Lotus Carlton Review; 2025 Chevy Blazer Drive; Q&A

Summary

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The Smoking Tire Podcast: Lotus Carlton Review, 2025 Chevy Blazer, Sailing Prep & Q&A

Hosts: Matt Farah & Zack Klapman
Date: March 12, 2026
Podcast Link

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Overview

In this lively episode, Matt and Zack dive into a range of automotive topics, seamlessly blending car culture, personal experiences, and enthusiast Q&A. The key highlights include Matt’s first drive in the legendary Lotus Carlton (soon up for auction), a surprisingly thorough review of their 2025 Chevy Blazer rental car after an ice racing trip, and preparations for their upcoming sailing adventure in the British Virgin Islands. Listener Q&As cover everything from Porsche’s financial health and future car cult followings, to offbeat car advice and frank discussions about fun, competence, and car modifications.

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Sailing Adventure Prep & Yachting (00:00–21:54)

Nostalgia & Logistics

• Matt & Zack prepare for a nine-day sailing trip in the British Virgin Islands, retracing Matt's childhood sailing camp route.
• Matt reflects on the lasting value of privileged experiences:
  • “How does wealth and privilege perpetuate itself? Well, by my parents being able to send me to sailing camp. …I got a license that allows us to go charter boats as an adult, which is an incredibly high value vacation...” (07:30)
• Zack emphasizes sailing as an accessible, affordable way to experience the tropics:
  • “If you have access and the time to go get a sailing license, …the most amazing tropical vacation for far, far less than you could if you had to pay a captain to be there. Just do it. It's fantastic.” (09:34)
• Discussion of practical trip prep: clothing (don’t bother with nice shirts), avoiding sunburns, boat logistics, and not bringing travel pens (“Lives on my desk.” 05:53).
• Humorous observations about luxury, privilege, and the ROI of sailing camp investments.

Notable Quote:

“It's an RV, but like a much better, more spacious RV that's parked in a much prettier place.” – Matt Farah (13:13)

Memorable Moment:
A listener/fan “prepays” the guys for drinks at a legendary BVI bar—proof that podcast fam is everywhere. (20:22)

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Lotus Carlton Review & Discussion (21:54–34:02)

What Is the Lotus Carlton?

• British super-sedan, based on the Vauxhall Omega—infamous for being the fastest sedan of its time.
• RHD, 3.6L 24V twin-turbo inline-six (~375 hp/419 lb-ft torque), six-speed gearbox from Corvette.
• “Effectively it's Corvette ZR-1 power in 1990.” – Matt (24:22)

Driving Impressions

• Fast, light on its feet, notably rapid at modern standards.
• Comfortable seats, well-made interior for its age, but "AC does not work".
• “You put the hammer down in second—this car is fast. Really fast.” – Matt (24:49)
• Steering praised for its vintage feel, but still lively.

Engineering Nerd-Out

• Zach and Matt dissect the “long boost” piping, complex engine bay, and quirks of the English approach to over-engineering.

Notable Quote:

“If you've kind of had everything else, and you're comfortable with a real DTME car that only a few people absolutely lose their mind for, it's a super cool sleeper.” – Matt (26:04)

Memorable Sidebar:
Speculation on who could actually fix a Lotus Carlton in the US. Matt's career advice for young mechanics: “If you were familiar with working on Japanese imported cars …you will have a lifetime career. Easy.” (36:56)

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2025 Chevy Blazer (38:34–41:39)

Surprisingly Good Rental

• Rented for an ice race trip—praised for:
  • Roomy interior, genuinely usable back seat
  • Excellent MPG (36mpg+ in mixed, mountainous driving)
  • Simple, unpretentious but functional interior
  • Big trunk fits mountains of luggage (with caveats on skier loads)
  • “It is a very bland automobile…But we rented one for ice race and this is a pretty small car that fit four adults, like really comfortably.” – Matt (38:46)
  • Rear seats “shaped better” than a RAV4, in Zack's experience (41:12)
• Downside: Expensive rental rates during the trip.

Memorable Moment:
Matt unable to get the remote start funtion to work — “It had a button that was a remote start button. But it would not and did not remote start.” (41:15)

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Ferrari 360 & Garage Update (45:02–49:35)

For Sale Highlights

• Silver F1 360 Modena: low miles (18k), blue seats, extensive records, up for auction. “Would be a great candidate for a [manual] swap because it's otherwise just aces.” – Matt (45:44)
• Garage preview: black/black Ferrari 348 TS (Targa) coming up, along with a one-owner Mercedes 450SL and a turquoise-wrapped 997 Cab.
• Quick debate: 360 F1 vs. 348 TS for similar money. Both hosts lean toward the 360 for daily driveability and graceful aging.

Notable Quote:

“If I had the money…this would be incredibly appealing for me to just have made this dude an offer and keep this car. But I'm exercising some self-control.” – Matt (46:35)

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Listener Q&A Highlights (50:43–91:17)

Car Culture & Industry

• Future Porsche-style cult brands?

  • Zack: Rivian shows Wrangler-like enthusiasm, Tesla is beyond cult, bordering on “lunatics.” (51:35–52:08)
  • Matt: Porsche’s appeal built on racer credibility and consistent design evolution — hard to replicate.

• Porsche Financial Struggles

  • Concerns stem from huge sunk cost in EV development as regulations shift — “Lighting hundreds of millions of dollars on fire” (65:50), shrinking margins and expensive Cayennes cut into profits despite strong product desirability.

Car Advice & Fun Philosophy

• Best secondary cars for learning to wrench: Ranger, Tacoma, Miata, Civic, Crown Vic—all “Lego” vehicles with major enthusiast communities. (86:22–88:46)
• Cheap cars to outshine exotics at a car meet: “Autozam AZ-1, Delica, Figaro, weird JDM stuff, diesel RHD 4Runners.” (74:15)
• Crossover “bad to great” with mods: Civic + suspension, Mustang GT with square stance, Fox-Body Mustang with watts-link, etc. (77:39)
• Most overlooked car features: Rear wipers, onboard navi, sunroofs (81:01)

Memorable, Entertaining Tangents

• Matt’s advice for future mechanics: “Right now, like JDM shit. You can make a solid living being a person who is an expert in JDM cars… You will have a customer base for life.” (36:27)
• Raccoon aspirations. Zack: “Sarah and I are gonna have a pet raccoon in, like, 10 years.” (33:09)

Notable Quotes (with timestamps)

• On Lotus Carlton Drive:

  “I put the hammer down in second. This car is fast. Really fast.” — Matt (24:49)

• On privilege & sailing:

  “My parents being able to send me to sailing camp… It actually generated a thing of value, a tangible thing of value that we could go back and use later.” — Matt (08:12)

• On Ferrari 360:

  “They’re comfortable. They’re just really nice comfortable cars to drive. You could just drive them all over the country, drive them all the time, drive them every day…” — Matt (46:35)

• On Porsche’s profitability:

  “Lighting hundreds of millions of dollars on fire by developing an entire range of cars that you might not actually build is a real fucking problem.” — Matt (65:50)

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Final Thoughts: What’s Fun? (89:05–91:46)

• Matt & Zack reflect on what’s actually fun for them (and fans!): learning new things, hobbies like cooking, sailing, hiking, travel, and the enjoyment of the learning process itself.
  • “A lot of things are fun. Adrenaline’s fun… Sometimes work is fun.” – Zack (89:21)
  • “It’s okay to be shitty at stuff.” – Matt (91:19)

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Timestamps for Important Segments

| Segment | Timestamp | |------------------------------- | ---------- | | Sailing/Yacht Prep | 00:00–21:54| | Lotus Carlton Deep Dive | 21:54–34:02| | Chevy Blazer Rental Review | 38:34–41:39| | Ferrari 360 & Cars for Auction | 45:02–49:35| | Listener Q&A (Car Culture) | 50:43–68:52| | Porsche Financials | 65:03–68:52| | Q&As (Advice & Modding) | 70:00–89:05| | Fun & Learning Discussion | 89:05–91:46|

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Summary

This episode is a prime example of The Smoking Tire’s blend of insightful, humorous, and authentic car culture commentary. Matt and Zack treat listeners to a rare hands-on Lotus Carlton review, drop real-world rental car wisdom, and show off their wide-ranging knowledge through engaging, often hilarious, Q&A. Peppered with memorable moments, self-deprecating reflections, and actionable enthusiast advice, this episode is a must for car enthusiasts and fans of “hanging out in the garage” automotive podcasts.

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Transcript

[Matt Farah]

What's up, everybody? Welcome to the Smoking Tire Podcast. Today's episode is brought to you by off the Record. We love off the Record. And they are looking out for all of you, just like they're looking out for me. If you get pulled over for a moving violation in any state in the U.S. don't plead guilty. Get off the record. Go to offtherecord.com TST that's offtherecord.com TNT and you get 10% off all legal services booked through off the Record. They will vigorously fight and defend and your position in a court of law. You trust me? Want this? Don't plead guilty. It could affect your insurance, your employment, and any other number of things. Offtherecord.comtst. write it down. Have it ready. Yeah. All right, folks. On this episode of the podcast, Zach and I make preparations to go yachting. We also talk about a Lotus Carlton that I just had a chance to drive for the first time. And a Ferrari 360 that's up on. Bring a trailer right now. And we give a very thorough review of our Chevy Blazer rental car. It's the Smoking Tire Podcast. Let's go. I paid all my bills with this pen yesterday and it was so satisfying. This pen writes really nice.

[Zach]

It's got a nice flow.

[Matt Farah]

It's got a good nib and a good flow. And it's really like just satisfying to look at. It's because. You know why? It's like, it's like inside out glass, right? Like remember like bubblers and shit? Remember when they started blowing when you like you'd have a cheap one, like a cheap shitty bowl. It would be like. You could feel the texture of the decorations on the outside. And then the higher end stuff was inside out where the decoration is on the inside. And you have that layer of clear glass that like magnifies it. Like a clear coat on a car, but like better. This is that where the decorations on the inside and then you have a clear layer, whatever resin that gives it like a depth.

[Zach]

Yeah. If the clear wasn't on there, it would be like a very prickly, textured thing.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah. Be strange pens. Fucking stupid. Boy, are we idiots.

[Zach]

Oh man, we love to collect things.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah. No, I mean like I don't really ever see a full collection going on with the pens because like. But, but I like. Cuz I, you know, like, like I should, I should get one for Marco because he writes all those checks, right? Like if you're gonna fucking. If you're gonna go analog, like Go analog.

[Zach]

Like how would you define a collection? Like how many pens?

[Matt Farah]

Well, it's the same as like a car, right?

[Zach]

Four or more.

[Matt Farah]

I think it's like, man, I think it's like a mindset. So when you start, when you like, yeah, it's probably four or five. But then when you're like actively seeking them.

[Zach]

Yeah, that's true.

[Matt Farah]

Then it's like when you start to hit the forums, when you start to look at auctions, when you start to plan your next year's California pen show experience.

