The Great Vespa Trip; The Internet That Helped Cars the MOST?

Which part of the internet had the greatest impact on car enthusiasm? Matt Farah rode his Vespa 500 miles up the California coast and lived to tell the tale; Flock continues to get flamed; and Patreon questions include: Which part of the internet helped cars the MOST How to prep a $2kL Mini Cooper for track work Legs or hands? Why are car enthusiasts focused on investing? Best mid-engined car for under $200k Will the Rivian R2 hurt us? Would the Temerario be better with a V10? Sporty used wagon for $60k? Would a cheap off-road sports car sell? What we would do with 10x and 100x the Patreon subs (hint: ocean) G90 vs BMW 7 Series: easy question Choose: bad auto or perfect CVT And many more Recorded August 6, 2026 Grab a jacket! https://www.thegrottomenswear.com/thesmokingtire/ Tickets to our live show: https://improv.com/irvine/event/the+smoking+tire+live+feat.+smith+and+sniff+with+matt+farah%2C+zack+klapman%2C+richard+porter%2C+and+jonny+smith/14213624/ Right now, save up to 20% on mattresses and up to 25% on everything else when you go to Casper.com. FitBod Get 25% off your subscription or try the app FREE for seven days at https://Fitbod.me/tire Hims Ready to reach your goals? Visit https://hims.com/tire to get a personalized, affordable plan that gets you. Enter to WIN a 2025 Porsche 911 Turbo S! Podcast Link: https://www.dreamgiveaway.com/tickets/porsche?promo=SMOKINGTIRE Get 4X bonus tickets with any donation of $25 or more. With every donation you are helping benefit some wonderful veterans' and children's charities. Use Podcast Promo Code: SMOKINGTIRE Promo Code Offer: Get 4X bonus tickets with any donation of $25 or more. With every donation you are helping benefit some wonderful veterans' and children's charities. Want your question answered? To listen to the episode the day it's recorded? Want to watch the live stream, get ad-free podcasts, or exclusive podcasts? Join our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thesmokingtirepodcast Use Off The Record! and ALWAYS fight your tickets! For a 10% discount on your first case go to https://www.offtherecord.com/TST #cars #comedy #podcast Instagram: https://www. Instagram.com/thesmokingtire https://www. Instagram.com/therealzackklapman Click here for the most honest car reviews out there: https://www.youtube.com/thesmokingtire

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Matt Farah?

  We are gonna be at the Irvine Improv live with Richard Porter and Johnny Smith of Smith and Sniff, legendary British podcasters with The Smoking Tire, August 18th, 8:00 PM at the Irvine Improv. Hit the link in the show notes or on our Instagram bio, or just Google The Smoking Tire Irvine Improv, and you will get there. Once again, LA people, Orange County people, come on out and hang with the boys August 18th. And, uh, yeah, we love you guys. It's gonna be a great time. Let's go. On this episode of the podcast, what is the most important internet technology for car culture of the last 35 years?

• 0:43Matt Farah?

  Flock is getting heat from all over, especially John Oliver, and I rode my Vespa 500 miles to San Francisco in order to torture myself. It's the Smoking Tire Podcast. Let's go.

• 0:58Speaker 01

  All right, we are here.

• 1:02Matt Farah?

  I don't believe it.

• 1:03Speaker 01

  I see us.

• 1:04Matt Farah?

  It doesn't matter.

• 1:05Speaker 01

  And I see you.

• 1:05Matt Farah?

  Doesn't matter.

• 1:06Speaker 01

  Want me to touch you to verify?

• 1:07Matt Farah?

  Doesn't matter. They told me it was the simulation and I believe them.

• 1:11Speaker 01

  Could be really good.

• 1:12Matt Farah?

  It's new thing. I'm yellow-pilled. It's where everything's fake.

• 1:16Speaker 01

  So who was telling me they were like, I think the Matrix thing wouldn't be bad. Like, we're all just a battery anyway. I was like, yeah, but they made you go work in a cubicle.

• 1:23Matt Farah?

  Yeah.

