos of IndyCar history.” (11:57)
• Access: Hot pit access and hospitality suites provided an immersive experience.
• Logistics: “Traffic was so crazy—even our police escort ended up in a traffic jam of police escorts.” (30:18)
• City Vibe: Outside the event, downtown Indy is quiet and filled with steakhouses, but “when all the people are there, there's a vibe.” (15:54)
• Rapid Response: “Never seen a more responsive cleanup crew, ever.” (28:44)

Quotes:

• “Checkerboards and nothing else. That’s a one-piece for dudes for that day.” (08:22 – Matt)
• “You should add [the Indy 500] to your list of things. It’s definitely worth doing.” (41:22 – Matt)
• “Racing was so tight for so long—if you didn’t have a monitor near you, you were lost.” (23:38 – Matt)

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2. 2027 Aston Martin DB12S Review

Timestamps: 52:26 - 69:03

Double Test Drive

• Both hosts spent a week with the $400k DB12S, providing perspectives on daily driving, long road trips, canyon performance, and fit-and-finish.

On the Road

• Ride Quality: Zack: “Softer than the Vantage S, but damped really well. Five hours—no pain.”
• Visibility and Practicality: “Easy to see out of, the interior’s bright and nice, unlike some sports cars that feel like a turret.” (55:51)
• Performance: Matt: “This car is really fast. The brakes are really good. It doesn’t get upset by bumps in the mid-corner.”
• Backseat Quirks: “Unless you’re very short, the back seat is silly… just get a shelf there.” (59:09)
• Legroom Constraints: “For all that extra space and weight, I didn’t get the one thing I wanted: more legroom.” (60:41)

Dynamics & Handling

• “The S variant—when Aston puts an 'S' on it, they’ve figured it out.”
• DB12S vs. Vantage S: “It’s hard to justify [DB12S] over a Vantage S—performs the same, if not faster.” (61:01)

Tech & Complaints

• Software Gremlins: “Had a few software hiccups… CarPlay Ultra never worked.” (65:01)
• ADAS: “You have to deactivate ADAS every time. The touchscreen is sluggish.” (63:05)
• Start/Stop Annoyances: Key fob recognition and unlocking process is glitchy (63:12–64:56).

Design

• “The rear end looks a lot better than the Vantage. I like the design much more.” (66:11)

Quotes:

• “They’ve done too good a job… it’s their fault. They’ve excelled too much with the Vantage S.” (68:27 – Zack)
• “DB12 and Vantage occupy more or less exotic space in people’s minds.” (62:17 – Matt)

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3. Ferrari Luce: EV Hot Take

Timestamps: 69:03 - 83:32

Impressions & Aesthetics

• Design Critique: The hosts eviscerate Ferrari’s design direction.
  • Matt: “I mean, this is a demolition man car… an iPad, not a Ferrari.” (69:40, 69:49)
  • Zack: “It looks like a Leaf… and these memes are making fun, but not wrong.” (70:07)
• Color & Comparison: “This orange looks like the Subaru Uncharted.” (70:13)
• Possible Inspiration: “I think they're making an attempt at a 70s/90s wedge era… but it’s not succeeding.” (72:22)
• Context: Both hosts think the inside might be “a nice place to spend your time,” praising the ribbed leather and suicide doors.

Market Reality

• Price Shock: “$600,000 for an EV—most rich owners see the top of EV experience at $150k.” (77:57–80:38)
• Sales Prognosis: “Even the Spectre, Sapphire, Taycans—don’t sell for MSRP. The market isn't there.” (77:57)
• Design vs. EV Problem: “If you want to do it… make it the best-looking thing in the world.” (81:09)
• Aerodynamics: “It’s just really hard to build a super efficient, aerodynamic EV that also looks great.” (81:18)

Notable Quotes

• “[Luce] looks like if you tried to Bertone up a Faraday Future.” (73:40 – Matt)
• “Even very rich people don’t see any EV experience as being worth more than $150k.” (80:15 – Matt)

Wheels & Proportions

• 23”/24” wheels making the car look less massive than it is.
• “Wheels look good but are enormous… if they were 20s, it would still be a big car.” (79:02)

Who Is This For?

• Possible niche: Chinese market or as allocation keys for better cars.
• “Who the fuck in LA wants this?” (92:03 – Matt)

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4. Audience Questions & Miscellaneous Topics

Timestamps: 83:33 – end

Fun & Quirky

• Monster Truck Speed Records, Oscar Mayer Wienermobile Racing
• Favorite car forums:
  • Matt: FerrariChat for events; realization: “You could be rich enough to own a fleet of high-end cars and still be the absolute biggest loser imaginable.” (90:22)
  • Zack: “VW Vortex, Nasioc, Club WRX.” (89:02)
• Strange Boat Engines: V12s in Thunderbirds, SHO Ford engines, Thai longtail boats.

Community Advice

• Swinger Cars: “JDM K-van or Delica… 0 toxic heteronormativity, seats lay flat for a bed.” (95:38)

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Notable Quotes & Timestamps

• “Closest finish in Indy 500 history—2 thousandths of a second between first and second.” (07:37 – Matt)
• “Indy is a college football game with intense fandom.” (09:43 – Matt)
• “For all that extra space and weight, I didn’t get more legroom.” (60:41 – Matt)
• “$600,000 EVs? Even rich owners don’t see value above $150k.” (77:57 – Matt)
• “[The Luce] is an iPad, not a Ferrari.” (69:49 – Matt)
• “If you want it, it has to be the best-looking thing in the world and give you a lot inside that’s amazing.” (81:09 – Zack)
• “You could be rich, but the absolute biggest loser imaginable.” (90:22 – Matt)

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Memorable Moments

• The crowd’s reaction to the three-wide Indy finish.
• Tailgating and checkerboard outfits at the 500.
• Matt’s impromptu car show in a court parking lot (54:19).
• The Oscar Mayer Wienermobile race with regional rivalries (51:08).
• Candid rants about the Ferrari Luce’s polarizing appearance.

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Flow and Tone

The hosts maintain their trademark mix of sharp automotive critique, playful banter, and firsthand storytelling. Language is energetic, irreverent, and peppered with analogies—from trash-talking Ferrari’s design team to celebrating the blue-collar spectacle of Indy. They balance gearhead technicality with genuine, accessible insights for passionate enthusiasts and the “curious-but-casual.”

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Conclusion

This episode is a must-listen (or summary read!) for anyone wanting an immersive take on the Indy 500, luxury GT cars, and the future (or not) of high-dollar electric Ferraris. It’s a lively blend of armchair wisdom, car culture anthropology, and two friends who live and breathe enthusiast cars—and aren’t afraid to call things as they see them.

Transcript

[A]

Matt Farah here. And today's episode is brought to you, as always, by off the Record. We love off the record here at TST. They are looking out for us 24 7, 365. If I get pulled over on one of my many adventures, I am not pleading guilty. I am getting off the Record. Don't get into arguments on the side of the road with police. That's no good. Just be quiet. Take the ticket. Call off the Record. They'll handle it. They have qualified attorneys in every in the country, and they will fight that ticket as hard as possible to keep those points off your record. Don't risk your job, your insurance, your credit, because you've got points on your license. Get off the [e-mail] TST that's offtherecord.com TST. All right, on this episode of the podcast, I had my first Indy 500 weekend. And what a weekend it was. I recapped it for you here. Plus, Zach and I give our reviews of the Aston Martin DB12s and of course, our thoughts on the all new electric Ferrari Luce. It's the Smoking Tire podcast. Let's go, guys. The Smoking Tire is giving away a 992.1 Turbo S. In partnership with Dream Giveaways, we are giving away a $275,000 car with some slick choice mod. The proceeds benefit charity and you don't have to buy any merch. It's a straightforward entry process. So hit the link in the show notes and get entered to win today.

[B]

Thanks, Steve.

[A]

Sound and visuals are good. It's kicking in, you guys. It's starting to float. I hello. Oh, say, can you see? Memorial Day at the Indy 500 is. What the fuck is up, you guys? How's everybody doing out there? I hope you guys had a good Memorial Day. Memorial Day is a good day because you remember things that happened in the past. You don't think about things that we're doing right now. You know, it's all fireworks and jets and things like that. And marching bands. Lots of fucking marching bands. Yeah. When you have a big oval to work with that has fans all over.

[B]

Oh, yeah.

[A]

Boy, do you. Can you bring out a lot of marching bands.

[B]

That's actually the perfect use. It's a marching band.

[A]

It's a great use of. Of a marching band. Yeah, yeah, yeah. How was your weekend, Zach?

[B]

Good. I went on a little Sunday drive with Phil Morris and Vinnie Russo and Tanis. We drove up to Carpenteria and it had amazing pizza. So I took the DB12s, which we'll talk about soon. Yeah, yeah, did that. Went and saw Corey Burns, his new baby. Saw the baby, which cried and pooped and stuff.

[A]

Gotta go see the baby.

[B]

Gotta see the baby.

[A]

You did it much better.

[B]

I gotta see the. I watched that show a lot and yeah, it was pretty good. Pretty good.

[A]

I went on vacation with Spike Ferriston, basically.

[B]

You did not.

[A]

Not really. It was a, you know, workation.

[B]

Not.

[A]

Not. It was a gig, but it was a good gig. It was a great gig. Basically, Spike and I were hired. I'll cut to the chase. To tell you kind folks that men over 50 are very risk for heart valve failure. It's a thing that doesn't automatically get tested for. And so if you already see a cardiologist regularly, a cardiologist is checking. But if you're one of those I don't go to the doctor unless something is wrong types.

[B]

Dad, I'm talking to you, Gary Klapman. Dad, the doctor talking to you, Gary Klapman.

[A]

The doctor doesn't go to the doctor.

[B]

Nope.

[A]

Perfect. Basically, Edwards Life Sciences wants us to tell you guys to get your valves checked. Literally. There are so many. Zach, when I tell you the number of overused car and racing metaphors to connect the heart valve and being alive to an engine finishing a race, there must have been meetings on meetings on meetings.

[B]

Well, they know who they're talking to. They want you to understand, get your valves checked.

[A]

So they would love. For me, for you, anyone going to their physician, ask about getting a heart valve test. It's a non invasive test. I got it done. It's like literally five minutes. And they basically take a thing that looks like a computer mouse and rub it around your chest for maybe 30 seconds and that's it. And then they email you your results like a week later.

[B]

Oh, it's like an ultrasound.

[A]

Basically. They test for. For like a murmur, you know, and if you have a murmur, then you need to go to a cardiologist and then they'll go. But like, they're not selling heart valves over here. They just want you to fucking. I mean, they are. They do.