[Zach]

Like if you were. But if you had. If you only owned three cars at any time, but you rotated. They're all like enthusiast cars.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah.

[Zach]

And you rotated them every six months or a year. Are you a collector or is there a different term for someone who moves like art? You know, art from Radwood, he sells his cool car like every six months and he owned like 80 of them. So what does that mean?

[Matt Farah]

I think you're a collector. I mean, I think, I think, you know, you, to be a collector, you must have a collection.

[Zach]

You must collect, you must.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah, you must act now. There's, I don't know how, what the death. If there is a death definition of number of things that is a collection, it's probably more than three. What is like the dictionary. Is there a dictionary cutoff for collection? I mean, this is going to be like, what's the definition of hypercar or supercar?

[Zach]

Like that's just as a group of things.

[Matt Farah]

A group? Yeah. Three to me isn't a group. Five, six. That becomes a group, right? Where if you have enough of something where people start to question your sanity and motives, you probably have.

[Zach]

AI says a group is two or more, but the dictionary Oxford doesn't say that. So I'd go with Oxford.

[Matt Farah]

Technically a group probably is two or more. But if you have two of something and refer to it as a collection, people look at you fucking side eyed, right?

[Zach]

It seems like you're boasting a little bit or like overselling it.

[Matt Farah]

Well, they go. I don't think that means what you think it means.

[Zach]

Yeah, you need a little, you need a few more. Okay, yeah.

[Matt Farah]

All right.

[Zach]

So you have two pens right now you're a pen enthusiast.

[Matt Farah]

I think enthusiast, yeah. Is right. Yeah.

[Zach]

When you cross over into four, I

[Matt Farah]

mean, I have obviously more than two pens, but I have like two pens that were made for the purposes of being art.

[Zach]

If someone has two Priuses and three enthusiast cars, they have three cool cars. So if you have bics and stuff in There. I'm not counting those. I'm talking about these things. Maybe the one other fountain pen.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah, no, I've got these. I've got, I think, one or two other cheapy fountain pens. And then I've got a series of ballpoint. Nice ballpoint pens, either from Tactile Turn, our collab partner, or that were like, quality swag from either press launches or like, Grand Seiko, things like that.

[Zach]

Okay, those are.

[Matt Farah]

Okay.

[Zach]

You're an enthusiast right now.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Zach]

But, like, when you're in danger, if

[Matt Farah]

you're gonna pay bills by writing out the checks and I. Which is old school, but I love it. Then fucking, you know, get a. Get a pen.

[Zach]

Yeah.

[Matt Farah]

When I get to. I'm not brave enough to, like, travel with this kind of thing yet, though. I'd probably lose it if I traveled with it.

[Zach]

Oh, that would be Lives on my desk. Yeah, that makes sense.

[Matt Farah]

That was. My dad used to be like that. I lose. I get these nice pants. I lose them. I fucking. I have a Bic for 30 years. And I was like, all right, never buy an ice pen. That was the lesson I learned from that I get. Wasn't quite accurate. But it's fucking exciting weekend. Because it's boat prep.

[Zach]

Yeah.

[Matt Farah]

Weekend.

[Zach]

That's pack.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah.

[Zach]

Lots of small things.

[Matt Farah]

What. But like, the last time we went sailing five years ago, we should have on the very last day, made a list.

[Zach]

We should of like.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah. Fucking don't forget this. Here's a lesson that a thing that you could bring would solve.

[Zach]

I do that every. Every camping trip and Burning man and the number of times I've remembered to go look for that list the next time is, like, 20%.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah. Yeah. So, like, the. The one thing I remember from our last trip is, like, basically bring no nice clothes.

[Zach]

Yeah.

[Matt Farah]

Don't even. Like, I remember trying to shower and then put on a nice shirt for dinner and like, instantly sweating through the nice shirt and going, well, this was silly.

[Zach]

Yeah. I'm bringing one of those.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah.

[Zach]

And the rest of it is like. Like, I'm gonna be in board shorts all day. 95% all day, every day.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah.

[Zach]

The same, like, fine. You know what I did buy? I bought, like, swim leggings for snorkeling and, like, a shirt so I don't have to worry about accidentally getting burned. You know, if you snorkel for two hours straight.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah.

[Zach]

The back of your calf, for sure. Turn to a ham.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah.

[Zach]

And I don't want to do that.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah. For sure. So for those of you who had no idea what I'm talking about. Zach and I are going sailing. We're going for nine days on a big fucking 48 foot catamaran in the British Virgin Islands, which is where I went to sailing camp when I was a kid. And how does wealth and privilege perpetuate itself? Well, by my parents being able to send me to sailing camp. I got a license that allows us to go charter boats as an adult, which is an incredibly high value vacation that we get to have for not much money because I got this license at sailing camp fucking 30 years ago.

[Zach]

Yeah, that's true.

[Matt Farah]

You know what I mean? Like, that's crazy. That, like, who would have thought that? Like that at the time, like at the time I was having the best time.

[Zach]

You're just having fun at sailing camp, doing a thing.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah. And learning to scuba dive and all this other like great stuff. But it was like, it was a fucking hoity toity camp. I knew it. We were sailing around the Caribbean in a flotilla of boats from the moorings. Made a lot of great friends, ended up working there for two years after I was 18. And now we're essentially going to go sail as adults the same route that I sailed as a kid. Of course a lot of it's gonna be different. Cause after the 2017 hurricane, these islands got pretty fucked up and there was a real like, a real like rah rah to rebuild. And they've apparently rebuilt them like nice. Like they're apparently great. So stoked. But like it was, but just that I did that as a camp and it actually generated a thing of value, a tangible thing of value that we could go back and use later.

[Zach]

I mean, the ROI is still negative. Overall, I think like the amount you've spent on going to camp and then the amount you made working at camp and then the amount we spent saying,

[Matt Farah]

oh, I'm not saying it's profitable, I'm just saying it's a, it is a thing of value.

[Zach]

I would say. Anybody listening, this is the best way to see a tropical place. And you've heard me say it's like 58,000 times, Matt. But no.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah.

[Zach]

If you're listening and you have access in like the time to go get a sailing license. It takes a couple weekends.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah.

[Zach]

You can then take friends and family on a. The most amazing tropical vacation for far, far, far less than you could if you had to pay a captain to be there. Like just do it. It's fantastic.

[Matt Farah]

And it's not even just paying a captain on a boat. Like this, you have to pay a captain and then give them one of the rooms.

[Zach]

Yeah.

[Matt Farah]

So you have like less. You know what I mean?

[Zach]

And you gotta hang out with them the whole time. Could go either way.

[Matt Farah]

And they're on your, you know, not huge boat the whole time, so. Which is probably fine. If you're a captain in the Caribbean, you're probably, you know, you're used to that. Best case scenario, you're literally Captain Ron, but, you know, short of Kurt Russell himself.

[Zach]

We watched them below deck to prepare for this trip and I noticed that the captain has the best job because they just go to their. They sail the boat. They don't talk to the celebrities really, or the people that rent it. They go to their cabin and just go to sleep, read a book and let the staff who are 23, deal with the folks staying up late drinking alcohol. They do that.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah. Well, if you're a real captain on a real commercial, like commercially operated charter yacht like that, that's like training. Training. You need like adult level training. You can't have gotten that lesson when you're 16 at San Francisco.

[Zach]

No, no, no, no.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah, no. But our buddy Tim, who's coming on the boat with us, came with us the first time around and was like, I want to be able to do this. And then did like, you know, it was a few weekends and, you know, and got himself a captain's license as an adult too. And now he can do it.

[Zach]

Yeah.

[Matt Farah]

But like, it's shockingly affordable and awesome. So. And even, even like medium terrible countries. The part facing the ocean is really nice.

[Zach]

The ocean looks like the ocean, you know, and the reefs look like reefs for the most part, with some variation, of course, but like, you know, the water is going to be blue and it's just going to be gorgeous.

[Matt Farah]

And the Caribbean has more consistent winds than Tahiti. Like in Tahiti, where we were last time, it was insanely beautiful and I can't wait to go back there. But we saved money by going in like a shoulder season where the weather's very pleasant but the winds aren't so great. So people who have more budgets like to go in the high season where the sailing winds are really good. We did that trade off in order to have like a sick experience for a better price and I think was worth it. In the Caribbean and this time of year, the winds are like super duper consistent. So we can expect like 10 to 15 knots like all the time. And the sails are only like two to three hours, you know, because the islands are Pretty tight.

[Zach]

Cool.

[Matt Farah]

So it should be really nice, I hope, anyway, but, like. Yeah, I'm trying to think of, like, all the things that we need, and I'm like, I should have fucking written this down last time, but I know

[Zach]

I'm gonna forget stuff. I just accept it.

[Matt Farah]

Is that. Is your coffee grinder, a burr grinder or a blade grinder? It's the blade. Yeah. All the portable ones kind of are,

[Zach]

unless you have the hand.

[Matt Farah]

What happened to it? I think I gave it to somebody as a donation of some kind, which was dumb. I'll never find one like that again.

[Zach]

You know, the other option is just grind coffee at home the day before you leave. And it'd be pretty fresh.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah, we can do that too. Just grind a big couple pounds into a. Like a gallon bag, I guess, or whatever. Yeah. Yeah, that's probably a good enough move. Yeah. I'm super fucking excited to go sailing. It's like. I mean, I guess that it's like an rv, but like a much better, more spacious RV that, like, is parked in a much prettier place, you know, like.

[Zach]

Well, in the.

[Matt Farah]

It's like an RV in terms of. It's a road trip where you don't have to unpack and repack. Yeah. Which is lovely.

[Zach]

And you can stop where you want, but you have your kitchen and you can just like jump in the water. And it's like every time you stop, there'd be a hiking trail or waterfall right outside the rv.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah, it's great. It's great. There's. And there's. Yeah, the BVI is a good time. It's so fun. It's like pretty much the biggest yacht charter destination in the world.

[Zach]

I've never been there.

[Matt Farah]

It's extremely typical Caribbean fucking vibe. Fun beach bars, secluded coves, good winds, islands. Fucking vibe. Yeah. Mad chill.

[Zach]

Cool.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah. Should be really nice. But I'm interested because I was there before the hurricane to see how it's evolved. But it's like, this is literally where we would all fly into when we were in fucking high school to go to this camp.

[Zach]

It's like, oh, there's the beach we found the Playboys on. And there's the beach where we.

[Matt Farah]

Can you just pull up Action Quest, which is a really lame for name. This is the coolest camp.

[Zach]

It sounds like a game show on Nickelodeon.