• 1:23Speaker 01

  If you're gonna plug us into the simulator, let us go Red Bull and like, you know, fly around the world the whole time.

• 1:29Matt Farah?

  That's a good point. I would, if I'm gonna be a, if I'm gonna live in a fake world, it's, why wouldn't it be a goddamn fun fake world?

• 1:35Speaker 01

  Yeah, why wouldn't they do that? Instead of like, no, no, no, you go do accounting still.

• 1:39Matt Farah?

  Unless, is it, does the fake world still generate real money?

• 1:45Matt Farah?

  Or does just your flesh generating the energy through the orb thing generate the money? And the simulation is just for your own mind? In which case, yes, why would you not fly around the world like a glider? And just like jizzing the whole time?

• 2:01Speaker 01

  It's a great question. They didn't cover the economics of the planet, but like, I think in the third one, they, or whenever he escapes it and he goes, oh, it's just like wires covering the earth. So I don't know if money is important.

• 2:11Matt Farah?

  Yeah, all right. Good thing to ponder. Someone, I'm sure there's a real Matrix nerd out there who will, who's already composing a well actually email.

• 2:26Speaker 01

  There's probably a YouTube video about it.

• 2:28Matt Farah?

  Just like the, well, I got a, we got a well, a well actually email from photographer, uh, Wes Dunkle, who is the biggest Mustang nerd on the fucking planet. Uh, because I dared to suggest that the 6.7 in the Chevy Grand Sport, uh, was the biggest gas V8 for sale. It is not. The 7.3 in Ford trucks.

• 2:52Speaker 01

  Godzilla.

• 2:53Matt Farah?

  The Godzilla V8, which is in the, in the F250 and F350, uh, is bigger, so.

• 3:00Speaker 01

  Also available as a crate motor, which is insane.

• 3:02Matt Farah?

  Yes, it is. Didn't, uh, didn't that go Hoonigan?

• 3:05Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 3:05Matt Farah?

  Yeah, they did something with one, right?

• 3:06Speaker 01

  I think they were putting one in a Camaro and now I think somehow Zach Mertens got that car, like, they got it back and they're trying to get it to work.

• 3:13Matt Farah?

  No, they didn't put a Ford Godzilla in the Camaro. The Camaro was like the big Chevy motor.

• 3:19Speaker 01

  Oh, okay.

• 3:20Matt Farah?

  Chevy had a big crate motor too. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It was not a Ford, they didn't do, it was not a Ford motor into a Chevy thing.

• 3:26Speaker 01

  Oh.

• 3:26Matt Farah?

  But I think they put it in something. I recall. I don't fucking know. But yeah, he was right. There's a bigger one, 7.3.

• 3:33Speaker 01

  All right.

• 3:34Matt Farah?

  Glove, glove, glove.

• 3:34Speaker 01

  I also have a correction. I said that, uh, China has a social score and it's called a social credit score, but it's different. It's like, they linked, uh, bank accounts to credit cards to your ability to like fly and travel. So basically if you're in debt over here, you can't take these other trips or do these other things, but I conflated.

• 3:53Matt Farah?

  Dude.

• 3:54Speaker 01

  Shout out to our Chinese listeners.

• 3:56Matt Farah?

  Well, we could start off on it. I was thinking if, did we start off on a fun note or depressing note? But since you went there, depressing note. Um, I've been listening to, uh, Jon Stewart's podcast, which is really good. He had Corey Doctorow on. Did you listen to this one? Or see, maybe you've seen clips on the Gram or whatever. He is an author who's written, he wrote In Shitification, the book, and he has a new book, so he's on a, you know, podcast tour about it. Oh, man, and he was talking about, his new book is about AI and how, and how you can use it for all these terrible things. Uh, there are a few, then there are also, you know, some good uses of it, but like, it can be used for, you know,

• 4:34Matt Farah?

  systemic algorithmic wage suppression and systemic algorithmic, um, you know, price surging, right? And there, and, and the most egregious example is Uber, which does both at the same time. So apparently Uber, uh, essentially will continually offer you lower, you only get 20 seconds as a driver to accept a ride.