[B]

Actually, I was gonna say they looks like.

[A]

No, no, they're not selling you a heart valve.

[B]

Oh, right.

[A]

You're not gonna go to the doctor and go, I'd like a Edwards Life Sciences heart. They're just gonna put.

[B]

Just do the test.

[A]

But yeah, yeah, but it's like the kind of thing that. Where. It's the kind of thing where you might, like, die while Running. It's one of those deals where, like, the person has the heart attack just out of nowhere. The otherwise healthy person.

[B]

Your bearing goes out of spec, you suddenly have no oil pressure. And the engine grenades. Did they use that one?

[A]

That's why we were there. For me to say that bit.

[B]

Did they use that metaphor?

[A]

So many. I mean, if it wasn't to that. If it wasn't to that, it was like within a word of that. Either way. So it was my first Indy 500 spikes 2. And actually on our Patreon, probably tomorrow, Wednesday, there'll be the Me and Spike BTS Level 1 podcast from our hotel lobby. We stayed at this Hyatt downtown Indy, which was like one of those 1989 high concept everything is an indoor mall places. So it was like hotel office building and the saddest dying mall you've ever seen all in one.

[B]

All right.

[A]

Giant atriums, real atrium construction, atrium era. All in the atrium. It's all about that atrium. 300ft tall.

[B]

Right. And you can see the hallways on the inside.

[A]

Correct? Correct. People be jumping from the 20th story, I guarantee you. But so it was. So we did a podcast from the atrium. Kind of echoey, but the race is. It's different than I expected. Some of it was exactly what I expected. It is a complete shit show in terms of the people watching. In terms of. And I haven't posted any photos yet because of the deal with. The deal with this Edwards is it's an Instagram deal. So there's gonna be like an official series of posts that just aren't posted yet.

[B]

Got it.

[A]

That's what I'm saying. But as anyone who looked at car news over the weekend, closest Finish in Indy 500 history buries the lead actually a little bit, because everyone only cares about the winner of the Indy 500. The gap between third and fifth place was even smaller. Whoa.

[B]

It was 2/100 of a second.

[A]

Thousandths. 2/000 of a second was the gap between first and second. And the gap between third and fifth after 500 miles was about 3ft.

[B]

Whoa.

[A]

It was about a nose to a front axle, like between third, fourth, fifth. The photo.

[B]

That's so cool.

[A]

The photo is fucking incredible. I don't know if it's been published. It must have been published. But they have the camera to get the photo finish that's like right on the line. And it was. And I saw that and it was like the fucking coolest shot. Just three wide. Like if this is a vertical line.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

It was like 2 degrees right.

[B]

Like they're flying in formation, you know, 4gt style.

[A]

Yeah. It was so, so. And that finish was just unbelievable. So like things that I thought would be. I knew it was gonna be crazy. It was 350,000 people. I didn't realize the extent to which people wear checkerboard fucking everything. Every article of clothing you can imagine comes in checkerboard out there. And a lot of dudes are in the Daisy Duke overalls. Checkerboards and nothing else. Wow. That's a one piece for dudes for that day. You know, you've got the.

[B]

The clothing for winners, really.

[A]

Yeah, it's much, much. It's really funny because it's like much more blue collar than F1. Like much more blue collar than F1, but not quite as trashy as NASCAR. So if you take the F1 to NASCAR spectrum and you compress them tighter into just in general more normal people, then you would see it either.

[B]

Is it like a giant football game, essentially? I mean, people that are drunk, people that aren't drunk.

[A]

It's such a giant football game because it's a huge.

[B]

What's the attendance?

[A]

It's like a 350,000. It's I think the largest single day attendance sporting event in the world.

[B]

Wow.

[A]

But football game is totally right. The atmosphere is very much football game rather than car race, which is like in terms of just the energy flow if you're just in the crowd, like that type of vibe. For sure. So much so that on the third day I started calling the track a stadium. I started using the word state. I feel like I like caught myself a couple times, like, fuck am I doing? But like, if you're not driving in the race, it feels much more like being in a stadium than it does like being in a track.

[B]

Interesting. Now, do you feel that way about like Daytona? You know, it's an oval. It is shaped like a stadium. There's an open end. Of course.

[A]

I think because people are all the way around the outside of this fucking place, you know, that it really. That it had a.

[B]

There's no opening.

[A]

I didn't like intend to use this word. It just came out and then it came out a couple more times on accident, which I thought was a. Was a funny and odd thing and.

[B]

Wow.

[A]

Yeah, it was crazy. So the. So that was. It was more. It was a little more compressed in terms of like. Yeah, more. It was a college football game with intense fandom. But the grandest grands were not as grand as F1. And the garbage is garbage was not Anything like the infield of Daytona or Talladega or even the outfield or the infield at Sebring, which is insane. There's this snake pit area where there's somewhere between a concert and a rave happening. It's huge. The place is a huge. So there's way over there. We were up on the roof of the Rahal Letterman Lanegan team, like, trailer. I mean, trailer. Nice trailer.

[B]

Yeah. It's like a condo.

[A]

Yeah. Up on the roof of it. And, you know, we were looking into the entrance into turn one, which is a pretty cool view from that thing. But you would just turn around and there's like fireballs happening. Like 50 or 60,000 people have no idea there's a race going on.

[B]

Yeah. I mean, I saw a clip from Dega in, like, the infield at night. There was an actual, like, strip club happening. People just go, oh, yeah. It's an excuse to party.

[A]

The Indy museum, which is inside the track, is really cool. Worth a visit. Shout out to the volunteer who was wearing the white dial Daytona. I spotted. I was like, you don't need to be here right now. You're here for fun. And the prevalence of, you know, they have Indy cars from pretty much every era. They don't have every winning car, but they have, like, a lot of the winning cars in the museum and at least one from every era. The prevalence of externally mounted giant Turbochargers from about 1972 to 1980. They would just like. The car would look like a car from the 60s, essentially, but it would just have like a turbo this big just sitting here outside the bodywork by itself. I took a lot of pictures of those. I'll do a post on Instagram later. That's just all the external turbos of IndyCar history. And it was quieter, much quieter than I expected it to be. I did not really need any kind of ear protection. I mean, that's not medical advice. If you're going to be at a racetrack all day, you should probably have ear protection. But if you were not right up on the track, it really wasn't that loud. We also got invited very graciously into Tag Heuer's hospitality suite. The suites at Indy have the best noise insulating glass I've ever seen. If you stand there and look through from. If you stand like 20ft back from the window at that suite and look at the front straight and the cars going by, it looks like you're watching an IMAX screen on mute.

[B]

Whoa.

[A]

It bugged me the fuck out. You hear Nothing weird. It was really weird.

[B]

It's so strange. You're like, yeah. Cause on the one hand, we're in an era where people want cars to be louder. Or is it like racing? Are the cars too quiet and whatever, but up there they go. Actually, we're over it. I wonder if they built those when the cars were loud as fuck.

[A]

It's been there for a while. I have no idea when it was built, but the cars, I think sound pleasant. An Indy car is a very nice sounding Indy car.

[B]

They sound much better than F1 cars.

[A]

They do. And it's just not that. I mean, compared to like you go to a NASCAR race compared to a NASCAR race. An Indy car race ain't nothing. An Indy car race is like mosquitoes in your car compared to a fucking car. Yeah, it's nothing. And the dope suites do have the bleachers on the roof so you can be in the suite and then go outside and up to the roof and there's bleachers, which is where I met Danny Ricardo. What a treat. I got to meet Bobby Rahal, of course. We're buddies with Graham Rahal, who was incredibly gracious. He let me drive a couple cars and we'll. I'll talk about that in the next show, but got to meet John Force. Whoa.

[B]

That guy. Legend, Legend, legend. Nutty.

[A]

Yeah, Tough. Uh huh. And that was very cool. And there was a bunch of fun people there. I saw a lot of our friends there. And you know Indianapolis though, at least like downtown Indianapolis, apparently all of the nice parts are out in the suburbs. And I'm not saying it's like bad, but like, it's one of those places where like downtown just kind of clears out at night. And that's where our hotels were. And like every, every single restaurant was a steak restaurant. It was like, that's all. There was like 35 restaurants. And like it's when this race isn't going on and there's all these people and tough to do it. It must be tough down there, you know, but when all the people are there, there's a vibe. And you, everyone you see this Guy's wearing a McLaren jacket and Honda jackets and you know, these different teams. And like I saw Zach Brown and like, you know, everybody, everybody's like kind of on a mission.

[B]

Wait, Zach Brown was there this weekend?

[A]

Sorry, yeah.

[B]

Musician or McLaren guy?

[A]

McLaren. Zach Brown.

[B]

Oh. Cause they had a race this weekend.

[A]

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[B]

Yeah.

[A]

So it is entirely possible that he could be flying back and forth potentially multiple times a day.

[B]

Wow.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

How far is it. How far is it from Indianapolis to. What's the. Why am I blanking the name of the track in Montreal?

[B]

Circuit.

[A]

Circuit de Gilles. De Gilles Villenes. Thank you. How far is that distance can that be? It might be able to be done by like long range helicopter direct from track. The influx of an outflux of helicopters from the track were pretty hardcore. How far is that?

[B]

Let's do Indianapolis.

[A]

The. The track looks really cool from. From above. When you fly in and out, by the way, it looks just enormous. And you know, it's like. It's like the Rose Bowl.

[B]

It was like 850 miles.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

He's in a P.J.

[A]

that's a jet.

[B]

Yeah, yeah. And then it's chopper to jet hours.

[A]

Chopper to jet. Yeah.

[B]

All right, well, listen, you know, McLaren didn't have the best weekend of it, F1, so.

[A]

Yeah, so. But I did see him briefly and, man. So the racing itself, I've never paid much attention to speedway racing. I mean, I've watched the Indy 500 on TV before, but I don't follow speedway racing so much. With these effectively spec cars, you've got one chassis, you've got two engines, you've got a very limited amount of tire choice. It's really all about the setup and the driving. Right. And if you dude this race. I don't know if I've ever seen a race that was like, quite as like, wild card as this motherfucker. Like the difference between first and last in terms of Pace is really close. Really close. And unlike F1, where after a couple laps the cars really do spread out

[B]

quite a bit, this weekend was a terrible, very clear example of that. The deltas between cars was like 25 seconds. 25 seconds. It was precession.