[Matt Farah]

Fucking does, doesn't it? It's the coolest camp with the lamest name. But this was it. Obviously. It's still going. Adventure camps, sailing and scuba diving since 1986. Dude, this is a fabulous program. If you want to spoil the shit out of your kids. What can I say? But it was really safe. It was like they really cared a lot about safety and stuff. And you can become a professional scuba diver at this camp, which is pretty cool, which I did. I went from never even having touched a scuba tank over four summers to being a professional scuba diver. There it is, the British Virgin Islands camp.

[Zach]

That's professional. Meaning like you are qualified to lead dives.

[Matt Farah]

An instructor. I became a diving. Yeah, A diving instructor. Yeah, I guess dive. If you're a dive master, which is you can lead dives, but you can't certify other divers, that's where you become a professional because you. That's where most people stop because they're not teaching, they're just guiding. Like, Mahdi is a divemaster. Mahdi the shaman. Shout out to him. Iguana safari tours. But yeah, you could become an instructor as well. Guys, support is coming in today from Deleteme. Deleteme makes it easy, quick and safe to remove your personal data online at a time when surveillance and data breaches are common enough to make everyone vulnerable. Here's this. Data brokers make a profit off of your data. It's a commodity. Anyone on the web can buy your private details and this can lead to identity theft, phishing attempts and harassment. But now you can protect your privacy with Delete Me. Here's how it works. Data brokers buy your information from legitimate websites in which you either sign up for a program or shop, right? They then sell that information to whoever. That's how that works, right? So you want to send takedown notices to all these sites to get your information off there, but you don't know how to do that. Deleteme does. So you sign up for Deleteme and they mass find all this information about you, get it deleted from these websites in an ongoing way. And as someone with an active online presence, this is important to me. I don't need them knowing my wife's maiden's name and her job and all this stuff because I bought a pair of underwear from Australia. You know what I'm saying? They have good underwear down under. They just do. So I use Delete me and you can too get 20% off your delete me plan. When you go to JoinDeleteMe.com delete and use promo code tire at checkout. That's JoinDeleteMe.com tire. The only way to get 20% off is to go to JoinDeleteMe.com tire and then enter code tire at checkout. You got it? Good. We're also talking to you today because support is coming in from fitbod. Listen, I have been pretty obsessed with my personal fitness over the last three years. I make a lot of accommodations to get my workout schedule going and I'm very fortunate that I have the resources for a personal trainer. Not everybody has those resources, but it helps me with my accountability, adapting my workouts and adjusting my training as I progress. Right. And sort of level it up. And you don't need an actual personal trainer to get those kinds of results that you want. All you need for these personalized workouts is, is fitbot. Right? It makes working out so much easier. It's like having a personal trainer in your pocket. FitBot can customize workouts based on your goals. Whether that's targeting a certain muscle group, improving recovery, losing weight. It can help you stay focused and get a better workout, up the intensity as you go, and then improve your strength and endurance just like a trainer would. All you have to do is input your goals for yourself and then fit. Fitbod will create a personalized workout routine based on those goals, your fitness level and the available equipment. Then the workouts can adapt to your growth. So each workout is challenging enough to push you to make progress. Fitbod tracks your muscle recovery, avoiding burnout and help keeping up your momentum. And then your program is fine tuned by experienced certified personal trainers to bring best practices and exercise science to you. And they have over 1000 demonstration videos so you know that your form and every workout is going to correct. So level up your workout. Join Fitbod today to get your personalized workout plan 25% off your subscription or try the app for free for seven days at fitbod. Me tire. That's fitbod. Metire. F I T B O D Metire. And now back to the show. Yeah, but yeah, fucking awesome. Got mad specialties, yo. So that's the route we go. You start on Tortola and then you pretty much run a counterclockwise. You start in what looks to be the anus of Tortola, right in the middle. To the right, to the dot, to the right.

[Zach]

Freud would have questions for you.

[Matt Farah]

This one, the south side, South Shore. Sorry. To the right, the one to the right. Down, down, down the other side of the fucking island. That one there. You start there and then you go southeast to the little chain of islands and work your way clockwise, counterclockwise. I'm sorry, counterclockwise around there. So we will get to choose on the fly if we want to do the Onagata, which is far out. It's an interesting one, but it's like a long, longer sail each way.

[Zach]

Depends on the wind, I guess.

[Matt Farah]

Well, it depends on the wind. And it also is like, you know, do we want to hang out an extra day? Do we want to buffer ourselves? Because it's pretty flexible so we can do what the fuck ever. Yeah. So. And actually, so see Yost van Dijk on the left? A fan emailed me today and I'm sorry, I'm not remembering his name right now, but emailed me this morning. And there's a bar on Joost. Jos van Dijk is a drinking island. All there is to do there is drink. It's bars on beach. That's what the. And there's a. What's called like a guest list or something on the wall and people. This fan stopped in and pre bought us a round of drinks at this bar. And we just. We show up and I guess I show my ID or something to say I'm the guy written prove you're the person and we get a round of drinks. So I'm sorry, I've forgotten your name. But thank you for the round of drinks at Yost Van Dyke when we get there. So that'll be fun. So, yeah, it's a good. It's a good island, that island.

[Zach]

Cool.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah. So. So anyway, that's what we're gonna be doing.

[Zach]

See some dolphins, rescue a whale.

[Matt Farah]

You know, it's kind of like driving. We're gonna do a podcast on the boat.

[Zach]

Yes.

[Matt Farah]

We'll have yacht cast, so that'll be fun. But dude, also, I. Well, not gonna say it. Moving on.

[Zach]

Okay.

[Matt Farah]

Drove a Lotus. Carlton.

[Zach]

Yeah. Let's talk about this. I've heard so much about this car.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah.

[Zach]

Specifically from watching Jason Kamiece's video. But, you know, it's also Lotus, so you hear things.

[Matt Farah]

It's a funny. It's such a funny Lotus because it just doesn't feel like a. It feels like I want it to be like a Holden is what I really kind of want. For those who have no idea what a Lotus Carlton is, it is a sedan based on. I think it's called the Vauxhall Omega. Oh, boy. Thaddeus Brown must be very angry at something we said on the live stream and has to chime in. It's a British saloon car. Very dtm. That for a moment was the fastest sedan in the world. Yeah. It's a twin Turbo six

[Zach]

and inliner

[Matt Farah]

V. You know it's funny. I don't know. I think it's a V. I think it's twin turbo V6. But I believe it's 375 horsepower.

[Zach]

That's a lot, dude. For the year. Wow.

[Matt Farah]

This car is very fast. So we're selling one on. On. Bring a trailer. It's not up yet. It's gonna be up soon.

[Zach]

375 horsepower in 1990.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah. Wow. This thing, this car rips. It's right hand drive obviously because it's British. It has what feels basically a Corvette gearbox. So it shifts like a Corvette with your left hand clutch is very light. It has the same steering wheel as the 80s AMG's. That four spoke steering wheel that AMG was. It has a good ride. The steering is a little. It's a little 90s. But the car feels light on its feet. Good seats, nicely bolstered. This one's got 75,000. I believe they're kilometers. Pretty sure it's all kilometers.

[Zach]

It's a 24 valve inline six. It's a 3.6 liter. And yeah, twin turbo. I mean I understand was the horsepower, right?

[Matt Farah]

375. Yeah. 375. Yeah. What's the. Do you have a torque number there?

[Zach]

No, but I'll find it.

[Matt Farah]

Don't worry about this thing. You know, it's a. It's a, you know.

[Zach]

419 pound feet.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah.

[Zach]

In 1991. 990. For people listening, that's more than every Corvette Corvette ZR1. Right.

[Matt Farah]

Effectively it's Corvette ZR1 power in 1990. Yeah. Might be more power. I think it might be more power than a Corvette ZR1. Corvette ZR1 would have been 375 horsepower. But being a naturally aspirated V8, it probably was less torque.

[Zach]

It was horsepower. It had 370 pound feet of torque.

[Matt Farah]

Oh yeah.

[Zach]

So significantly less.

[Matt Farah]

So this, I mean this thing. Dude, I put the hammer down in second. This car is fast. Really fast.

[Zach]

This is like a GTR which. Sorry.

[Matt Farah]

Which was kind of like a Skyline.

[Zach]

Yeah.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah, dude. It's like it's got real. It's not quite as slick as a Skyline. If you drive an R33 or R34, you're like. This is like a 2012 BMW 335i. It feels like an inline six that's 20 years newer than it is. This is very smooth and very fast and powerful. But it doesn't feel quite as smooth as that. But it was real Quick, here we go. Yeah, there's that steering wheel. You recognize that?

[Zach]

It's not bad. The spokes are small. As far as four spokes go. It's not the worst.

[Matt Farah]

It's not the worst.

[Zach]

Better than four spokes.

[Matt Farah]

It's just the same one that the AMGs were using. Yeah.

[Zach]

What a cool thing. That's a fuck ton of power, man.

[Matt Farah]

And actually. And this one had a really nice interior. And it's like interior. Not a lot. Not squeaky or rattly and things worked. Actually that's mostly true. The AC does not work. But really fast car. That would be a super cool sleeper. You know, if you've kinda. If you've kind of had everything else, you know, and you're comfortable with a real DTME car that like only a few people like absolutely lose their mind.

[Zach]

It's like a sneaky M5.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Zach]

It's funny. The power is made at 5200 rpm. That's low in the rev range. Do you know it at rev?

[Matt Farah]

Two sixty mid sixes. Okay. I mean it's. Yeah, mid sixes. I didn't take it to redline. I probably shifted it somewhere in the fives. But this thing was humming along and then it had a long, you know, a really tall sixth gear. Cause it's like a Corvette gearbox. Yeah. So you could just kind of loaf it along on the highway.

[Zach]

It's kind of Corvette power band. Just makes more horsepower.

[Matt Farah]

It reminds me of that Callaway twin turbo Corvette I drove that had like fucking super duty torque power curve. Looked like a diesel. It was like peak torque at 2400 rpm, which is what a lot of

[Zach]

modern M cars do now. But back then it probably felt a little different.

[Matt Farah]

It's strange.

[Zach]

Look how much stuff we're looking at the engine bay for people listening. And like my car, if you look at it, you can see almost. You can see like the cylinder head in the inline six. Same with RVs.

[Matt Farah]

You can see the flow of the air.

[Zach]

This. I don't know where is going. What. Like there's a cylinder head somewhere. This is a charge cooler on top of. So I mean obviously your engine is.

[Matt Farah]

So the air box is on the left side of the picture.

[Zach]

Yeah.

[Matt Farah]

And you've got this laundry ducting. Laundry ducting that goes into. I guess the.

[Zach]

Each turbo's got to be down here.

[Matt Farah]

Each turbo. Right. And then the. Well, no, hang on the top. It goes through the throttle bodies into the charge cooler. Right. That box is the. Is the intercooler.

[Zach]

Oh, so the turbos are here. It shoves through the intercooler.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah, yeah.

[Zach]

Into the throttle body.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah, yeah. Okay. All right. So it goes from the air box to the charge cooler to the throttle body into the cylinder, right? Yeah.