• 5:00Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 5:01Matt Farah?

  And if you accept lowball offers, they will continue to send you lowball offers until like you stop, right? And they're like, okay, this is the lowest that this person will accept for work. At the same time, as a rider, they, when you get surge pricing, the drivers don't get the surge anymore. It's decoupled completely. So the amount of money that Uber is paying the driver is according to their desperation.

• 5:32Speaker 01

  Right, as low as they can get it, but for us, it's as high as possible.

• 5:35Matt Farah?

  Yeah, it's like, it's like Bizarro Marxism, actually. It's like Marxism within Uber. It's like your, your desperation to work and your ability to pay, but they're not going to the same common cause. They're just, they're just going, the advantages are just going to.

• 5:52Speaker 01

  Honestly, that's like walking into a Walmart. You're like, oh, everyone who works here is getting paid so little that they get subsidized.

• 5:58Matt Farah?

  Yeah.

• 5:58Speaker 01

  By the government, but everyone who's buying things as inflation goes up is paying more and more money.

• 6:02Matt Farah?

  Right. So that, that was fucking brutal.

• 6:05Speaker 01

  I rode with a cab driver who explained, he drives both and he explained this to me like two weeks ago.

• 6:08Matt Farah?

  Yeah.

• 6:09Speaker 01

  And he was like, yeah, I just quit driving for Uber for two weeks.

• 6:12Matt Farah?

  Mm-hmm.

• 6:12Speaker 01

  And he's like, and then when I turn it back on, suddenly they offered me great money.

• 6:16Matt Farah?

  Yeah.

• 6:16Speaker 01

  So he has to like reset his system.

• 6:18Matt Farah?

  Well, that's like, it's like threatening to cancel seriously, you know? Or, uh, what the other thing Corey was saying was if you are picky and only accept the high ones, then they'll send you fewer and fewer rides at, at beyond a certain rate.

• 6:35Speaker 01

  Sure.

• 6:35Matt Farah?

  And they'll throw in a couple of lower ball ones to bring you back down. Yeah.

• 6:41Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 6:42Matt Farah?

  And like, like you, and, and another one they were talking, he was talking about was, there's a, there are companies that manage these sort of traveling fleets of nurses that have to go all over the world. And it used to be a sort of, uh, nonprofit, you know, thing. Now it's by these five, like sort of techie companies that are all like sort of the Uber for nursing. And they're doing the same thing, except when you're applying as a nurse to this program, they run your credit score. And depending on the amount of debt you have and how bad your credit score is, they offer you less money.

• 7:21Matt Farah?

  It's desperation pricing for salad, like, imagine like, it's the kind of shit you used to need Pinkerton's to do. You know what I mean? But you can just do it at an enormous scale across entire industries now. And it's like, not really illegal.

• 7:41Speaker 01

  That's called private equity.

• 7:42Matt Farah?

  Yeah, yeah.

• 7:43Speaker 01

  That's offensive.

• 7:44Matt Farah?

  Isn't that crazy?

• 7:44Speaker 01

  The traveling nurse thing, I think that used to be a really good job.

• 7:46Matt Farah?

  Yeah.

• 7:47Speaker 01

  You could just bounce around and live in different places.

• 7:50Matt Farah?

  If you're already rich and have no debt, they'll pay you a lot of money.

• 7:53Speaker 01

  That's nuts, dude.

• 7:54Matt Farah?

  If you're desperate and, and, and need a job and you're buried in debt, they'll, for the same job, based on that fact, they'll pay you less. So I just bought Corey's, uh, both of his books, um, which I am, uh, I don't want to say I'm excited to read because I bet I'm gonna feel terrible afterwards, but, um, at the very least, that's a good podcast. I'm, I'm pretty impressed with Jon Stewart's podcast. I mean.

• 8:20Speaker 01

  There are 11 states as of this year that have banned credit reports for employment decisions.

• 8:25Matt Farah?

  Oh, good.

• 8:26Speaker 01

  Um, it's a bunch of them. People can look it up, including California. Shout out.