[A]

So this, it's a tight pack for almost the whole race. And anytime there's a yellow flag, 95% of the field will instantly dive into the pits together. So like the whole fucking field's doing a in whole field's going back out

[B]

together like a school of fish.

[A]

And they're all just going to be super bunched up. So they repack, repack, repack, repack, like all the time. And you know, the number of passes, like there were 70 lead changes. 70.

[B]

Whoa.

[A]

Yeah. And like we were watching, you know, I'm not really invested in anybody, but I'm friends with Graham and so, you know Graham's my guy. Right. So Graham, you know, Graham goes from like 28th to 6th to 12th to 13th to 20 seconds. And in a matter of like four minutes. I mean, it's just like the cars are just like swirling around each other. It was a very different type of open wheel racing than you see in Formula one. Very cool stuff. I mean, very, very cool stuff. But so much passing was happening that if you didn't have a functional monitor near you, then you would just like you're lost in two seconds. But it was really, really cool to see racing that was so tight for so long.

[B]

Yeah, especially, I mean, the spec series helps with that. But it's cool that there's so much shuffling. Even though it's a spec series, it's not just whoever's the best gets out front. They sit there for 500 laps and everybody else kind of trails in behind in the order they normally finish in. There's a lot of swapping around without any of the, you know, this year in F1, they've got more hybrid boost, they've got different wings. Like these things have kind of gamed the racing so there's a lot more passing.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

But it does feel a little inauthentic.

[A]

Yeah, but I mean, I just. How do you argue with a fucking a 500 mile race where at the second half of the last lap there were five people that could have won?

[B]

That's crazy.

[A]

But in this, in this last mile of a 500 mile race, you've got five possibilities to choose from. And if you did, you happen to watch the onboard of the finish.

[B]

Mm, I watched the exterior shots of the finish.

[A]

The Onboard of the. Like this dude, Felix Rosenquist has. Felix Rosenquist has the best motorsport moment that a fucking person can have. I mean, to make that the perfect pass at the very last minute, you know, using that saving and then you deploying that last bit of fucking hybrid boost right at the exact time. I mean, like, unbelievable.

[B]

They are hybrid boosted.

[A]

They are.

[B]

Oh, I misspoke. I thought they were still just.

[A]

No, they have a hybrid boost that charges over however long it takes to charge and then you can deploy it for however long you've got.

[B]

Yeah, this is the onboard.

[A]

And the. Dude, the onboard. This is. Turn it up. Just make it loud. We'll get busted. So his radio, guys, in his ear. This is so dope. Okay, so he's in third following two cars. He's gonna go to the outside. Oh, he's like an inch from an open wheel.

[B]

That is crazy.

[A]

On the outside.

[B]

Oh, God, they're going so fast.

[A]

And the banking is. Look how shallow the banking is, too.

[B]

When you're there, you stand on it like, I've been there for filming and it feels steep, but when you look at it, like, compared to Daytona, other places, it's all. It's not nearly as.

[A]

And look at this. He's so far behind the guy in first in F1, he's not making this pass. So he's. The guy in front is not allowed to defend this pass, as per rule. Right. So when he goes for the movie, look. Oh, I think so. I think there's a delay because he goes over the line before he says deployed. Deploy. I think there's a delay in there somewhere. But, like.

[B]

So he pulled out, hit the button. Yeah. Juice pass.

[A]

And he's not. They're not allowed to defend that. I think in F1 they're allowed one defensive maneuver. Correct. You're not allowed any in India car.

[B]

Oh, wow.

[A]

On a straightaway.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

What they do, you could see him. They do the. You can make the car wide, but you can't respond to a pass by defensive. I think you could do it once in f1,00 times in speedway racing.

[B]

Wow.

[A]

But holy fuck. You mean. And like, you can hear, like, when something happens. Like, you could hear the crowd like, Like. Oh. Like the whole stadium was like, really, really very. And oh, by the way, look, look, Zach, look behind. Look at the three cars wide for the 3, 4, 5, right behind there.

[B]

So tight.

[A]

That was so tight.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Wow. Really, really amazing, amazing race to watch. I mean, right. Right down to the end. And yo, they couple more things about this. There Was like, you know, there's a threat of rain all weekend, and fortunately, the race was able to. But there were a couple short rain delays, dude. And I know it's a big track and it could be. There could be more rain over here, but we're sitting there, and it's like, doop, doop, doot, doot. Red flag. Like, the fifth raindrop I felt on me. Red flag. Race stopped. And they start just the whole time. The whole time during the red flag, they've got, like, six jet dryer trucks doing laps at, like, 120 miles an hour. These big 350s with jets on the back just ripping.

[B]

Just gonna cook it off.

[A]

Cook it off?

[B]

Who?

[A]

I don't. It was maybe six minutes, red flag. Like, boom. Three. Three yellows and green flag again. And, you know, there's. I've never seen.

[B]

There's.

[A]

There's a bunch of crashes, obviously. Fortunately, I don't think. I don't think there were any injuries. One happened close up and right in front of us, and I was like, God damn. And then left a huge mark on the wall. I was like, yikes. I've never seen a better, like, more responsive rapid response rescue crew and cleanup crew. The best I've ever seen.

[B]

Wow.

[A]

I've been to a bunch of races. I've never seen it like this. Like, there's so many of them. They're out on the track so fast. Like, they're like. Everything was like. I mean, I'm sure there's people, like, calling the ball all over the place, but, dude, I've never seen these guys get to a car, get the yellows out, get the debris going, get the sweeper going. Get, like, fast. Really fast. I was like, fuck, that's great.

[B]

I wonder if they have multiple teams around the track. Okay, they do.

[A]

They're stationed all over the place. Yeah. So they can get there really fast. It was. It was amazing to see how fast they could get to folks. Yeah. Really wild. Such a good time. It is definitely. You should add it to the list of things. But, like, fuck. Getting in and out of that place. We were. We thought we were gonna be. We thought we were so pimp. Because they were like, we've got a police escort. We're like, sick. Police escort. That's fucking dope. We own this town, motherfucker. That's right. I then learned that anybody who's anybody gets a police escort. Like, even if you're like. Like, every team that has a car in the race gets, at minimum, two 50 passenger buses. Police escort. Wow. Because you got it. The traffic is so fucked. You gotta get your people there. The buses left at like 7 in the morning. It's five hours before the race. Technically. Not. Technically, we did get police escorted, but there are so many police escorts that at one point we were in a traffic jam of police escorts.

[B]

It's called a parade. Yeah.

[A]

Three police escorts came to one intersection together. And all had to go like this. And dude, the traffic, the traffic was so crazy. Even our dope police escort, we had to put the buses, you know, they had to put all these buses, 50, 60, 70 buses, like half a mile outside the stadium, you know, behind some fucking Amazon transfer station or something. And you know, we had to walk in, which like, fine. But then getting out the road is closed for an hour and a half after the race because it's just people. Cars can't leave. Cause it's the whole like six lane road is humans.

[B]

Whoa. Just walking to their cars.

[A]

Just walking to their cars.

[B]

Wow.

[A]

And so like, nobody can leave. And then like you walk back to the buses and then you're like, now we're stuck here for. You know. And they're like, you better be there because the bus is gonna leave you. And you're like, shit, I better be there. And then you get there and you're like, buses can't go anywhere. Bus can't go. Fucking.

[B]

I mean, there's 300,000 people trying to leave. There's only so many on ramps, off ramps, like that's just what it is.

[A]

Yeah, no, I mean, like, if you have any way of swinging it, like

[B]

get the chopper, you know, who's gonna invent teleportation first? Or you know, stadiums. And they always go. You can just go to where you

[A]

need to go, you know. And man, people were. People were fucking hiking in for so far away, carrying just huge coolers on their backs and whatever. You know, you get a. You can get a GA ticket and just like sort of post up, you know, wherever, under a tree, you know, or you can get grandstand or you can get, you know, the better stuff. But also like so many people. So many fucking people. Tens if not hundreds of thousands of people just like set up a tailgate somewhere in the vicinity of the track, you know, with like a flat screen in the back of the F150 and a fucking barbecue going and 20 or 30 people. We drove by like the mall parking lot just full of tailgating. It was like, you know, a couple blocks away from the stadium, but like, you could probably hear the cars, like you probably could hear the cars going fine. And you're watching. Like, that's so interesting.

[B]

I mean, and I get. People just want to be. They want to be part of the experience even if they're not in there. Being close is still better than staying at home, you know, wherever you live.

[A]

Yeah, and apparently there aren't any like laws on 500 day regarding where you can and can't do this. There's also a shitload of people because I guess they have. The bulk of the motor sports that happen at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway happen during the month of May.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

So a lot of hardcore folks in RVs and shit will just spend the entire month of May at the stadium. Guys, support is coming in today from Delete Me. Have you ever thought that you should really be doing something to protect yourself from stalkers, scammers and hackers, but you're not really sure what? I have the answer. Here's what you do. Go to www.joindeleteme.com tire and enter code tire. You'll get 20% off DeleteMe. Delete Me removes the personal information that's being sold online. And so when you get Delete Me, you are basically getting that information off the Internet, right? In the age of AI, we are particularly vulnerable to scammers finding and using your personal data floating around on the Internet back against you. You ever googled yourself and found your home address, your phone number or the name of a family member? It can be very unsettling, but Deleteme can help. What you do is you make an account at DeleteMe. It's very affordable, as little as over $8 a month. Join DeleteMe.com Tire Code Tire and you make an account, you put in your information. It seems counterintuitive, but that's what you do. And then Deleteme goes to work. They find everything about you on these data broker websites. Some of it they can file automatic instant takedowns. Some of it you have to click on a couple things. Some you have to enter a signature or two or fill out another form. But the next month they do it again and then again and then again. And every time they find less and less and less and less. And it's not a one time thing, it's an ongoing thing because you're still active on the Internet in this time. You're always putting it out there, so you have to keep up with it. But. But I found a reduction in spam, a reduction in weird harassing texts, those fake scammy phone calls, things like that. You can do it too. Take control of your data and keep your private life private by signing up for deleteme 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% is to go to www.joindeleteme.com tire and enter code tire at checkout. That's joindeleteme.com tire codetire. And we are also fully supported by bluechew. You know what I mean? Because the future of erectile function is here. It's bluechew Gold and it's changing the way millions of men are having sex in 2026. The new arousal boosting formula combines passion and performance into one tablet that dissolves your tongue for super fast onset. No more waiting for a pill to kick in. No more moments ruined by performance anxiety. Just the results you want when you want them. Most ED meds are only focusing on blood flow, but bluechew Gold goes further by combining two ingredients for blood flow with two for mental arousal and connection. So you're not just physically ready, you're actually in the mood. This type of innovation is why bluechew Gold is the number one brand in erectile function. The process is simple. It's all online. Started [e-mail] and go for gold. Listen, it's not about need. It's about want. It's about improvement. Ladies, if you're out there, I know there's at least two of you. Send your man the link. Make him a trophy husband with that bluechew Gold podium position, baby. Turbocharge your love life and make it easy to get hard. Discover your [e-mail] with a special deal for our loyalty listeners. Right now, when you get two months of BlueChew Gold, you get the third for free with promo code TIRE. That's promo code TIRE. Visit BlueChew.com for more details and important safety information. Thank BlueChew for sponsoring today's podcast. Again, BlueChew.com, code TIRE. And now back to the show.