[Zach]

There's a lot of piping in here.

[Matt Farah]

I think there isn't plastic covering.

[Zach]

We know like, a lot of modern cars now, like, they'll have. The turbo is cast with the exhaust manifold, so, like, maximize that response. I think looking at this picture. Don't yell at me, Internet, if I'm wrong, but it looks like all of those. Like, the boost covers quite a distance. You know, there's a lot of, like, shipping internationally.

[Matt Farah]

We call it long boost.

[Zach]

Yeah, they would mark it like wide track Pontiac. You know, it's a big car. No, no, it's wide track. This would be long boost. Like, long drink. What a cool thing. I like it.

[Matt Farah]

Look how much weight you could save by having a lithium battery. Holy shit. It's probably just the wide angle of the photo, but that battery is, like, insane.

[Zach]

Look at the size of this tank.

[Matt Farah]

Folks, gotta take one more break because support is coming in hot out the microwave from Factor. Somewhere between the first warm weekend and realizing short season is getting close, that yacht awaits. Eating well stops feeling optional in factor is how I stopped letting a busy schedule be my excuse. Listen, you've heard on this podcast about my crazy travel, and basically every single day that I'm home in between, that travel is designed to undo the damage that travel and driving does to my body. Don't get me wrong, I love my life, but it's bad for me. And so when I'm home, I'm pretty hardcore. Factor really helps. Why? Because my instinct is to make bad decisions. I don't start thinking about food until I get really hungry. And then the options that are available are limited. They're not that healthy, they're annoying to make, et cetera, et cetera. When we've got factor in the house, you've got quality, functional ingredients, lean proteins, great veggies, whole food ingredients, healthy fats. And you've got it waiting in your fridge. It's been delivered always fresh, never frozen, right in the microwave, ready in about two minutes. No prep, no stress, no cleanup. So I can have healthy food at the right time of day, crucially, an hour and a half before my workout, not 20 minutes before my workout. So I feel like I have to poop the whole time, hour and a half before my workout. Right. That way I'm not freaking out. And then I'm good then I feel great while I'm working out. My energy flow throughout the day is correct. And I'm not making poor decisions out of either starvation or panic or whatever. Right. And you can do it too. It's super easy. We got a great deal for you. Head over to FactorMeals.com Tire50OFF and use code Tire50OFF to get 50% off and free breakfast for a year. And that's 5 0, right. FactorMeals.com Tire 50 OFF and use code Tire50OFF to Get 50% off and free breakfast for a year. Offer only valid for new factor customers with code and quality auto renewing subscription purchase. Make healthier eating easy with factor. Yeah, it's not a windshield.

[Zach]

It's gotta be windshield. Yeah. Because coolant overflows here, coolant overflows there.

[Matt Farah]

This is a. Is that a huge windshield?

[Zach]

This is a windshield fluid tank that is larger than a standard car battery. Wow.

[Matt Farah]

Wow. I guess you really want to make sure you always have it.

[Zach]

I guess. That's strange. That's a lot.

[Matt Farah]

Maybe they. Maybe in England you need it more than here.

[Zach]

It's got pretty good shape to it. This reminds me a lot of the. Remember the Ford Contour svt?

[Matt Farah]

Sure.

[Zach]

I mean, that was blob era, of course, in terms of design, but this is like the rear wheel drive early version of that.

[Matt Farah]

This reminds me of that Infiniti G20T which was also Nissan Primera, but it's a little bigger than that. It's also got that Nissan Ciphero, sort of the. What are the, like early 90s, like, not like Maxima XSE, like the Nissan.

[Zach]

Oh, yeah.

[Matt Farah]

Mid 90s Nissan styling to it, which I suppose was. Was taken from this and not the other way around.

[Zach]

What was that going? Rear wheel drive. Right. This car.

[Matt Farah]

Cifro.

[Zach]

Yeah, sorry, the. The Carlton. Yeah, that's one of the big. The Infiniti, you know, whatever. I20T.

[Matt Farah]

Oh. The G20 was a front wheel, front

[Zach]

wheel drive car, like a lot of those things. So this is a little rare in that regard.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah.

[Zach]

Cool. That's fun.

[Matt Farah]

But that G20T was underrated. It was a nice car.

[Zach]

Yeah.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah, they handled really good.

[Zach]

I drove a modded one on a one take. I'm like, this is a sleeper. No one's really talking about.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah, they're all right.

[Zach]

Yeah.

[Matt Farah]

And my buddy Devereaux in high school hit a raccoon at about 100 miles an hour. And other than needing a new front bumper, the car was fine. So I was like all right.

[Zach]

That was terrible. That was a raccoon.

[Matt Farah]

Not so fine.

[Zach]

Red mist.

[Matt Farah]

Oh, it was not good. It was. It was. Well, it was ugly.

[Zach]

Just the opposable thumbs just hanging onto

[Matt Farah]

the grill was so bad.

[Zach]

They're cute.

[Matt Farah]

It was so gross.

[Zach]

If things go right in our life, Sarah and I are gonna have a pet raccoon in, like, 10 years. We're just gonna have a house in the middle of nowhere, and we're gonna befriend a raccoon.

[Matt Farah]

It's just gonna arrive and determine that it's welcome.

[Zach]

Yes, and it will be. And so I just want you to know what you're getting into when you visit.

[Matt Farah]

I'm gonna fuck him. Like, ah. You're like, that's Steve.

[Zach]

Yep. He's fine. Yeah. The prepper slash animal rescue era is really approaching.

[Matt Farah]

Oh, man. Dirt's cheap in Lancaster. Where are we looking at dirt? We're farther.

[Zach]

I want a place that has trees and stuff.

[Matt Farah]

Oh, tree.

[Zach]

Further north.

[Matt Farah]

Okay. Oh, up north. Not like. Not like idle, wild.

[Zach]

I mean, ideally, I want my own tunnel that goes into Canada, but it might be too cold there. But, yeah, probably different state. This is a ways out, but just expect raccoons is what I'm saying.

[Matt Farah]

So, anyway, you should buy a Lotus Carlton. Yeah, I don't know who the fuck

[Zach]

works on a Lotus Carlton, so that's a man.

[Matt Farah]

Fortunately, it's not my problem. It's just. My problem is to tell you that I drove it and it was very, very fast.

[Zach]

You need a Nigel.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah. I bet you, like, Charlie would know which.

[Zach]

Charlie.

[Matt Farah]

Charlie. He would know who could work on this.

[Zach]

Very true.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah.

[Zach]

And it depends on which state you're in.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah, it's gonna be one of those things with, like, one guy, and when they retire, like, we're all fucked up. Like, if you're in your. God, if you're in your, like, 20s, right now, you should be finding weird cars and learning how to keep them running and being the fucking last guy or girl in America that can take care of these fucking cars. And you will have a customer base for life.

[Zach]

Did you see? There's a story a few months ago about this girl was, like, 15, and she started a carburetor repair, like in Road and Truck. Oh, okay.

[Matt Farah]

Riley's. Riley's Rebuild, I believe it's called.

[Zach]

And it went from her doing it to hiring a staff of other high school women to do it. And then her brother takes it over while she goes to college. People need carburetor repair, and there's fewer of them. And so she had a successful business by the age of 17. So. Yeah, get out there and fix Lotuses.

[Matt Farah]

And carburetors are, I mean no disrespect, not the most complicated thing. One can learn to rebuild carburetors without too much, you know, trouble, like. And then you can just be the person who does that. A lot of people don't do that. But if you do, I don't know

[Zach]

how to do them.

[Matt Farah]

I don't either.

[Zach]

I've needed to do it for a long time.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah, I know. You don't have to be a super fucking genius to do it, but I don't know how to do it. So I will pay somebody.

[Zach]

Right.

[Matt Farah]

Shout out to her. Yeah, I'll pay her. Yeah.

[Zach]

And then there's the tuning of it, which is a different story.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah, that's a whole other thing. Yeah, Marco could probably do that.

[Zach]

Oh, I should ask him.

[Matt Farah]

He could probably rebuild a carburetor. Oh, yeah. Yeah.

[Zach]

Okay. But anyway, proving what I just said, right? People learn to repair weird, cool enthusiast stuff.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah.

[Zach]

And you will always have business.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah. If you like, you could easily be the one of like two or three people in the entire country that knows how to, you know, like right now, like JDM shit. You can make a solid living with being a person who is an expert in JDM cars.

[Zach]

Good point.

[Matt Farah]

People import them and then they get them and then they don't have anybody that's ever seen one before. It was really hard for me to find someone to work on. The Delica Skyline, not so much. But it's not a complicated. It's a fucking little shitty diesel.

[Zach]

You just need someone that is familiar enough with that family of cars or engines and hopefully you're near a city that has that. If you're in Idaho, the nearest Lotus Service center might be far away, but if you're in a larger state or city, you might be all right.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah. And if you knew how to. If you were familiar with working on, you know, Japanese imported cars and you were familiar with, like, where to buy parts for them, like, you could. You will have a lifetime career. Yeah. Easy.

[Zach]

Easy. Because they're only bringing in more and more. Simple.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah, simple. Not easy.

[Zach]

They're bringing in more and more Japanese cars with the 25 year rule and everyone's excited about it. So I think the supply of business is only going to go up.

[Matt Farah]

The people that are making good use of K trucks now will choose to continue keep making use of K trucks and they're going to Keep being cheap. So every five years they'll import a new one for $8,000 and that'll be their utility vehicle.

[Zach]

Yeah. It's a job AI can't do. And if you want to listen to one of those terrifying interviews, like the grandfather of AI camera, the guy's name, British, you know, computer scientist. But they said, what's a great future proof job? And he was like, plumber.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah.

[Zach]

And the interviewer laughed. And he just stares dead straight. He's like, you know how complicated physically that job is. Same with this stuff.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah. No one's going to stop pooping.

[Zach]

That's right. AI can't.

[Matt Farah]

Despite what Brian Johnson wants you to believe. Like, we're not going to stop pooping.

[Zach]

That guy probably tracks all of his defecation. And. Yeah, and if it, you know, if it drops from four to three for a day, he's like, what's wrong?

[Matt Farah]

He's like, son, come here and give me a poop transplant.

[Zach]

I watched that video where they did the blood plasma like his dad and him and his son and. All right.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah. What the fuck?

[Zach]

You know what? They are happy. All right. I can't argue against that.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah.

[Zach]

Just.

[Matt Farah]

Can I give a little shout out to the fairly lame but insanely fuel efficient Chevy Blazer that I rented for ice race?

[Zach]

Yeah, let's talk about it.

[Matt Farah]

That Chevy Blazer. Nobody's talking about the Chevy Blazer. And for good reason. It is a very bland automobile, but we rented one for ice race and this is a pretty small car that fit four adults, like really comfortably.