• 8:29Matt Farah?

  No, we definitely.

• 8:30Speaker 01

  Jon Stewart's podcast is fantastic. It's really, really good. And he is, it just, you know, he's smart from his show, but when you have like uninterrupted 90 minutes, his depth of knowledge on so many things is incredible.

• 8:42Matt Farah?

  People can't really get shit by him.

• 8:43Speaker 01

  No, they really can't. I mean, he's prepared and knows things, so, um.

• 8:48Matt Farah?

  Yeah.

• 8:48Speaker 01

  Um, I've been listening to Bad Bets, which is like.

• 8:51Matt Farah?

  What's that?

• 8:51Speaker 01

  It's sort of like Behind the Bastards, but.

• 8:53Matt Farah?

  For businesses?

• 8:54Speaker 01

  Yeah, but it's, but it's, well, no, no, uh, yeah, it's, uh, and this one they're covering the Nikola Tesla, the Nikola Truck Company.

• 9:01Matt Farah?

  Yeah.

• 9:02Speaker 01

  And wow, turns out the owner, the CEO of that had been running the same grift, oh, I know, uh, a couple of times, like he, he got his friends' money for his first company, fucked them over, then while buying boats and things, and he did it again and again, and he basically like lied his way to the top. And then he, you know, formed Nikola, got all this, you know, private money, public money, and meanwhile.

• 9:28Matt Farah?

  Looked rich by borrowing people's stuff.

• 9:31Speaker 01

  Everyone says he was just, he's one of those people who naturally could convince you to like believe his dream.

• 9:36Matt Farah?

  Sure.

• 9:37Speaker 01

  And then he, so he's from Utah, he's Mormon. The only reason I say that is because a very popular summer job apparently for, uh, for Mormon teenagers is door-to-door sales.

• 9:48Matt Farah?

  Sure.

• 9:49Speaker 01

  And it actually, that, those summers have resulted in Utah being known for having some of the best salesmen of, for anywhere nationwide.

• 9:58Matt Farah?

  Yeah, door-to-door selling is hard as shit.

• 9:59Speaker 01

  Yeah, so that they sell alarm system, they sell like real stuff. So he came out of that. So he could sell and he had this knack for lying and just worked his way to the top.

• 10:09Matt Farah?

  Yeah.

• 10:09Speaker 01

  Yeah, it's a good, it's like a six-part series. I recommend it.

• 10:11Matt Farah?

  It's very important to pardon people like that. Give them another, give them another chance, I say.

• 10:16Speaker 01

  Absolutely.

• 10:16Matt Farah?

  You know, and invest in their next, definitely invest in their next company in crypto.

• 10:20Speaker 01

  No way.

• 10:21Matt Farah?

  Good advice for, all right, what's that called? Bad Bets?

• 10:24Speaker 01

  Bad Bets.

• 10:24Matt Farah?

  All right, add it to the list for, uh, the next flights.

• 10:29Matt Farah?

  Man, it's been a, it's been a weekend. It's not a week. It's been a week days. It felt like a weekend, but it was my Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. I rode my Vespa along with my friend Ali from Range Energy and Travis Langness, the car and motorcycle rider. I rode mine, Ali rode his, Travis rode the press one, 500, 500 miles, the fun way from LA to San Jose. We went up the coast. We went through the Central Valley. It was wild.

• 11:04Speaker 01

  It looked like the best. And I have such FOMO, but, but so tell me.

• 11:10Matt Farah?

  Your back wouldn't have been happy.

• 11:11Speaker 01

  No, no, no, I know. And I'm like, maybe next year, surgery, whatever. But, uh, but yeah, tell me everything.

• 11:16Matt Farah?