[B]

That's rad. I would love to attend. I've heard from everybody who's attended now, including you, friends that have been to every kind of race in the world and they're like, it is so special. The racing's really good. It's really tight. The speeds are insane and you don't. It's such a big track that you I don't. For you, like, you're standing there, you know, the straights are, like, what, two miles long?

[A]

The straights? No, the whole track's two and a half. But just because it. Because of how it, like, looks like the straights are, like, long. I mean, they just. You look down, you're like, fuck, that's so far away. And also, I think the. The grandstands at the end of the outs aren't as tall, and so there's a foreshortening effect. It looks even further.

[B]

Your brain thinks there's nothing tall out there.

[A]

Yeah. When really it's half the height of the grandstand. That's right here on the main straight.

[B]

That's a cool trick.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Yeah. So it looks like it's forever.

[A]

Yeah. Yeah.

[B]

But when they're coming in, you know, they're going 200 and whatever, 30 miles per hour.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Is it a blink and they go past?

[A]

Just if you're on the main straight or somewhere, like, you know, close to the close view of the track, they're flying by. They're, you know, flying by. But you. But there's also lots of places to get a nice wide. They had some tickets out on, like, turn three. You know, we were in an elevated position on the inside of turn one. And you. Can you get a nice kind of a. There's a lot of places to get a panoramic view as well. I think if you were trying to see the race from the ground, you're not going to see much. Although we got hot pit access during the race. That was fire. That was because, like, you know, a. The pits are much more accessible than in F1 or in an endurance race. In an endurance race or in F1, they have these massive hot pit setups with these really big risers and the race strategists and, you know, whatever. And it's. There's a whole. There's so many fucking people in IndyCar. There are no big risers. The tallest thing is the fueling stack and. Or a single level pop 10. There's only about seven, eight people in the pits. There's not that. Weren't that many people. There's nothing blocking your. So you. I could sit here. Right on. There's a line on the ground. You still have to stay here. Okay. But, like, I could stay here, and I'm 20ft from the car that's just pulled into the pit, and I'm not. My view isn't obstructed by anything. So that was, like, really cool.

[B]

That's Rad.

[A]

And then we walk down to the end of the pits and we were just at, we were at the end of the last pit and realized that like, there's just an open view, ground level of the entry to turn one right here. It's like the fucking paramedics view of the corner. And because you're at the last stall, no one's coming by you with tires or anything. And like, fuck, we just sat down there for like a half hour just on the entry to turn one.

[B]

Sick.

[A]

I watched one of the fucking first responders, like fucking falling asleep like Trump in a cabinet meeting.

[B]

Just like those guys, they're just sitting. Or those people, they're just sitting in their stomach and they sit in the warm truck or whatever. And on hour three, you know, what are you gonna do?

[A]

Yeah, it was, it was a very, very cool experience that I would love to repeat again now that I, now that I have a little firsthand, a little knowledge especially I'd love to repeat the trip again. Nowhere to drive out there, though. Fuck me. We'll talk about a couple cars I drove on this trip next show.

[B]

But yeah, the roads are straight.

[A]

The roads are no good out there. That's a fucking tough look. And I'd say poor Graham, and I don't really mean that because Graham has quite a nice life. So he's no poor Graham in this house. But when it comes to roads to enjoy some really dope cars on, boy, does he have a lot of nothing.

[B]

Yeah, it means that he has to go to a track or go to a far off place to enjoy the car. You can't just pop out of his house like we can.

[A]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. So he let me drive a couple cars and we'll talk about those next week. But thank you again to Edwards Life Sciences for having me out at Indy. There's a little BTS about me and Spike's experience vacationing together that'll be on the Patreon. It's audio only, but you know, it's there. And it was a pretty funny show actually. And yeah, get your valves checked. The website is literally getyourvalveschecked.com. like that's, that's where you do it. And you can learn about it to do totally non invasive. Could save your life. Very easy.

[B]

Oh, stay in the race. Oh, you weren't kidding, bro. So I thought that it was just verbal analogies for you. I didn't realize, like the branding.

[A]

No, because they're sponsoring their sponsor. Okay, so Rahul Letterman, Lanigan Racing, all Three of the owners of this team, Bobby Rahal, David Lettin, Mike Lanigan, they all have had open heart surgery. Oh, yeah. And so Bobby Rahal got up and told a story. I don't think he was lying. Got up and told a story that he went to get to a cardiologist appointment and they were like, when did you have your first heart attack? And he's like, fuck you talking about? And they were like, you've definitely had a heart attack. And he's like, uh. And they're like, nah. Huh. So he had like an invisible heart attack.

[B]

Got it.

[A]

And other folks had real heart attacks. The other guy. So you've heard of Bobby Rahal? He won the. It was the 40th anniversary. This was so great. 40th anniversary of when Bobby Rahal won the Indy 500 in 1986. Pull up. You want to see an amazing photograph? Pull up. Bobby Rahal, 1986. This fucking guy is aging in reverse. The picture of him sitting on his car right there. So can you get full screen this guy?

[B]

Because it's pretty grainy. Oh, is it gonna look like he garbage?

[A]

He look. Oh, we gotta find a Large 1 of 1986 Bobby Rahal. Basically. He looks like a 56 year old accountant.

[B]

Yeah. I mean, you know, he's got a big thick mustache as you do in the 80s. He's got really big glasses.

[A]

Big glasses. And he's got like, he's got the

[B]

Friar Tuck haircut kind of.

[A]

Well, he's got like. He's balding with a comb over.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

So now he's got a goatee, no glasses. He's really fit, you know. And he's shaved his head like mine, you know. Now he looks awesome. So it was the 40th anniversary of. Yeah, that's what he looks like now. He looks great.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

So. And he got to. He did some laps in that car, which is pretty cool. But so he got up at the pre race party that we were at. Big party at Ray Hall, Letterman Lanning in racing. And he brought up his. His crew from 1986 who are now in their sick of 70s or whatever at the 40th anniversary. That was pretty cool moment.

[B]

That's awesome.

[A]

Yeah, that was dope. And the facility was pretty sick too, where they build the. We went to Hendrick, remember Hendrick? It was very similar to that.

[B]

Sure.

[A]

Yeah. A little smaller. Obviously Hendrick is a bigger organization. This was just like the building where the party was in, kind of. But.

[B]

Yeah, but it's so special. I mean these folks have the craziest triumphs and memories and the fact. And if they're able to keep all the cars that can prompt those memories and go, oh, and remember, like you and I have this with shoots. We go, oh, remember when this thing broke or we got a ticket over there or whatever. And now go. Remember when we went 262 miles per hour, but then the engine blew up and we put a new engine in and so. And so caught on fire. But they're okay. I mean all those like Ross Bentley has a couple of those he talks about on it's not the Car pod. And like the stories of indie racing from the 80s and 90s are terrifying.

[A]

The turbos were mounted outside of the car.

[B]

They were so big, the power was ridiculous. A lot of the engines were unreliable. The fuel, I mean, a lot of them run just pure methanol. And I think that's when they learned that you can't see it because it just bursts into flame.

[A]

Invisible fire.

[B]

Invisible fire. A lot of things from back then that made victory. Just surviving it was incredible. And then winning. Wow. So it's very cool.

[A]

It is, dude. Oh, and the poor. I'm so sorry. I'm Malukas. David Malucas. This poor guy, he was the guy who was overtaken and he came in second. Just the crushing emotion. There was nothing he could do. His foot was on the floor. He is not allowed to make a defensive move. And going into that turn, being in second is the advantageous position to take. Or even third potentially is the advantageous position to be in. His foot is on the floor. He's fully fucking dumping his hybrid as fast as he can. Dude. And he was crushed. Crushed nothing.

[B]

That would be brutal because you're in first. But you know, the person behind you might get the draft and then you're fucked because you're breaking. Breaking the wind in front of them. And what can you do? I mean that's just simple. Arrow. That's really hard.

[A]

Too soon.

[B]

Exactly. I was thinking the same thing. Yeah. You hit the hybrid too soon.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

There's all that different deployment stuff.

[A]

Crazy, right?

[B]

Yeah. Yeah.

[A]

What a thing to see. I mean, and. And you need that combination of in person and. And the, the. The information of the fucking screen and the commentary and stuff.

[B]

It's just commentary is so essential these days, especially with all the tech and. And the techniques and I think they do a good job on Indie. You know, Hinchcliffe and the team for F1 do a really good job of keeping it moving, but explaining what the Drivers are doing. That's a really impressive skill to have

[A]

such a cool thing. Yeah, you gotta. You gotta. If you're not watching it on tv, at the very least, you should be watching it on tv. I mean, it is a thing to see on television.

[B]

If you're not watching it live, you should see it on tv.

[A]

Yeah, yeah. If you're not watching it at all, at the very least, you should be watching it on tv. And if you're like, what would be a great motorsport weekend to have with my fucking homies? Like, this would be a good one because it's like, you can make it classy, you can make it trashy, you could split the difference. We didn't even know about that Snake Pit place so much until we got in, because I was like, we were with medical people. They were talking about the Snake Pit.

[B]

Dangerous bar to go in there.

[A]

And so, you know, as we're walking in, we just see, like, we saw the. It was. You know what it was like. It was like grid life on crack, right? Where there's a race and a thing and that maybe they cross over.

[B]

Maybe they know about each other, probably they don't.

[A]

And you can kind of tell who's here for what. It was like that. Except we didn't know what the other people were there for, so we just thought, we're like, holy shit, these girls are coming to a fucking race. Dress like this, it's like, wow. Wow.

[B]

That's fucking Bluechew's handing out samples. Crazy love the sponsor.