[Zach]

The rear seat is very well contoured and comfortable.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah. And I didn't have to give up any leg room for you guys to sit behind me. And it fit like a shitload of luggage at the same time. And for. I got for. Dude, I drove that car 340something miles during that week and I used like not even 3/4 of a tank of fuel. It got like 36 miles a gallon the whole time. Driving up and down mountains, mixed use. Yeah.

[Zach]

I see them really, really nice on the highways here a lot. And I'm always surprised by it because my brain is just like wired to look for Toyotas. But I see them more than I expected and now I know why.

[Matt Farah]

It was really in terms of just being like a pretty basic car. It was nice. All wheel drive, heated seats, spacious.

[Zach]

Yeah.

[Matt Farah]

And it was like this one pretty base other than being all wheel drive, but it was nice. Carplay worked good. Wireless carplay was good. It was, it was very fuel efficient and Spacious.

[Zach]

And it held four people's worth of suitcases, plus two camera cases in the trunk. And I think you could still see out the back.

[Matt Farah]

It didn't. It held three people's worth of suitcases. Because my suitcases were already at the Airbnb. It was yours, Sarah's and Hannah's. That's a good point. Yeah. Yeah. It would not have held all of ours, but we had. But we had a lot of shit. It would hold four people's normal suitcases, but not four people's skiing and filming shit too.

[Zach]

That's a good point.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah. These are pictures of the electric one. Yeah.

[Zach]

This is what I put.

[Matt Farah]

We had the gas one. That is not the same thing that Clapton.

[Zach]

The trunk is almost the same.

[Matt Farah]

The trunk is probably almost the same. I think the trunk is bigger, possibly in the one that we have. Well.

[Zach]

Because there's probably a battery under here somewhere.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah.

[Zach]

But. Yeah. Surprising car. Really. Surprising car. The seats are more comfortable than my wife's RAV4 seats.

[Matt Farah]

Are they? Yeah, the front seat was okay.

[Zach]

They were shaped better in the Chevy. Don't tell her I said that.

[Matt Farah]

The front seat was fine. The only thing I couldn't figure out was it had on the fob. It clearly had a button that was a remote start button. But it. It would not and did not remote start.

[Zach]

Do you think they disable that with the rental car? I don't know why they. No, because Ali's rental car.

[Matt Farah]

Other rental cars had it.

[Zach]

Yeah.

[Matt Farah]

It was like everything else for Ice Race. It was expensive, that rental car.

[Zach]

Oh, just for that week?

[Matt Farah]

Yeah. It was like 1400 for Tuesday to Sunday.

[Zach]

Fuck, yeah. Wow.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah, it was expensive. Yeah.

[Zach]

All right, so next year we'll tow a vehicle.

[Matt Farah]

Well, I mean, look, we now know the math on it. I mean, the flights were expensive and the rental car was expensive, but, you

[Zach]

know, we saved for days.

[Matt Farah]

But we got home. We got home very, very efficiently and we didn't have to. But I mean, you know, if. If we wanted to make an adventure out of it. I'm not against fucking shout out to Paul Kramer who drove his 944 the whole way up there.

[Zach]

Whoa. That's incredible.

[Matt Farah]

A couple people did that. Someone else. I forget who else. Someone else I talked to road tripped from LA also. But it's not my preferred.

[Zach]

It's not my back's preferred. The duration of sitting would be rough.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah.

[Zach]

It's clearly suboptimal if we broke it up with content stuff along the way, but, you know, in both directions, that could Be a rad road trip. And I bet it's a gorgeous trip. I bet the drive, like watching the landscape change as you get up in the mountains is stunning.

[Matt Farah]

Well, the first half of it we're certainly familiar with.

[Zach]

Sure.

[Matt Farah]

The first half of it is LA to basically Salt Lake City. And then you just keep going north from Salt Lake City rather than turning east towards Denver. Right. It's pretty much just 15 to Salt Lake City. And then you keep going north instead of turning right. Yeah, I mean I. It probably is gorgeous.

[Zach]

Probably really gorgeous.

[Matt Farah]

Continuing through the Rockies all the way from, you know.

[Zach]

Yeah.

[Matt Farah]

Mid Utah to.

[Zach]

Yeah. From. From here. It's probably really awesome.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah.

[Zach]

And then all the way.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah. And you go. You drive through Yellowstone and shit. We could do that. I mean, that's a thing. We could go, you know, we could go to. To some national parks or something. We'll see. But I. There's. There's possibly a mathematical argument for, you

[Zach]

know, I wonder toe the spider put some. Put some spike tires on it.

[Matt Farah]

It's. I don't think it would be a. I don't think it would put that cool of a show on. And, and like, I don't, you know, I don't think it would. You know, people have seen a spider before. I don't think. You know, whatever. We'll see.

[Zach]

I don't know.

[Matt Farah]

We'll see. It could also be like, maybe if we can get someone to give us a luxury van RV type thing that could tow our trailer and now we could, you know, just sort of stop somewhere like super pretty standalone for the night and maybe even like live in the RV during the ice race. That might be a lot.

[Zach]

No, my. My friend who runs Santa Cruz vans, he camps. He van camps at the ski hills in Tahoe all the time because he put in heated floors and insulation. It's fine.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah.

[Zach]

So. And I met the people at Nuvo Van and I bet they'd be happy Lonus wanted to drive to that thing.

[Matt Farah]

Oh, that was the guy who was at. At Johnny's Cars and Coffee, right?

[Zach]

Yeah, yeah. With a coffee machine and stuff like that.

[Matt Farah]

See if they have one that can tow a light trailer. Cause our trailer plus manx is only £4,000.

[Zach]

Okay.

[Matt Farah]

So yeah, that could be fun. We got a couple other cars actually in addition to Lotus Carlton. We got a really nice Ferrari 360 on. Bring a trailer right now. It's a silver F1 car with blue seats and it's live right now. This is gonna be a good one. It's A coupe. It's very. There it is. 18,000 miles. Very well cared for car. It would be a great, I mean it's F1 so meh if you ask me. But it would be a great candidate for a swap because it's otherwise just aces.

[Zach]

Wow.

[Matt Farah]

And I think the fact that it's F1 will probably.

[Zach]

18,000 miles. That's low.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah, it looks it too. It looks great. I drove it today for the video and it sounds awesome.

[Zach]

To the exhaust.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah, it sounds great. Yeah.

[Zach]

Okay. Someone buy this and then swap the trans.

[Matt Farah]

And it's got service records going almost all the way back to new. Like 20, 20 years of service records.

[Zach]

Sick.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah. So you get this, you know, it'll probably go for, I hope a good number but it likely won't hit 100. We're not expecting 100. That would be great. But, but. And if you just, you know, 20, 25 for the swap and you got a real keeper.

[Zach]

Yeah, this seems like the great way to get into a Ferrari and you could be happy with it for a long time.

[Matt Farah]

I drove it, I drove it today and I hadn't driven one in a while and I was like, God, these, they're comfortable. They're real. They're just really nice comfortable cars to drive. You just drive them all over the country, drive them all the time, drive them every day. And there's a really comfortable car. This one with the tubi just sounds really nice. And it is quick. It is definitely quick. But the current owner bought it thinking he was going to drive it a lot, but has a big collection. Ended up liking some of his other cars a little more, driving those a little more and wants it to go to a good home. Someone who's actually going to drive it. So if I had the money, if I had just sold the NSX and the Countach wasn't looming, this would be incredibly appealing for me to just have made this dude an offer and keep this car. But I'm exercising some self control and

[Zach]

you have a Mercedes project happening.

[Matt Farah]

We're hoping the Mercedes is gonna go well. I mean in terms of learning about this powertrain swap thing.

[Zach]

Oh, right, right.

[Matt Farah]

The Mercedes is not 100% certain but Countach is. And we think that's gon be expensive. So we're not. We certainly are not.

[Zach]

That's 100% happening and 100% expensive.

[Matt Farah]

Yes. We're not buying Ferraris right now. That would be a very fucking stupid thing to do. So we've got that Ferrari up right now. We also have a one owner Mercedes 450 SL. That's going to be going up probably by the time this podcast airs. It's not up right now. We also have a 997 Carrera S cab that's going up in a couple of weeks. It's red, but it has like a turquoise wrap on it. Maybe not for everybody, but otherwise very nice car. So that's a bunch of cool cars going. The Carlton Ferrari. Oh, we also have probably going up in two weeks a black, black 91 Ferrari 348T S which is the Targa. I love that car too. That would be a tough one. Similar money, I think for the 360 or the. What would you do? I think similar money for the 360 as is not swapped or 91 black. Black 348.

[Zach]

I'd still go 360 because the good year for the 348 was 94. Right?

[Matt Farah]

The best year.

[Zach]

That's the best year when it was becoming the 355 and had all the good stuff. I would do that because I bet the 360, even though the transmission is the transmission in the corners and whatnot, it would be more rewarding. And I also think it looks fantastic. I think it's a beautiful car from every angle.

[Matt Farah]

I think 348s look good. I think it's cool.

[Zach]

But I just, I just preferred once we got into the 90s, design more than the 80s, you know? So that's what I would do.

[Matt Farah]

All right, all right, fair enough. Either way, someone will get a good 348. Also. Can we go to the people?

[Zach]

Yes.

[Matt Farah]

Because I'm out of things to talk about because we podcasted yesterday too. Happens. We gotta get ahead. Y' all gotta get ahead. There's only so many things happening in our worlds because we gotta do paperwork and shit too.

[Zach]

We gotta do what?

[Matt Farah]

We gotta do paperwork and shit too. We don't have. We're not always out doing exciting car things and we can come. Come back here and tell tales. Sometimes we just gotta pack for a trip and do paperwork. You know what I mean? But patreon.com thesmokentyrepodcast is where you would ask your questions. It's where you watch the livestream. It's where you get the show early. It's where you get extra show. It's where you get a show without ads. It's where you get exclusive access to collabs and things such as the very soon upcoming notice canyon in. I don't even know what we're calling it so we don't get sued. But it's the color that looks just like my car. I, I pretty sure I can't call it the exact same company as the car, but it will be very obvious of the intent.

[Zach]

Yeah, that company would like a new revenue stream and you don't want to be it.

[Matt Farah]

All right, let's see what we got. Can you make that bigger please, Kiel? And TO says, what brand is poised to develop a cult like following similar to Porsche in the last 15 years? A cult? I mean there's certain brands that already have cult like followings.

[Zach]

Yeah, developing one because that assumes a newish brand. Yeah, I think Rivian's doing the best job. I think they're becoming more like Wrangler. The people that like Rivian really like Rivian. We've talked about this. The Poles, despite their reliability, first time Rivian owners, their response to buying another one is huge. So I think they've actually done the best job.

[Matt Farah]

I mean look, last 15 years, Tesla has a literal cult.

[Zach]

That's a good point.