[A]

You know what? There was surprisingly, like, not much of was like a midway. You know, normally there's like a big central aisle with like a ton of booths and a ton of like, I don't know, maybe little carnival games or like, whatever. Just like shit for people to do and see. And there was a small one. Edwards Life Sciences did have a booth there, which was, you know, it was a great thing they did. They signed up over 1,000 people. They were doing heart valve checks, so they checked over, like a thousand people. It was great. They had a bunch of stuff, but, like, right across from it was Borchetta Bourbon. And by the way, Scott Borchetta is like the worst human alive. He was Scooter Braun's business partner that, like, fucked Justin Bieber and Taylor Swift.

[B]

Like they owned the rights.

[A]

Yeah, Big Machine. It's Big Machine Records. And then he's one of the guys who just got like, super booed at a graduation ceremony because he said, like, you better get on with get. You know, you better get up to speed with AI. And he was getting booed. And he was like, look, you can listen to me now or you can pay me later. That's what he said to college graduates, dude. This guy so his boo. We're like, we're over here trying to save lives, dude. And this guy is like the big. The biggest dick bag on earth. It's like, guess what? I'm about to fuck all you guys right now.

[B]

Drown your sorrows in my alcohol.

[A]

And then next to that one was like the Zinn booth. And next to the. And then next to that was a coffee booth that had a hype man. And they must have paid this dude in coffee because this guy was screaming at 120 decibels for four straight fucking.

[B]

He's just giving him free espresso. Oh, my God.

[A]

And they did the Oscar Mayer Wiener mobile race. Which actually was a super fucking highlight.

[B]

That's also a spec series.

[A]

It was.

[B]

Yeah. Isn't it now? Maybe there's a cheater engine. We don't know.

[A]

Spec dog. Someone just hot rods their fucking. We got Oscar Mayer. Somebody out there. Get out. Me, I need to be in. I need to be in a Wienermobile. Cause they have like, I don't know, five, six seats in the Wienermobiles. And people are in them. People are riding in them during the race. I need to be on Oscar Meyer's press event. Next time, get in that motherfucker.

[B]

You get a drive. You have a comp license.

[A]

But they do it right after. Not qualifying, but practice. And so once you're watching an IndyCar pass you at like 2:40 or 2:32 or whatever the hell. And this thing is going by at 70.

[B]

Yeah, it takes an hour.

[A]

Well, it's a two lap race. It takes like 16 minutes. But they were fucking juking it out a bit, dude. And the New York one won and got like, like booed.

[B]

So was there an Indianapolis one? Is there a local?

[A]

There was.

[B]

Where the region?

[A]

There must have been. There was like Chicago, Detroit, New York. There was a corn dog. I was all about the corn dog. The corn dog one had like a stick coming out of its ass.

[B]

Long tail.

[A]

Lt. Lt. Yes.

[B]

I'm curious what cities it is.

[A]

Anyway, that was a fun spectacle. And a lot of people went up to the grandstands to watch it. Yeah, the grandstands were the busiest that they were all day on Friday during the hot dog race.

[B]

Well, it's like. It's like the tractor race at.

[A]

Not Lufton at Monterey or Rensport, right? Yeah.

[B]

Yeah. Yeah. Because it's got whimsy. It's funny.

[A]

Yeah, it was great.

[B]

Cool. What a good thing.

[A]

So, yeah, yeah. Indy 500. Add it to your list. You should do it. It's a fucking cool thing, Right? Shall we talk about Another relatable topic? $400,000 Aston Martin.

[B]

We should.

[A]

Yeah, buddy. Where's my Aston Martin notes? There they are. So both Zach and I. This was nice of Aston Martin. For real. They gave us a double length loan so both Zach and I could have a go. So I drove it for a week before I left, and then Zach drove it for a week while I was gone.

[B]

Yep.

[A]

And what did you think, Klapman? Did you drive. You drove the DB12 Volante convertible? Yes, but just kind of briefly.

[B]

Well, I drove with you on launch day. So that was it. A day in the Canyons. And then I did not drive the regular coupe.

[A]

Right.

[B]

And then this one, I drove to court, where I upstaged everyone there. I was a juror. I was not in. I was not in a case.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

I was not defending myself.

[A]

10 ways to ensure your conviction.

[B]

Yeah, I'm here to fight a speeding ticket in my bright orange Aston Martin DB12s. No, you, Honor, it was not the car I got the ticket in.

[A]

Quick sidebar. Back in the day, me and Larry Kosilla, Wildwood, New Jersey, Muscle Car week. I forget what they called it. Whatever. We all went down with our Mustangs. Larry's parents had a house there. They fucking surround you with the intersections and they pour bleach and shit in your tires and won't let you leave until you do a burnout. Okay? Do a burnout. I get a fucking ticket for a reckless, okay? Along with like, 700 other people that day. We all have the same court date. All of us, or at least a great many of us, use the opportunity to drive our fucking muscle cars to court. And there's an impromptu enormous car show in the parking lot of court because we're all there to fight our fucking tickets. We all had the same idea.

[B]

That's a great day.

[A]

It was awesome. That's really.

[B]

Because then you feel like you're part of an army, essentially. If one of us loses, we all lose. But at least we're here together.

[A]

It was so great.

[B]

Although, on the other hand, if one person got off because their defense was better than yours, you're like, oh, shit, I should have thought of that.

[A]

I don't think anybody was getting off. Yeah, okay, so you took it to court.

[B]

All right, So, I mean, I went on the Vantage S launch, which. And I have joked that, like, these cars are so similar, I think, to the detriment of the DB12s. But the ride in this car, I think, is much better than the Vantage suggest this is a little bit softer, but damped really well. So the ride around town on the highway, I mean, I think I did like, 500 miles in this.

[A]

Did you do 500 miles?

[B]

Maybe not five.

[A]

Good for you.

[B]

No, I probably did three.

[A]

I kept it under three. I was like, I don't want to do too many, but carbon.

[B]

Daria see me in back.

[A]

So that's not 500. I don't think that's 500.

[B]

It's probably three. Okay.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Okay, go on. So. But I was. You know, from when you get in the car, it does look extremely alike. The Vantage, the interior, a lot of the materials. Like, most of the design, it's just the back seat. It's a back seat.

[A]

That's what you talk about.

[B]

It is a much bigger car, but the ride is very gt, you know, appropriate. And you got, like, the double pane glass, the seat. Once I adjusted it, right when I first got in, I was like, it's not as good as, like, a Porsche seat, but once I adjusted it, I went, oh, five hours in this car, no problem, no pain. When I got out of the thing, like, all the adjustments really, really help. The leather's really nice. I was just really impressed with it in the front.

[A]

Cow.

[B]

The visibility out the front, despite having this giant engine up there, you know, it compared to something like new Mustang or anything else that has a V8 in the front, it just drops off really nice.

[A]

The engine's pretty low and pretty far back. It's not fully behind the axle, but it's like, mostly behind the axle.

[B]

It all works really well. The greenhouse, you get the side windows let in a lot of light. Really easy to drive, to see what's around you. And it just felt like, you know, really bright inside versus some sports cars. Just feel like you're in this turret. So I came away very impressed by it. There were a couple things I didn't like. Well, we can talk about what you liked about it first, because you drove it more dynamically, like, I drove it in the canyons.

[A]

It's fast as fuck. I mean, I think it's so. I love the S variant of all aston Martins, the DBXs, the Vantage S. Like, when you put an S on it, they've figured it out. It's like a couple extra years of Development, a little more power, a little more time with the code in the shocks and the steering and the. This. They refined a thing. Maybe there's been a tire development or something. They usually fit the S with the most desirable optional equipment.

[B]

They change the alignment a little bit on this. They tune some stuff.

[A]

Yeah. So it's 690 horsepower, which is 19 more than the regular one. I mean, do you notice that?

[B]

No, it's a tenth faster to 60.

[A]

That's from the gear changes. That's actually not. Aston says that's from better gear changes, not from more power. Actually, it's so much power. I mean, can you tell 19 more at maybe if you had them side by side. But outside of that, no, it's a lot. It's got the updated dampers, it's got a better rear sway bar, it's got a retro tuned electronic differential that's supposed to reduce understeer at low speeds. Ceramic brakes are standard. It's £4,000, which sounds like a lot, but a Bentley GT is. They're all over five. Like even the basest Bentley GT is over five. Not even the hybrids. It's far less mass. Here's the thing, this one that we drove is really expensive. If you think about it in terms of as tested delivered price to our door, you go, well, why would I get this instead of a Vantage S which performs largely the same. I think the ride between the Vantage S and this isn't as different as you think. I had it recently, but it is better in the DB12s, but. But not enormously so, considering the Vantage S I drove was $230,000 and this one, that's as tested, this was $401,000 tested. Now, having said that, the base price of this DB12s is 272. I understand we're talking about huge amounts of money here, but hear me out. It had $70,000 in options. It then had 23k in tariffs put on it, which is how you get to 401. You'd probably have a bunch of tariffs put on the Vantage S, but the

[B]

company's going to pay the tariffs, obviously.

[A]

But if you. Where I wanted to circle back to on this cost thing is, if you got a DB12 added ceramic brakes, it would only be a $5,000 premium beyond that to get an S. So like the long and short of it is the S is absolutely the one to get within that range. But unless you're very short, the back seat is silly. Yeah, that's stupid. I don't know if you can. Option one with a full rear seat delete. I haven't seen one before with a rear seat delete. If you can. You probably should just to get a shelf there because you're not putting people back there unless you're short and they're little kids. Here's my biggest. I actually, really. Here's my biggest issue with this car. And then I'll tell you a bunch of good things. For the extra length, for the extra cost, there isn't any extra leg room. The seat is the same distance from the pedals when all the way back as the Vantage S. It's really, it's really, really. If it's any more. It's very, very little. And so after a week of driving it around, I ended up with the same tight hip flexors that I ended up with with my 32 inch inseam that I had in the Vantage S. So for all that extra space and weight and everything, I didn't get the one thing that I would hope I would get, which is leg room. Sure.

[B]

Do you get more? Can you lean the seat back more?

[A]

That's not what I need.

[B]

I know, but I'm wondering if, like, if you're a very tall and of course a very rich person, the answer

[A]

to your question is yes, because there's not a bulkhead there. So you can. If you have a long torso and long arms, yes, you can. You can, one might say gangster. Lean it in.

[B]

It's the basketball player car.