[Matt Farah]

We don't cult like. Yeah, I'll give Rivian cult. Like that means like people really like their Rivians and would buy another one. Tesla is an actual cult. They have like lunatics. And so I mean it's not in the same way that Porsche has enthusiasts. I don't think Porsche enthusiasts can get a little bit overboard with their colors and whatever and be dweebs. Tesla people are insufferable.

[Zach]

Well, because the Porsche formula was racing history plus good cars, plus a consistent design and the exchange between motorsports engineering and the publicly available cars has basically existed the whole time. So I think to have something like that you need Corvette or Ferrari. You need a company that races and sells performance cars for 50 years.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah, Matt, rear ends moms. That's only true in select ways. Not since I was 16.

[Zach]

I was thinking something else.

[Matt Farah]

Wait, is the price difference between the 4Runner and the land Cruiser based on where it's built and tariffs or does the Land Cruiser carry on the higher standard for build quality and life cycle of the old Land Cruiser or are Toyota trucks equivalent? Now that's a good question. I think it's too early to tell if the new car. I didn't go on the press launch for those, so I wasn't told if that was the goal. Just based on vibes. It's not and there still is, you know that the Lexus version of it here. But like there is that old school Land Cruiser that they still have like in Japan, but not here. Here it's like there it's Land Cruiser. Prado is the one that we get here. I don't think they're all equivalent. I do think the Land Cruiser is nicer than the 4Runner, but again that's just based on like vibes.

[Zach]

True. Isn't it slightly larger? Yeah, very slightly. I think there's a three row Land Cruiser. Or is there not?

[Matt Farah]

Yeah, there is. It is a little bigger.

[Zach]

It's gonna. It's the same way it was in the 90s with four like the 4Runner. They're very close in size. But the Land Cruiser is aimed more at like the family that makes a little bit more money essentially. A little more space, a little nicer materials and that's it, you know, and the image they sell of it.

[Matt Farah]

The. The Land Cruiser is less bro y than the 4Runner to me. You know what I mean?

[Zach]

Do they have a Land Cruiser trd? I forgot they.

[Matt Farah]

No, they have the over trail is their Land Cruiser. No, that's the Lexus one. There isn't a TRD Land Cruiser. There's like whatever the isn't, is there? There's just like the off road package something, right? Because I drove the TRD Sequoia and the TRD4 Runner and they were both super bro y. They were fine to drive, but in vibes and style and certainly in the interior, they look like a fucking UF gym. Whereas the Land Cruiser was much more, what you might say, demure, like a little more chill about itself.

[Zach]

There's an article, I mean if someone wants more information. No, there's not, but there's an article on Motor Trend about like the main competitor for the Land Cruiser might be the forerunner.

[Matt Farah]

Oh, that's funny.

[Zach]

If you want that. If you want off road ability.

[Matt Farah]

That's funny.

[Zach]

Yeah.

[Matt Farah]

Matt's Peterbilt long nose toe rig says for those of us looking to be good cat dads, what's the best cat related investment you've made? Oh, that's a good question.

[Zach]

Probably reading that book, right? How much did that change how you raised your cats?

[Matt Farah]

Yeah, I guess more so than like dollars. Yeah, the time investment to like read about how to raise good cats like that. Like learning about their natural rhythms like hunt, catch, kill, eat, groom, sleep and like stuff like that. And actually taking the time to like, like play with them and invest in their like social health is more important than any like actual monetary investment. Now for monetary investments, I mean, shit. I mean, Hannah and I spent deep four figures on Axel's surgery. Remember when Axel had a tumor in his lungs and like, and like. And he had crazy surgery that we did not think he would survive and he did, and he lived for another four years.

[Zach]

That's good.

[Matt Farah]

So keeping Axel alive while he clearly wanted to be alive and he beat for a time that disease and ultimately when he got sick again and there wasn't a lot we could do for him. As soon as we thought he was in pain, we, you know, we did what we think good cat parents do. But that was pretty amazing. But I mean, in terms of like shit in the house, like cat towers. Just like lots of cat towers. Places for cats to go up high, places for cats to watch the world. I mean if you're handy, then the tunnels and the walls were not. Not hard. You literally bought the tunnels on the Internet and like just sawzall. Sawzalled it and you know, you. Anyone handy could probably do it. So that kind of stuff, like you can build gyms for cats for like very cheap, like wall shelving and stuff like that. So that kind of stuff.

[Zach]

Someone in my building has a catio. Basically there's like, you know, a cheap, easy screen that's meant exactly for this and it just covers the balcony and the cats can go out and hang out there and look at stuff and look at squirrels, but not eat the squirrels.

[Matt Farah]

It's good if the balcony's high enough, the cats wouldn't jump, but.

[Zach]

Yeah, well, an adventurous cat could jump from balcony to tree.

[Matt Farah]

Oh, okay.

[Zach]

So they want to stop them from doing that.

[Matt Farah]

Smart. Yeah, yeah. Fat ice agents go home, shout out to them. Not the ice agents. The ones that are gonna go home though. I'll shout out to them. Looking for a Cartier watch for my wife. You said they all like them triple.

[Zach]

True.

[Matt Farah]

In the $3,000 to $4,000 range. Could I find a good condition pre owned in that budget or is that too low? I mean, with the consideration that I have not shopped for a Cartier watch in that price point, I think so. The most affordable ones are called Must des Cartier. That's M U S T. Which was a sort of more affordable version of the Cartier brand in the like 60s, I think. 60s, but now it's been long enough that most people don't look at a Moust de Cartier. That is one. Yeah, but there's other ones. But look, I mean, you know, it just says Cartier on it.

[Zach]

But usually if you're 4300 bucks, if

[Matt Farah]

you're gonna buy a Cartier for A woman. It should be square. Like Carl used to say, round watches remind women of being fat. You should get a squ.1. So there you go. Cartier tank mousse. Right there. That's what you want. Four grand steel, 29 millimeters. That's for your lady.

[Zach]

Bingo.

[Matt Farah]

Bingo. Fucking lifetime right there, dude. That's where you're at. And there you go. Bob's has been a sponsor in the past. Reputable. You're probably not going to find much in the gold variety because gold is expensive now. So Cam Fez says, what you 2K tracks have you driven? And what was your favorite? And what would you like to try? Let's see.

[Zach]

Drove Anglesey, the Lotus test track.

[Matt Farah]

Hethel. Yeah. I drove Silverstone once.

[Zach]

Wow.

[Matt Farah]

Oh, this is a very interesting question. What other racetracks have I driven?

[Zach]

I mean, Anglesey remains one of my favorite tracks of all time. It had elevation, good curves, a view of the ocean from like that top right hand turn.

[Matt Farah]

It was very beautiful.

[Zach]

It's amazing. You know, I have fond memories there. I've watched a lot of videos shot there. Like, that's a crazy place. And there's like no overs there. But it's. But it's also like, it's way out in the middle of nowhere. And when you show up, you rent it and they're just like, okay. And you just never see the track staff again. Great place.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah. Ah. I don't think I've driven that many other tracks, though. I was at some little club track near Birmingham that I truly could not tell you.

[Zach]

Donington. Someone mentioned Donington. I've never been to Donington and Crainer curves. Never been. The thing with UK is there's so many tracks.

[Matt Farah]

I've never. I really. The only ones I remember are Anglesey, Silverstone and what do you call it? Just those two. Right. Really?

[Zach]

Hethel and Hefl. Hethel. Angles Silverstone.

[Matt Farah]

Hethel was kind of fun, actually. I thought. I thought Hethel was neat. Tickle your pickle for a triple nickel. Wait, you're playing an automate? I don't know the. Do you know the game?

[Zach]

Can you explain Red light, green light, you'd play.

[Matt Farah]

You're playing automatic game of red light, green light. What car under 100k are you choosing?

[Zach]

So you want maximum acceleration and deceleration. Red light, green light. It was like everyone would line up at the far end of a field or a roller rink and they'd say green light. And everyone, you know, you go. And then when they say red light, you stop within, like Two seconds or one second. And basically the goal is to get across the finish line first without getting thrown out because you were. You continued to go when red light was called.

[Matt Farah]

Oh. So under 100k, best acceleration and braking.

[Zach]

So you want like a Nevera.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah, honestly, if it's just straight line acceleration and braking, you want a Taycan Turbo S. Effectively or under a hundred. You could probably, and I'm sorry to say this, get a lucid sapphire for under 100k. Yeah, that's what you want. You want essentially a lucid air, the fastest lucid you get. Or a Taycan Turbo S. Right. Like, what would beat that?

[Zach]

Nothing. Unless you get the car that the Swedish university made that set the 0 to 60 record. But that's not street legal.

[Matt Farah]

TVR Bob Segaris favorite tailpipe configurations.

[Zach]

That's a funny name. Bob Segeris Open and waiting.

[Matt Farah]

No.

[Zach]

Depends on the car, man.

[Matt Farah]

Well, I mean, sure it does, but some are hard nos. Like if you have a dual exhaust, like, let's just call it the Ferrari California Lexus isf.

[Zach]

Where.

[Matt Farah]

Where it's sort of a semblance of a vertically stacked side exhaust, but, like just off enough that you go, why did you do that?

[Zach]

See, I think it looks. I thought it looked kind of cool on the ISO, but I thought the back of the California was so ugly, the exhaust couldn't help it.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah, true.

[Zach]

I think quad exhaust works for me. On V8s, there's almost like a ratio of exhaust pipe to cylinder or vice versa, you know, one, let's see, two. Each exhaust pipe needs two cylinders. So four banger can have two pipes, a V8 can have four, and then it falls apart when you get to 12.

[Matt Farah]

Remember when. Remember in 02 or maybe 01, when Chevy did the Camaro SS and it was a fucking LS one. The first Camaro with the LS and had a single exhaust pipe. It's like, habibi.

[Zach]

Yeah.

[Matt Farah]

What are you doing?

[Zach]

Terrible.

[Matt Farah]

Who thought of that?

[Zach]

That it looks cheap as hell.

[Matt Farah]

That's crazy that they did that, because

[Zach]

when you see a single. When I see a single pipe like that, I think it's a V6 with a broken muffler. When it sounds like that, you know that's no good. You don't want. Because you basically have the same pipe setup as a V6 Mustang or V6 Camaro.

[Matt Farah]

So.

[Zach]

That's terrible.

[Matt Farah]

It's terrible.

[Zach]

Yeah.

[Matt Farah]

Now, side pipes, sometimes good, sometimes not.

[Zach]

Has to be on an old car for the most part, right?

[Matt Farah]

Not necessarily. If you have an even Number of cylinders. No, no, that's not the right. That's not the right. Even number of cylinders per bank. So V8s are okay with a side pipe

[Zach]

tens. No, no, 12s.

[Matt Farah]

You know what I mean?

[Zach]

Yeah. The exhaust out the back of a Viper sounds better than the side pipe is what you're saying.

[Matt Farah]

Yes, for sure. Absolutely correct.

[Zach]

Totally, totally agree.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah. The side pipe Vipers sound like a pair of UPS trucks fighting each other.