[A]

Right. As opposed with the Vantage, you're stuck on the bulkhead pretty much. So I would love a little bit more leg room from this car, given its size and intended purpose. Outside of that, I took it up the mountain. This car is really fast. This fucking thing hauls ass. The brakes are really good. The balance is really good. It doesn't get upset by bumps at the mid corner. I mean, if you're not. If you're like super pushing, it might. But we're talking about canyon speeds here, not racetrack speeds. The steering feel is. Everything about it is really, really nice. I just would have a very hard time justifying it over a Vantage which performs fucking largely the same, if not actually as faster. The Vantage S is probably faster than this. And yeah, the ride is dialed down like 10%, but it's not like a DB12 and a Vantage occupy more or less exotic space in people's minds. They largely put Aston Martin in one bubble, right? Wouldn't you say so?

[B]

Yeah, I think so.

[A]

So I don't think you buy extra clout by having a DB12S versus a

[B]

Vantage S. Only among those who really know and shop where you shop, I think it's kind of like. Like it's the AMG 63 versus 65 conversation. You know, who is that really for? It's for your colleagues. And you go, I was able to buy the 65 even though the 63 makes almost the same power, sounds better, et cetera.

[A]

Yeah, sure, that makes total sense, but. Except they have the same engine, these two.

[B]

Right?

[A]

That's true. It's just the difference in length and, you know, to some degree, styling. It is a very, very good car, this thing. It's just. It's expensive. I also had a few software hiccups.

[B]

Yep, me too.

[A]

You also, like all the Aston Martins, have to do the stupid deactivate the ADAS thing every time you start it, which.

[B]

Pretty quick, though. I mean, it's two buttons, but.

[A]

Yeah, but the touch that touchscreen, the first hard button that pulls up the menu, that's fine. The touchscreen one doesn't always respond so fast.

[B]

No, there's a delay to it. I looked at the configurator. You cannot do a seat delete in the background. Bummer. Yeah. I had a num. I. Well, the biggest issue I had was the key fob. It does not recognize the key. And there are times where it's like, please place key in the marked spot. And I was rubbing the key, like, you know, against that steering column like it was a magic lamp, and it still wouldn't do it. A couple times.

[A]

The did the unlock it lock and unlock while sitting in the driver's seat?

[B]

Not always.

[A]

Did most of the time for me, that now, sometimes.

[B]

Your advice was good. Hitting the unlock button on the dash seemed to help. But when I would do that, what it would do sometimes is I get in the car, I hit unlock. I'm in the car now, and the car would, like, kind of power on. I press the start button. It says, key fob not detected. Put key in marked spot. I put key on the column. Still would say, key fob not detected. I would then hit unlock on the dash, and more lights would turn on, and then it would start itself five seconds later so I don't have to hit start again. It's like, what? Yeah, it's almost like hitting start sent the signal, but it got blocked by a sentry. And me hitting unlock, the sentry allows that signal to pass.

[A]

It's like remote start, but instead of a key fob from inside the car, it's interior Remote start.

[B]

Did that once. It didn't recognize my phone. Well, I take it back. It saw my phone in the list but didn't power up CarPlay, which is funny in the car that happened to CarPlay Ultra.

[A]

Mine never got to CarPlay Ultra.

[B]

I just never. I told it not to the first time.

[A]

I would tell mine to every time.

[B]

I never asked again. And it never did it do you had to tell it no every time?

[A]

No, no. I tell it yes every time. And then it doesn't do it.

[B]

Oh, that's funny.

[A]

I'm four for four with Aston Martins in this one with me going, Yep, turn on CarPlay Ultra. And then going, okay. And then it doesn't do it.

[B]

Which, I mean, the gauges look really nice. I think they're really easy to read. I like the way the screenshot looks and. But it just responds a little slowly. And when you think about all the hardware software behind it to make CarPlay Ultra Run, you're like, wow, why is this such a slow responding screen? I don't know.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

But I think the interior looks fantastic. And even ours was bright orange outside. I mean, where I parked here on a gray day, you could look two blocks down and see the car. You knew it was yours. So the exterior was a bit much, but the interior was like, like this very dark green with orange and carbon fiber accents. Totally worked. Looks really cool.

[A]

Yeah. I hope that this software thing, I mean, they've been making the DB12 for a long time. I haven't driven another Aston that had software this bad in a while. It's usually limited to CarPlay Ultra. I hope this is just a pre Pro that's been kicking around for a long time. I think it had a bunch of miles on it, didn't it?

[B]

I think so. Sounds nice.

[A]

Over 5,000 miles.

[B]

The rear end of this looks a lot better than the vantage. I think I like the design much more.

[A]

I would take off off the license plate nipples if I bought one though.

[B]

Sure. Yeah, definitely. I want to ask you about the steering because I know that they've changed some of the alignment which affected like from center. It's kind of heavy almost to the point where I go, it feels like Camaro's set to sport mode at manufactured weight. But I think it's actually coming from the alignment. When you got. When you were driving faster in the canyons, did that go away? Did you mind it? I minded it around town on off ramps because it was like, this is way heavier than I'd expect from a GT car.

[A]

Did you put the. What mode were you driving in?

[B]

I did gt, I did individual. I did normal.

[A]

Did you change individual from what I had it?

[B]

No.

[A]

Okay. I drove an individual most of the time. Mainly because it was just one click and it got rid of like start, stop, and stuff like that. And for me, individual is like powertrain sport plus steering, GT suspension. Sport because GT suspension was like a little wallowy. But the sport was nice and tight without being harsh. So that was how I liked it. Most of the time it was a little heavy steering on center in town, but half the time that was just the ADAs I forgot to turn off.

[B]

It was fighting you.

[A]

Yeah. It was better in the canyons. Although it does get a little tramline y when you get on the brakes hard and it loads up the nose on a canyon road, you have to kind of hang on to keep the car straight a little bit. You know what I mean? Unlike the Zinger with the wang on it. Gotta put that on the next podcast, too.

[B]

Oh, yeah, I forgot to talk about that. You driven a lot of stuff last two weeks.

[A]

I've driven many things. I can't believe I like. I wrote a list for next show. Doesn't even have Zinger on it. Like, I forgot.

[B]

Yeah, we talked about it a little bit. I think.

[A]

Need to drive a few less things. I think so. In general, very good. But for me, real money spending fucking

[B]

Vantage s. Just Vantage s. They've done too good a job in a material. I mean, it's Aston's fault. Like, they've excelled too much.

[A]

Yeah. And the rumor is they're going to kill the Vantages and this is just going to be it.

[B]

Wow. Get a Vantage s now while you can. Yeah, It's a really good car.

[A]

Yeah. But thank you to Aston for letting us have a go. We do appreciate that very much.

[B]

Would you buy this or the Ferrari Luce?

[A]

Do you want to do that? Do you want to talk about that or to go over to questions? We should. They probably want. They pro. Even the fucking patrons rather hear us talk about the stupid Ferrari Lucha.

[B]

There are a lot of questions about the Lucha.

[A]

All right, well, we can. We can lead into that with one or the other, but that. Yeah, that's all I have on DB12s. Except to say that there is a video of it as well. I made a video and that will be coming out whenever Zach edits it. Right. The Ferrari motherfucking Lucha. So you know what's really funny about

[B]

this is nothing, Matt. Nothing is funny about this.

[A]

A lot. A lot is funny about this. I mean, to me, this is like this. We've got to the sci fi era, right? This is a demolition man car.

[B]

Absolutely right. This is a great movie car. If this was in Running man, the new one, you'd go, yeah, makes sense. This is.

[A]

Yeah, but as a fucking cap.

[B]

Look at that.

[A]

This is an iPad, not as a Ferrari. Do they not take waymos where they designed this? Because that is a Waymox. That's a Jaguar. I pace. I'm sorry, it is. There's a. There's.

[B]

There's some great memes going around about like, you know, it looks like a lot of different things. It looks like the Versa or. No, sorry, it looks like the leaf.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

I mean. And these memes are making fun, but not wrong. There's a lot of weird design elements. This is such a.

[A]

In this color, this orange that we're looking at. It looks like the. What's the new Subaru? Not uncharted. The Subaru unchart. Pull up a Subaru uncharted in orange. And this is. Tell me, tell me. We haven't really. What's happened here? There.

[B]

Oh, that's weird.

[A]

Tell me we're not awfully close.

[B]

Yeah, I mean, it's the black roof thing.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

I mean, that carries over. I actually think the front. The front end of the Subaru is much better looking. These lights are way better looking.

[A]

Yeah, man.

[B]

Because it's like there's so many things about it. That's it. It's a really, I find to be a confusing choice. And we could get into the design stuff, but I don't know what they're doing.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

That's where I'm at.

[A]

Do you think it looks a little bit. I'm gonna say a nice thing about it. Do you think it looks a little bit like the Aston Martin Bull? Do you know the Aston Martin Bulldog? Philip owns it.

[B]

Yeah. The 70s thing, the clear wedge thing.

[A]

The clear wedge thing. I think it has elements of the Aston Martin Bulldog. If you look at it from the side profile, I think there's some elements of this.

[B]

I think you need to get a prescription check.

[A]

Okay, fine.

[B]

Because here, like, not to just totally be a dick, the Bulldog, I mean, it's from a different era, of course, but, like, the front end is extremely pointed out and the headlights are, you know, right here. Like, everything's kind of traditional but the Ferrari. For me.

[A]

What.

[B]

For me, the first thing that leaps out is like this massive chin, this cliff edge where, you know, the headlights are set back from the Edge of the property here. And this is like a. It's just a huge open area. It reminds me a lot of that Hyundai. Sorry, Honda's little hatchback concept. They did. No, they sold it in the uk. The little EV hatchback they made. Oh, yeah, the round lights. But it had like the recessed black where the headlights were.

[A]

Oh, I liked that. The Honda E or what car.

[B]

But this, like this jutting front bumper is so strange.

[A]

I don't know. I really do feel like outside of the shape of the mouth, I feel like the wedges, the wedginess of it and the shape of the roof line, I feel like they're trying to. They're making an attempt and I'm not saying they're succeeding, but I think they're making an attempt to re. Usher in some kind of wedge era. But to do it with a. Yeah, yes, but like A. That 70s wedge, I think they're going for 90s wedge. This is Mark Newson. Now the problem with this is I fucking love Mark Newson. He did my ikopod watch. He did a bunch of car type projects in the 90s. I don't think this looks good. I'm just trying to see what he was going for.

[B]

I would like that answer too, genuinely. I'm curious, like, because it's, it's such a departure even from like, you know, someone on Instagram, they were like, how come it looks like a car with a car inside it? I said, well, the Pro Sanguid. Pro Sanguid did that first and they mentioned it in the press release. They're like, we think this floating body thing is cool, but this is a massive departure from all of their other designs, even some of the controversial ones. The Testarossa, the F80. This is like, you know, you see it in the same dealership. You're like, who traded in something from. I don't know, it looks like if

[A]

you tried to bertone up a Faraday future.

[B]

Yeah, right. Yeah. It looks like you took a Faraday to a Coach building.

[A]

To Zagato.

[B]

To Zagato. I want a one off Faraday F9.

[A]

Yeah, that's this. Faraday futures Zagato basically is exactly what I see here.

[B]

Their stock dropped 6% on the announcement of this.

[A]

I, I mean, what do you think? Here's just a good thought exercise though. What do you think they could have done with an EV that would make their stock have gone up 6%? What could they have done that you would like?

[B]

I'll preface by saying, I think when you are given hard Points and all that stuff with modern safety regulations that dictates the shape of a lot of things. So I would want to see that before I would go get too judgmental. But honestly, just make it pretty and I'm not trying to be a jerk. Like it worked for Tesla, it worked for Rivian. Rivian. It's worked for Scout.

[A]

I would say, I would not say. Do you think Rivians are pretty?

[B]

I think if you change the. Excuse me. If you got rid of the headlights that are controversial. I think most people just say that's a totally good looking, not Range Rover copy, but close, just handsome onoffensive shapes. I think that's the solution is anytime you're gonna make something that is a little bit controversial in propulsion, if you make it undeniably good looking. Maserati MC20. It's from a company with a racing history that's so old no one really remembers it. The performance is pretty good, but not beating anything really, especially for the money. But all of us just go, that's just a classically great looking car.

[A]

Yeah, that's tough to do with a 5 passenger EV. Not impossible. The Model S was an amazing looking car. They copied Aston Martin successfully and I happen to think the Taycan wagon looks great.

[B]

Yes, fantastic.

[A]

I think that's a great looking electric car. There are other great looking electric cars. I mean, well, not my favorite. I think the Rolls Royce Spectre. There's elements of it I don't love, but it definitely is what I would expect from an Electric Rolls Royce. 100% what I would be thinking there.

[B]

And I think the advantage that Rolls Royce had is that they were like, they're known for building large cars, two door, four door. They kind of look very similar. And for Ferrari this is a big challenge. They got to step out and do a 5 passenger thing right off the off the heels of Purosangua. So they can't copy that. But they do make mid engine car.

[A]

Like it's funny, they make mid engine cars. So you'd think if you were going to make a sedan that didn't have have an engine in the front or a crossover that didn't have an engine in front. That's kind of how you can end up almost where they went. Tried to go here by going, okay, well we can make sort of a mid engine looking like this looks like what a uh. Oh, this sort of looks like what? Particularly this angle here. It looks like if you maybe squinted at an Alfa Romeo SZ from like the 90s.

[B]

Yeah, you know what I mean especially. Yeah. The drooping angle from the back to the front.

[A]

Yeah. With a cam back I can kind of see what they were sort of going for a cab forward mid engine look. And I bet you that front end. And I'm trying to give them benefit of the doubt because objectively I don't think this is very good looking. I'm just. I'll stand by that. Based on these picks, I can't wait to see one in person. Can't wait to drive one. I want to try. Of course I want to try. You know what you want to try.

[B]

Obviously I want to drive everything. Yeah.

[A]

But I don't think it looks great. And I think the fact that those wheels are apparently 23s and 24s is hiding an awful lot of height. But I love suicide doors. I love a suicide door. I don't hate the doors. I don't hate the inside of the doors. Which look like a fucking Testarossa, to be honest.

[B]

The ribbed leather. Yeah, that's what that would be called. Or piping. Yeah, Ribbed leather. That looks really cool.

[A]

I like the steering wheel. I liked it when I saw it before.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And I bet you it's a nice place to spend your fucking time, to be honest with you. But apparently the word is pricing is like $600,000. I was talking with the Spike about this. I think no matter how much money you have, with very, very rare exception, even very rich people in my experience, because a lot of them keep their cars here. They see the top of an EV at about 150,000. You're just not think about the G wagons and the spectres and the sapphires and Taycan Turbo GTs. Dude, these things don't sell. They sell with CA. They're not, they don't sell for MSRP. Just the market is not there for a 250,000. I happen to think, Zach, those wheels look very good on that luche. I like those wheels.

[B]

Simple, good looking, five spoke.

[A]

Yeah, sure. Ain't nothing wrong with that wheel. That's a good wheel.

[B]

What can we put those wheels on anything else?

[A]

You put them on a 4, 5, 8 look fucking sick.

[B]

Except they're 24s.

[A]

Oh, you know, they. Yeah, right. See when you consider that Those wheels are 24s, right? Like if those wheels were like 20s, that would still be a big car.

[B]

It's a very big car. And the Purosangue was a big car. And I only keep bringing it up because it was the other four door, five seater. They've Made that was also a big car. Good shape if you squished the two bodies together. But in my opinion.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

I'm not a car designer and I'm sure the designers are yelling right now.

[A]

Now that black bit in the middle of the door.

[B]

Uh huh.

[A]

The vent, Is that a vent?

[B]

I don't know.

[A]

You know what would be cool is if it was a window.

[B]

Oh.

[A]

And you could see the window like the Senna.

[B]

Oh, that would be fun.

[A]

Like if it was a. If it was a parking window. Like a window. Like a semi.

[B]

Ugh. It's carbon with a printing horse behind it.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And I can't tell. It's probably a vent. I mean it's probably, you know, helps the, the CFD be really low.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

So it extracts air from the wheel.

[A]

Well, sure.

[B]

If I. Yeah.

[A]

But I wish it was a window.

[B]

Sure.

[A]

That would be sweet. Yeah. I don't like it very much, but I truly believe that. I don't think, I think with very rare exception, even a very rich person that can buy very expensive stuff, they don't see in any EV experience as being worth more than 150 grand.

[B]

It makes sense because it's not unique enough. There's no way to really make the proposal. Propulsion feel different as you go above that. Here's all the battery tech. At 150 you get the fastest EV you can buy at a dealership. Essentially they're all going to have a thousand 1200 horsepower. The 060s, 21 8, whatever. And that's it. And if you keep adding money, you can't really go any faster. You can't accelerate much more quickly, maybe a little more range. But that's kind of it.

[A]

That's it. Like.

[B]

So I think again, if you want to do it, it has to be the best looking thing in the world and it has to also give them a lot on the inside. That is amazing.

[A]

And the problem is it's very difficult to build a super efficient aerodynamic shape for an EV that also looks great. The computers, if you put in your needs, you just end up at the average end.

[B]

Right. So if they chase like higher range and efficiency then like the Model S is very slippery. But to get slippery or you have to start moving things around and if you, if you put the emphasis on range because you want a car that has less drag, you have to move those things around. Yeah, yeah.

[A]

It's, it's really hard to find both. And the exotic supercars and stuff are not all that aerodynamically efficient. They, they have higher drag coefficients mainly because they're not trying to duct air around their shapes, they're trying to duct it into radiators where it slows the car down effectively as it goes into the radiator. Anyway, I want to see one in person. I really want to drive one. I can't wait to see the conversations we're going to have in Tenerife when I begin driving. Driving the 849 Spider in June for road and track.

[B]

Oh, quick button on this. I was talking to. I forget who it was this weekend, but someone who works at a Mercedes dealership. They have a warehouse full of EQS's that they can't sell. And we drove that. That car had problem like operational issues that we didn't like. But also it's such a boring look compared to most of the other Mercedes cars. It's too big a departure. So I think they might have a

[A]

building these really aerodynamically efficient too. Like you to make that egg. You know, the egg works. It's just ugly. People don't want it.

[B]

Right?

[A]

I was talking to Spike about this van. Fucking in about a year or two with 36 months after launch. Electric G wagons, bro. $60,000 electric G wagons. That's what I'm fucking talking about. That's the Shakespeare. That's not only the best G wagon they make, that's the best fucking electric car Mercedes makes. Is that Electric G Wagon.

[B]

That is true.

[A]

That thing ripped. It was great.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

So good. Let's do a couple of questions. We only have 15 minutes because Zach has to deliver a stool sample to the doctor. In person.

[B]

I already made it. It's in the back.

[A]

Fresh.

[B]

In person.

[A]

Oh my God.

[B]

We could probably do like 20 minutes. Okay. Okay, that's fine.

[A]

I just want to make sure you can get there. Of course. If you want to ask questions for the live show. If you want to get the live show. If you want to get the show when it's recorded rather than waiting till Tuesday. Thursday. This week excepted. Sorry because I was gone. Get access to exclusive collabs and merch projects that we do. And get the extra show every month. Plus an extra extra show this month with me and spike. BTS patreon.com TheSmokingTirePodcast is where you do it, Spoonigan Man. Pretty good. Like it? Will there be a Felicity Ace edition of the new Canyon Diver? That's funny. And there should be. I will make a note of that. And it would be hysterical. Rippin Toots says there was recently a new speed record for a Monster truck. What vehicle would you want to set a speed record driving? Diving? Okay. I would like to be the fastest person ever in a good question. Fascinating.

[B]

Wiener mobile. That'd be fun.

[A]

Dude.

[B]

At high speed that that dog is gonna have some front end lift. That's a wing.

[A]

Did you see at fucking shift sector this past weekend or very recently a fucking a box Caprice. A 1990 Caprice. Like a cop car did 187 mile an hour pass. Whoa. It was fucking. It looked other than like, you know, black steelies. It looked effectively stock too. Just. Do you see it?

[B]

Oh wow. It is just a white.

[A]

It's just a white Caprice that.

[B]

Geez. That went 180. What?

[A]

187, yo. Yeah.

[B]

That's really nutty. And there's no arrow on it. Like there's no NASCAR old school like fin put on it. That's just bravery.

[A]

That's just the Caprice.

[B]

That's just faith and bravery.

[A]

Whoa. Separately from that, the. You see a guy in A dragster did 346 recently.

[B]

That's insane.

[A]

Fastest. And that's a thousand foot. They're not doing quarter mile anymore.

[B]

I know top two because they go too fast.

[A]

346 and a thousand foot. Imagine the fucking G loading of that 12,000 pound monster truck breaks at Indy.

[B]

Yeah. Here, check it out.

[A]

Did this happen in front of me and I don't even know. Was it this weekend?

[B]

Like you would have heard it. Oh, shit.

[A]

Wow. Okay. 103 miles an hour in a monster truck. That's ripping.

[B]

I love looking at the tires. I wonder if they took the normal treaded tires and then cut them so that they're smooth.

[A]

Totally this.