[Zach]

Yeah.

[Matt Farah]

Benyamin says. Benjamin. Like Benjamin. Benyamin. Can you talk a little bit about the current state of Porsche? Over the past year or so, I've been hearing about the company's financial struggles, but that doesn't seem to jive with the current brand status. Virtually every car they make seems to be the best in its class, and the brand seems desirable. As an outsider, it seems like they have the makings of a very profitable company. Well, I mean, that's true, but I'm not sure you have quite factored in how much it costs to develop multiple EV model lines that are all of a sudden not mandatory to sell.

[Zach]

I think, yeah, I think you hit it.

[Matt Farah]

Lighting hundreds of millions of dollars on fire by developing an entire range of cars that you might not actually build is a real fucking problem. And a lot of their product, although it's desirable stuff that isn't a 911, although maybe it's best in class, it's often most expensive in class by a lot to produce, to sell, like MSRPs, like this Cayenne I'm talking about. To get one new, it's like $130,000. That's a lot of money for what is effectively a very normal car. It's not that special of a car. It's a little bit nicer than the competition. And if you already like Porsche, it feels, quote, like a Porsche in terms of how it's built and whatever, and it's a nice car, but that shit's mad expensive. So I think Porsche has been riding pretty high over the last 10 years as the GT line. And they, across the board, have been building great cars that people want, but when everybody's not super flush with cash, and then they're also spending all this money developing these model lines that may or may not ever see the light of day, or it was going to be all electric Macan. All electric Cayenne, all electric, they weren't going to have fucking gas cars anymore. And now they have to go back and develop new gas and hybrid powertrains and possibly throw these electric cars in the garbage.

[Zach]

Entirely the cost of that. Because they want to do things at a very high level and do them well. Of course they're going to spend a ton of money. This is an article from Road and track. In 2024, their operating profits were $405 million at the end of quarter four and last year was 40. This is the whole. They lost 99% of their profit. Their sales and delivery are down 6% compared to the year before. That accounted for 1.7 billion DOL. Billion declined in revenue and 13,000 fewer vehicles delivered.

[Matt Farah]

And they're absorbing some of the tariffs. Right, right. It's not 100% of the tariffs are not being passed on to the consumer. So even as the price of the cars go up, Porsche's probably actually taking less profit per car than they would have been two years ago.

[Zach]

Yeah, yeah. I mean, this is a very well done article with a lot of numbers, but basically they're selling fewer cars. Their R D costs went way up on a bet that got changed because of country mandates from different parts of the world. And that's not good. Yeah, so that's all going to affect it, but I feel like, I mean, they'll be fine long term because people love their products.

[Matt Farah]

But yeah, they're not going out of business, but they're temporarily in deep shit.

[Zach]

Yep, yep. Yeah, yeah. And it's more visible now because they're publicly trade or semi. Publicly traded.

[Matt Farah]

Right.

[Zach]

Yeah.

[Matt Farah]

I mean, you, you know, sucks to be them. Right? I mean, but they're not going to go out of business. Travis Pastrami on Rye Country Day School. It's finally time someone made a rye bread joke. Wait, can you. Sorry. Is it time for automakers and. Or journalists to better define the class of car that slots between sports car and gt? And which of these classes, including, including the hypothetical new sports GT class, is your favorite for R T driving events? What?

[Zach]

Well, that's funny. So if we create a new division, what is your favorite car that you would put in the division? Is that. That's the question.

[Matt Farah]

Is there a class of car that slots between sports cars and gt? I mean, do we need a new category?

[Zach]

I don't think we do. BMW, of course, would love it if we did because they like to create markets. But I think like, with the invention and the proliferation of things like mag ride or adjustable suspension, you can have cars that blend, that work well in both worlds, grand touring and sport driving. I don't think you need, I don't think you need to make a new class because the car can do both. You know, maybe if we existed in a world that didn't have adaptive suspension and you could create a new one in between, but that doesn't seem necessary.

[Matt Farah]

I agree. I mean, to me a GT is a car that is optimized for long distance driving and a sports car is a car that's optimized for handling. And there's a spectrum between those two cars. But I don't think it requires an entirely new category to define that. I mean there's cars that exist, you could plot them on the, you know, what is the most, the furthest down the GT could be Bentley,

[Zach]

a Rolls,

[Matt Farah]

a Wraith or something. Right. That's the most GT and then the most sport is like GT3RS. Yeah, yeah, something like that. Or some mid engine engine thing with Senna. Senna or a 765 LT or something like that. Right. And then almost everything else falls in between there. So which of those is your favorite for R and T driving events? I mean these are for me there's some track work, giving some thrill rides to people, there's the windy roads, but there's also, because a lot of times I'll drive to the event and back from LA like a shitload of highway miles. And so what's important to me, I would lean more towards the GT because I could, without bragging, hustle a soft car fast enough on a road and a track. And I'd rather have that and adaptive cruise control and shit for those long transits than have some hardcore sports car that doesn't have those conveniences. And then it just beats me up. There's exceptions like hey, you want to drive a 918? Like yes I do. But I wouldn't ask for a GT3RS or a fucking that Lotus or some kind of track day special thing where it's, you know, all the time.

[Zach]

Right.

[Matt Farah]

But like what is a sports GT? Like a Corvette? A Corvette's a good sports GT.

[Zach]

I think the Corvette, Corvette especially Z06 lanes in both, it can do both so well. You know, hit a button, it's so comfortable. And then you hit the other, hit the button and it goes straight to the track. Sounds amazing.

[Matt Farah]

I would still classify that as a sports car. I mean if it's got, if it's a mid engine car, it's a sports car.

[Zach]

Yeah, they've just given it GT ability.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah, well that's like, that's something that's great about modern cars is you don't really have to compromise. Although having said that I drove my Ferrari 328 hours and hours and hours to other states, drove it to Phoenix, drove it to pebble. Like can GT it could. It didn't have like cruise control and shit, but like it could. There was nothing about that car that was less than totally relaxed on the highway. Countach too. Countach. Although the mid engine eliminates it, the size of the trunk and the ride on the highway, I think it qualifies on that spectrum. It's probably more in the middle than on the senna side of it.

[Zach]

Well, especially it probably feels soft compared to today's sports cars.

[Matt Farah]

And it was just. Lamborghinis in the 80s were never race cars. They were only ever supposed to be road cars. And that fucking Valentino Balboni loop was shitty ass local regional folks. Tarmac. It wasn't a racetrack, so they had to ride well. Even more so than they had to handle well in the 80s like they had. Nobody cared about handling. What's your top speed? And ooh, the doors go up pretty much.

[Zach]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Matt Farah]

Dungeons and Datsuns.

[Zach]

That's great.

[Matt Farah]

What are some cheap, inexpensive, interesting, weird, cool vehicles that would gain more attention at a car meet or gas station than today's average exotic? Autozam.

[Zach]

Yeah.

[Matt Farah]

Around an Autozam AZ1 going doors. Yeah.

[Zach]

Right hand drive.

[Matt Farah]

That's 25 grand time.

[Zach]

Yep. That'll get you a lot of questions. Yeah, that's a good one. BMW. I said a.

[Matt Farah]

You know, dude, Hannah's the Delica. You can't stop somewhere without people asking about the Delica. That's a very friendly, useful vehicle like that. That is a. We bought that truck to be a tool and like everybody loves it. It's so charming. Same with like her Pow. The Pow or Figaro. Japanese shit. Weird Japanese shit.

[Zach]

If you got like one of those diesel right hand drive four runners, that'd be a sleeper. But you'd get talked to by so many 4Runner people.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah, dude, get a fucking patrol with a huge turbo on it.

[Zach]

Yeah.

[Matt Farah]

You know, car nerds, kids just want to see something that they haven't seen before or haven't seen in a really long time. I mean, go find like a Cadillac Cimarron with 2000 miles on it that some dealer can't give away. And you win a trophy for something like that at Radwood.

[Zach]

True.

[Matt Farah]

If someone sees that you've taken the effort to import a car that doesn't seem valuable enough to import. Dude, I went to Monaco. Monaco. The only car I took picture of in Monaco was like a 1983 Corvette pace car edition with Monaco tags on it. Somebody spent the money to import the worst Corvette of all time and had been driving it around Monaco for years. That's what I'm talking about. Find something that nobody gives a shit about except you. But it's the best. And yeah, people like me will lose their mind and not care about the latest whatever thing. Blaupunked Playa Vista says. With the imminent demise of the Tesla Model X, do you think there'll be a future for cars with gull wing doors like in Demolition Man? I mean, yeah, but it's exotic cars. Not like regular cars aren't supposed to have doors like that. That's not practical or useful.

[Zach]

Well, and I think the Model X has had a lot of problems with the doors and it's always complicated. Like they have to have the crash system, they have to be able to blow the doors off. Like it's a complicated thing for the car company to do. But I also think they will always have a place because everyone thinks they're rad. They're just going to be rare.

[Matt Farah]

Well, it's just, it's pivoted to the more practical but still cool butterfly doors. I mean that's true. A car with a carbon tub can and really should have butterfly doors. That's like, that's a more effective door system.

[Zach]

It is a way better door system. But I just think because the gull wing or the gullwing and the butterfly door have been so, or sorry, the gull wins have been so iconic. They will come back. Yeah, just they'll be rare.

[Matt Farah]

I blow horns. What? Cars go from bad or mediocre to great with a few modifications.

[Zach]

I think any Honda Civic of any generation with like a little sway bar and a little suspension is suddenly one of the funnest front wheel drive things you could drive.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah, a Mustang GT with a set of like coilovers, a square stance wheels and like, like track pads and fluid is a formidable track performance machine that is like well within warranty. F body Camaros, if you run square stance turn in like Corvettes.

[Zach]

Yeah, that's a good race car. Yeah. And same with the later Camaros. I mean they're a great track car. They got better and better. So those can surprise some people.

[Matt Farah]

People, yeah.

[Zach]

Miatas, they're fun but they're very soft I think.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah, the right suspension setup for sure. But, but, but they're not like bad like cars that go from like. It's hard to make something go from bad to like good like because if

[Zach]

it's bad, it's engineered. Might be engineered poorly from the factory, I would say.

[Matt Farah]

Like, how about like a Fox body Mustang with a proper watts link put in the back of it. Like, that's like a car. That's how to make one of those. Handle like totally predictably, actually. I don't know.

[Zach]

The tough one a bunch though. Yeah, it's hard, it's hard to find a car. Like, the only problem is that the suspension is just a little too soft or something.

[Matt Farah]

You can. All right, how about this? A classic Bronco and the only thing you change is you give it to Jonathan Ward and write him a check for $300,000.

[Zach]

I wouldn't say that's a small modification, but you are correct, it's only one thing.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah. You only have to write one check for it. The swinging tire. What are some cars that had so much hype from journalists, it was impossible to live up to expectations when you drove it? The cybertruck.

[Zach]

That's true.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah. So much hype was tough to live. Okay, this is hard because, oh, M5 touring.

[Zach]

Like, we had had one and everyone had wanted one for decades and they brought it here. But with all the technology required to make a modern car, blah, blah, blah. It was like, oh, this is very compromised and not great.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah, yeah.

[Zach]

Uh huh. I think the same about the RS6 actually. I like it in very specific environments, but in most of them I go, well, this is too. It's too sports car when I want it to be more GT car.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah. My shameful thought is that I like the RSQ8 much better than I like the RS6, which is my. That's like sacrilege. Like, as a gearhead, I must like the wagon better than the crossover. Yeah.

[Zach]

Which is a wagon.

[Matt Farah]

But actually I don't. I actually like driving the RSQ8 better. Hmm. Yeah. How about that? No country for old buffets. What common car feature do you think people used the least? Good question.

[Zach]

I mean, rear wiper. Like, I use the rear wiper in Sarah's car and I think I'm the only person who does it. She goes, oh, that's right.

[Matt Farah]

I use it in Taycan too. And I get mad when cars don't have it now.

[Zach]

Oh, it's helpful for sure. Things get to you.

[Matt Farah]

I got annoyed in the Acura Integra Type S because it didn't have it. And Hannah was like, matt, no sedans have it. I was like, you're right, they don't. I find that when I have a car with A sunroof. I don't use it very often.

[Zach]

Really. Yeah, I thought you would.

[Matt Farah]

I'm the kind of person who would, but I don't. I don't use it very often, actually. I think a lot of who features that don't get used onboard navigation systems.

[Zach]

Yeah, nobody probably uses that. Just goes CarPlay.

[Matt Farah]

The Notorious Jrg.

[Zach]

That's a good one.

[Matt Farah]

That would be. I bet you could do it. If we were to get a fun car in a jrg, that would be NTRS jrg. Yeah, that would be sick. I've been driving my Fiat 500 for nearly a decade and man, the highway driving ain't too smooth. Is that a short wheelbase thing, a cheap car thing, or a sign that my shocks are beat? Yes, it's probably all correct.

[Zach]

The answer is yes, definitely.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah. This is the problem with driving a disposable vehicle. Yeah. 10 years and you've got small wheels. You've got a car that is sort of thinly put together and your rubber is probably wearing out. I mean, maybe your shocks, maybe your bushings, you know, 10, 15 years, it might be time for bushings in that kind of car. But also, yeah, it's got a little short wheelbase. Not exactly optimized for highway driving. But I might have your shocks and bushings inspected. Yeah.

[Zach]

And alignment that can make you move around more.

[Matt Farah]

And alignment for sure. Yeah. Run gmc. Is that someone's answer?

[Zach]

No, they asked this first and then they wrote this tl. Doctor.

[Matt Farah]

All right. The question is tire width versus tire compound. Okay. Would you upgrade your tire compound until you run out of grip before making your wheels wider to achieve a similar effect? That's a good question.

[Zach]

It is a good question.

[Matt Farah]

I think you can upgrade your tire compound without negatively affecting your steering feel.

[Zach]

I agree.

[Matt Farah]

If you widen your wheels, your steering will get heavier. Now, you may or may not want that. You're talking about a C4ZR1 and a GMC cyclone. And these are cars with heavily over boosted 90s steering. So a wider tire may actually somehow improve that. But in general, you will change the steering feel by putting wider tires and you will not really change the steering feel by putting stickier tires. So that's the question you need to answer for yourself. Do you just want more grip or do you also want to change how the steering feels? Didn't know a turbo was a fish. Pretty funny. I love armchair anonymous episodes of Dax's Armchair Expert podcast. Would you guys ever do an episode where friends or car journalists wrote stories that you would read? Anonymously with their worst or most embarrassing stories. Stories.

[Zach]

Absolutely would. But I wonder if people could, even if they took their name off of something. The Internet is the Internet these days. Would they be able to piece it together?

[Matt Farah]

Yeah.

[Zach]

And so I don't know. I hope when we're all like 80, you know, everyone just starts publishing a book with, you know, worst, funniest moments. Can't get sued for or. I don't know, it won't affect career and whatever.

[Matt Farah]

I feel like. I feel like if you do something that is a funny story but not like career ending, you probably are more willing to talk about it all ready? But I like the idea. I'm not totally against it. I rarely hear about, like. Cause we would know who it was, right? The audience would. So I don't hear Even at dinners and stuff with other journalists, we hear about people that have crashed press cars. But then they'll come on the story and they'll just tell that on the podcast. I'm sorry, I flubbed the word. They'll come on the podcast and they'll just tell that story.

[Zach]

For the most part. Yeah.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah. There's very few times where it's like, I'm gonna tell you this, but like, you can't tell it on the.

[Zach]

You know who would have the better stories? The PR people.

[Matt Farah]

Oh, sure.

[Zach]

If they. If they could tell stories about. About crashes and antics of journalists, especially in the 80s and 90s, that shit. Like, I've heard people have told me stories from like the 89 press launch of something, and I'm like, are you. That's insane. It usually has to do with professional pleasure providers and stuff like that. So those would be the stories.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah, it's always about hookers and drugs. Ball Caddy. I want a second car to learn how to wrench. The priority is ease of learning. It should drive. But the driving experience doesn't really matter. 7k or less.

[Zach]

Their list is great. Crown Vic, Ranger, Tacoma, Miata.

[Matt Farah]

Well, look, this is an opportunity here. It's great that you want to learn how to wrench, and it's great that you have a priority of ease of learning, but this is still a car. It's going to cost you money, space and time. So although the driving experience doesn't matter, you have an opportunity to get a second car here. And the things that you list up as examples. Crown Vic, Ford Ranger, Toyota Tacoma, Miata,

[Zach]

Civic, other crossover between them.

[Matt Farah]

Do you want a truck? Do you want a utility truck? A utility vehicle? Like, then maybe you want one of the truck. Do you want both a Ranger and a Tacoma are good options here. And do you want a sports car? Miata Civics? Those are good options. Those are very easy cars to work on. As are like Mustangs and Camaros and stuff. And Subarus, I think to an extent

[Zach]

they're Legos, which is good.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah. And old BMWs, even like E 30s. Although 7k, you're not getting. You're getting a horrible, rusty, terrible car.

[Zach]

Yeah, it's true, the body might be fucked.

[Matt Farah]

But I do think you should get a car that you're gonna. At least, you at least think you might enjoy when it's driving. Because if you don't drive it, it's not gonna break.

[Zach]

Yeah, that's true.

[Matt Farah]

But like, like, do you want to drive around at Crown Vic? Do you want to drive around a Tacoma? Like everything you've listed would qualify under what I would recommend.

[Zach]

There's also right. If you, if this person wants to learn to wrench. If your goal is to be able to. Is your goal to be able to just repair your cars no matter what they are, to save yourself some money, then any of these work?

[Matt Farah]

Yeah.

[Zach]

If your goal is to learn more about performance cars setup, then you go Miata. Because now you can fiddle with alignment. They're super easy to work on. The parts are lightweight, which is nice. Nice truck stuff might be a little heavier. But if you are going to be an off road person and you want to learn about suspension lifts versus body lifts versus all these other things like, then you should get that one of those vehicles. So all of those are things to think about before you buy one of these.

[Matt Farah]

This is a car, you're going to want to use it as a car. So it should be there.

[Zach]

Right. And if you have a sports car already, then I would say get a truck. Because you can do truck stuff if you have a truck. Gets sports car.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah, but sure you could. Yeah, Ranger Tacoma F1. You know, old F. All the 7K is not getting you probably I would

[Zach]

say, I'd say get something that's manual because then you can learn if you had to like how to change clutches and shit like that. And that's just a piece of knowledge that would benefit you in the future.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah.

[Zach]

And this is the last one.

[Matt Farah]

Fountain pens and beard trimmers. Wide open question. What's fun for you?

[Zach]

Both very wild.

[Matt Farah]

You've seen, driven and experienced a lot. So what is fun? I mean, a lot of things are fun.

[Zach]

Yes.

[Matt Farah]

So many things are fun.

[Zach]

Adrenaline's fun. First off, that's my Favorite.

[Matt Farah]

A lot of times work is fun.

[Zach]

Yeah, true.

[Matt Farah]

You know, I don't constantly, like, yearn for vacations because I generally enjoy the thing that I'm doing most of the time. But, like, you, like, you go. You do a lot of hiking?

[Zach]

Yeah, not as much as I'd like, but I like to go camping and get away from stuff. Like reset. I find that really enjoyable.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah, I like to. My resets are involved just enough doing something and just enough nothing. So like we just talked about at the beginning of the show, the sailing. Sailing is a great activity because you're doing something, but you don't need to be laser focused on doing it. You know, I can sail a boat and read a book at the same time, which is nice. Skiing, golf, like I like to. I like, you know, I gotta be doing something. I can't just, like, sit.

[Zach]

Yeah.

[Matt Farah]

Road trips are fun. Even though that's work sometimes. Cooking is fun. Seeing new places is fun.

[Zach]

That's great.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah.

[Zach]

Yeah. Meeting new people that are from different places.

[Matt Farah]

A lot of things are fun. Yeah. Trying new food is fun.

[Zach]

Fun.

[Matt Farah]

Lots of things are fun. So many things. Fortunately, like, most of those things are not expensive that we just listed.

[Zach]

Yeah, that's true. Most of them I feel like I'm having more fun in at this time of my life, learning to do a thing. Whereas when I was younger, I would assume I should be able to do the thing immediately, and if I couldn't, I'd be like, mad about it.

[Matt Farah]

Oh, right.

[Zach]

So now I enjoy the process of learning, getting better at something and then having a skill.

[Matt Farah]

Yeah, I think. I think I got lucky a little bit in that when I got grounded for getting my first tattoo and had to teach myself guitar. No, I taught myself a guitar using, like a fourth grade level book. That was pretty humbling. I kind of reveled in being shitty for.

[Zach]

That's great. That's a very good skill to have.

[Matt Farah]

It's okay to be shitty at stuff. Yeah. Thanks, everybody. We're gonna see what it's like to podcast on a boat. It should be fine.

[Zach]

Be very relaxing.

[Matt Farah]

It should be fine. What's the worst thing that could happen?

[Zach]

Well, if the boat sinks while we're podcasting, it's good content though, you know?

[Matt Farah]

True. That would be a fucking headline, wouldn't it? We'd have to shoot a center card from the ocean.

[Zach]

Yeah. Podcasting while sinking. Oh, no. Use all the anchor.

[Matt Farah]

I got the insurance. Yes. Cool, man. We appreciate all of our patrons asking such good questions today. Superb. Best of luck. Buying yourself a Cartier. Watch out there. And we'll call you in from the boat next week. Yeah, have a good time until then. And we'll see you in our board shorts. Bye.