[B]

And it's cool. They like channeled the body body back. Like just try to make it quote aerodynamic. But even with 1200 horsepower, like this is what. This is a great example of aerodynamics. 1200 horsepower. Top speed is like 103 because it's this giant two story building.

[A]

Portal axles.

[B]

Oh, that too.

[A]

Those must be portal axles. I'd love to say. Like the problem is like setting a speed record is something that's pretty sketchy in most things.

[B]

Yeah. So you want to do the gimmick move where you find the record. No one's done. So find a slow thing and then break the record. Tricycle.

[A]

Electric powered tricycle or something like that. Yeah. Like E bike. I could do something that's technically an E bike. That's like 130 or something. But an E bike, you know, let's

[B]

see what the semi truck speed record is.

[A]

It's gotta be.

[B]

Kenworth did 140.

[A]

Fuck, I can beat that.

[B]

Oh, sorry, I take it back. Someone else did 171. All right, now we're getting a little spicy.

[A]

Canopa's got that Pikes Peak hill climb semi truck. We can fucking do that. Good times. What else we got here?

[B]

Oh, click, click, click.

[A]

The Johnny Ev gearman says. Oh, if you were to. I guess these are indie based questions. If you were to choose a production car to go flat out at Indy, high horsepower and downforce, I assume, what would you pick? Zinger 21C. That would be the dopest car to lap Indy in because dude, the canopy, the fucking. That car makes its own weight in downforce. It makes £3,500 of downforce at 150 an hour. It's fucking ready. It's center seat. It's got a kind of a yoke thing happening. It's. That's the shit. Of course that's what you need.

[B]

That's pretty good.

[A]

21C. TenaciousFormula D says, what happened? Is there something. Did something happen or. Tenaciousformula D says RIP to all the old car forums. Feels like the burger burning of the Library of Alexandria for the car community. Did some forums get shit shut down?

[B]

No, the articles just say there's a long decline of them. There's. No one's using it. I mean now with Reddit, Facebook, Instagram, AI like you kind of get forums

[A]

really move to Reddit.

[B]

Yeah, I think that's really, really true.

[A]

What was your most frequently visited, now defunct forum? I don't know about frequently visited but now defunct.

[B]

I was well in when I was 20. I was a huge VW Vortex fan because I had a Jetta then I wanted a Subaru. So I was on. What is it? Nasioc. I was on and I was every day, all the time. It was like North American, Subaru, international, whatever. Yeah, it was that and like Club wrx. I was on a bunch of those.

[A]

I mean I started out in Ferrari chat just because that's where all of the. We use the Revolution regional section. Like the regional section of Ferrari chat was where almost all car gatherings in the New York tri state area were organized.

[B]

Really? I mean a Mustang gathering.

[A]

Not necessarily a Mustang gathering, but like general car gatherings among people who owned a variety of exotic and pseudo exotic cars. Just like used the tri state area section of Ferrari Chad as sort of a general.

[B]

How old were you when you joined Ferrari?

[A]

22.

[B]

Oh, okay, okay.

[A]

Like the vast majority of people on there like did not have a Ferrari. And also we learned that there was like a whole bunch of like very rich people that were like huge losers. Like that was what that was literally when I learned that you could be rich enough to afford a fleet of high end cars and be the absolute biggest loser imaginable.

[B]

So funny.

[A]

It's a very important lesson to learn. Like rich people are not all smart. Rich people are not all cool. Like they don't have the fucking answers. Like it's just, it's just they're just rich.

[B]

They're good at this thing.

[A]

And sometimes not even, sometimes they inherited it and they lie about how they got it like some, you know, all kinds of shit. Tame impella SS is the luce an elaborate self sabotage plan to tell the board, see, EVs don't work for us. Or genuine stupidity or possibly extortion of the customer base waiting for allocations.

[B]

That first one is a pretty funny theory.

[A]

It is a pretty funny theory indeed.

[B]

Do a bad enough job that they don't ask you to do the job again.

[A]

Yeah, that's the major league. We call it the major league. If you finish dead last, I can sell the team and move us to fucking Florida, Miami or whatever it was. Yeah, that would be a crazy move. I think it's. Here's another possibility. That car could be fucking huge in China.

[B]

Possibly. Possibly someone is in China listening. Do you like that car? Because we don't have any knowledge.

[A]

Yeah. The only something I could see is that the Chinese market is just can't get enough of something like this.

[B]

Maybe. Yeah.

[A]

The only way, dude, even in la, their best chance is Los Angeles. Right. And San Francisco in America. America. That's their best chance. Maybe globally, right?

[B]

You mean biggest market.

[A]

Yeah. For this fucking car.

[B]

For a Ferrari. I would say the biggest market is probably Los Angeles.

[A]

Where do you think the biggest market for electric Ferraris within America?

[B]

Yeah, LA probably for sure.

[A]

It's la, right?

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Who the fuck in LA wants this

[B]

if they didn't buy the electric G wagon? Which they didn't.

[A]

Which they didn't.

[B]

This is more expensive, worse luck looking.

[A]

I don't know, they might sell them. They might get a couple sold as allocation keys to other cars.

[B]

Maybe, but I'll be. I mean they've done that a lot with I think the prosongway. They did that.

[A]

Yeah, that was the thing. It was like my wife doesn't want. Well here maybe. Okay. My wife doesn't want aroma. So I'll get Her a pro songwe. And that'll get me my 296. My wife hated the purosangue. She just wants her Tesla back. Okay, fine. We'll give her it. We'll give her that.

[B]

I like that theory. Yeah.

[A]

Beeping 8 Asshole. Thoughts on the new Grand Seiko spring Drive divers? Yes, they're awesome. I tried. I tried them on. I'm actually. I don't know if I said it before, but I'm actually going to be a Grand Seiko ambassador this year. They're giving me one to wear, which is very nice of them, but it's extremely cool. It's got a great fit. There's photos on my Instagram of it. It's got a great fit. It's very light. The movement's amazing. There it is. The green, the water. Look at that. The way the light moves across the water. It looks like that sort of tunnel vision you get when you're looking into the sun on a big ocean. You know what I mean?

[B]

Yeah. That's really cool.

[A]

Really dope. Really dope. And there's taper to the bracelet and it micro adjusts and it's just very, very nice. And that's, that's the Spring Drive UFA movement, which is ultra fine accuracy. So it's plus minus 20 seconds a year on a manual on a mechanical movement, which is fucking crazy. Yup. We have five more minutes. Yamahabibi says, what is your favorite drive that road and track puts on? Ooh. I really like the Smoky Mountain Drive with Tale of the Dragon and Knoxville and Atlanta Motorsports park and North Georgia. That's a really fun one. I love the Northern California one that we do. I love the Hudson Valley one that we do because I get to go home and take my dad. And also those roads in the Catskills are great. They're all different. I mean, I have to say, I think my favorite. I think my favorite's gotta be Northern California because I just think as a region for drive, hotel, food, wine, racetrack, like it just doesn't get any better. I mean, it's all there and it's all like pretty close by, which means that I can make a drive route that goes out in the middle of fucking nowhere and then ends at a hotel that's only 20 miles away. And I don't have to waste a bunch of transit driving a lot of these other RO regions. The really good hotels are actually quite far apart. And so you can only deviate so much into the weeds of finding these great side roads. Whereas in Northern California. It's very, very easy to do that.

[B]

Let's end on this one.

[A]

Shit. We need to. Okay, wait. You need to take me back to the previous question that was asked.

[B]

The question was for these, we had the patron who it was like, my wife and I are opening up our marriage swingers. Which car is the best for picking up couples that we potentially want to slam with.

[A]

Right, right.

[B]

And you said we don't have the perspective on the queer community. So queer shifting gears can respond. And they have.

[A]

I don't know if I could enhance the greatness of that question. Enhancers. But a k van or JDM van. 0. Toxic heteronormativity. 0 ego. Lots of space and the seats lay flat to make a bed. Perfect.

[B]

I love that they said lots of space, but used K van like you could get. There's bigger vans but like. Well, you want to be a little intimate.

[A]

The delica. Is it? Yeah, the delica.

[B]

Is that why you have that car? It's got curtains.

[A]

Does have curtains.

[B]

Does have curtains.

[A]

Yeah, it has curtains. Mine has captain seats, but you can get the lay flat bench, which becomes a bed.

[B]

Interesting.

[A]

Yep. Go buy a C4ZR1. Good username and good consumer advice. I have a superformance Cobra replica with a 65427 side oiler. All right. That spent part of its history in a racing boat. What has been the coolest engine crossovers between car and boat? Good question. We've talked about it before. Lamborghini Diablo V12 marine engines. Those are crazy as fuck. SHO4 Taurus SHO engines that were in my dad's boat. The. What's the boat called? Thunderbird. Can you google Thunderbird? Lake Tahoe, which I think has Merlin aircraft engines in.

[B]

In it.

[A]

I think Philip owns this boat actually.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Lake Tahoe. Is that it? Yeah.

[B]

Geez.

[A]

It built in 1939. What. What is the. Can you give us the. I'm sorry to use the fucking AI here, but we need it quick. What is the engine? Does it say engines? Powertrain. Powertrain. Powertrain. I thought it was Merlin aircraft engines, but it's. What the fuck is it? Come on, come on. Oh, aircraft. Yeah. See, it says aircraft powered. So. Yeah, I think it's Merlin V12. Allison V12 aircraft.

[B]

Dual 1100 horsepower. Allison V12.

[A]

1939. 1100 horsepower. Jesus. Yeah, that's Phillip's boat. We can go on it if we go to Lake Tahoe.

[B]

That's insane.

[A]

Yeah, that's the shit right there. That and them fucking skiffs in Thailand where they put, like, literal two Js.

[B]

Yeah. Or like the big Diesel. It's all. It's just on a pivot point, and they have a tiller to offset the weight, and they just go into the ocean.

[A]

Super cool, dude. Yeah, it's like an Ecotech Turbo V6 on a fucking tiller.

[B]

Yeah. It's really wild.

[A]

So nuts. Yeah.

[B]

I think we need to pop off.

[A]

Okay. We'll save all the rest of your questions. You're very important to us. But Zach has to deliver an enormous stool sample to the doctor. Right now. It's just.

[B]

Matt's gonna hold my hand because he's a. He's a good friend.

[A]

Just take it all in, you know? Thank you to our patrons for asking such good questions. Thanks for everyone else, for. For listening. Today we have a lot more, including the two awesome cars that I drove with Graham Rahal and fuck the zinger 21C. Report on the next episode of the Smoking Tires. See you later.