  Okay. Guys, taking a break from the action because support is coming in from Casper. You know, when you've had that long day and you just can't wait to get to bed, you give a presentation, the internet cuts out, you go on a date, it's awful. Nothing seems to work, but you can always go home to your Casper bed with snow technology to keep you cool no matter what. The day always ends well for me with a Casper. There's just nothing better than coming home from that long trip and sleeping in the Casper mattress, right? It's amazing. It's, it's what home is all about. Casper, you know, you've heard of them before. It's not their first rodeo. They have been around forever. Casper makes high quality,

• 12:01Matt Farah?

  reliable mattresses designed to deliver consistent, comfortable sleep night after night. That's why out of 99 mattresses, Consumer Reports named Casper's the one mattress, their top rated all foam mattress of 2026. That's a big deal. Consumer Reports, folks, and maybe you've been thinking about getting a new bed. Well, now is the time. Casper's doing the back to school sale. Head over to casper.com and you can save up to 20% on the mattress that you deserve. They're built to be durable and long lasting. So you're not going to be replacing that mattress every few years. Casper's products are designed to withstand the test of time, maintaining support and comfort

• 12:43Matt Farah?

  over the long haul. Plus, they got that 100 night risk free trial. So you can give a Casper's mattress a try, risk free, although with 110,000 plus five star reviews, I'm sure you are going to like it like I do. My Casper mattress is so dope that when I sleep in it, all four of my cats cannot help themselves, but come and join me. And then when I get up to go to work in the morning, they have breakfast. Guess where them cats are going? Straight back to the Casper bed. Now they've offered a wide range of mattress types. So whether you like it firm, soft, somewhere in between, there's

• 13:22Matt Farah?

  something for you at casper.com. I like it firm with a soft mattress topper. So it feels soft to the touch, but it gives me that back support. You know what I'm saying? Plus, they just launched a brand new kids mattress. So even the youngest sleepers in your family can get the same comfort and quality that you do. Remember, the day always ends well with Casper. Right now, save up to 20% on mattresses and up to 25% on everything else when you go to casper.com. One last time, that's casper.com and save up to 20% on the mattress that you deserve. Folks, we're also being supported

• 14:03Matt Farah?

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• 14:44Matt Farah?

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• 15:26Matt Farah?

  recovery. So you can avoid burnout and keep up your momentum. It's fine tuned by certified personal trainers to bring best practices and exercise science to you. And there are over 1,000 demonstration videos. So you know your form is correct. This summer, push your progress and see what you're really capable of. Join Fitbod today. Get 25% off your subscription or try the app for free at seven days at fitbod.me/tire. That's F I T B O D dot me slash tire. There's, there's a lot. So first, you know, so many people know that, that I have been so into

• 16:08Matt Farah?

  this fucking Vespa, my last one too, and this one. And as soon as I got the new one, it is the performance of it, you know, compared to the old one, but it's, it's, you, you can go as fast as cars. Like it's, you're, it's not a fast motorcycle, but like you can fully go as fast as cars. And once I rode it in the canyons and, you know, I, I was not catching up to the bumper of fucking Ferraris, but, but like you're, you're, you're not an impediment to anybody on any type of road on this scooter. And so I was just like, and then at the same time, there were these, what these

• 16:50Matt Farah?

  reports coming in saying this winter, it's going to be the, the big fucking El Nino, the giant fucking cock El Nino that just, it's just water, water everywhere. Um, which you know what that means? Means PCH is getting fucked. Like.

• 17:05Speaker 01

  Monthlight probably.

• 17:06Matt Farah?

  For some, something's happening. PCH is getting fucked. It's going to be closed for three more years. So I was like, we, I gotta find a reason to drive it. And I really want to do a trip on this Vespa. I think that would be really fun. And then Ali was like, you've been talking about it. And he was like, I bought one too. I was like, great. Here's what we're doing. So he shipped his down here and, and we rode back. And, um, although you can ride Vespas on this, on, you can do this thing, these do 85 miles an hour.

• 17:36Speaker 01

  Wow.

• 17:37Matt Farah?

  Like you, you have to tuck, you know, and you can't have a big headwind, but like they do. We did, they do. But it isn't fun. Like it's just not like, you can do it. Like if you were commuting on the highway for, let's call it 10 miles of highway a day or less, or if, if it was longer, but it was a slower moving, you know, like in LA, like if I'm commuting from here to Pasadena, this is the only choice. There's, there is no other option for me. But, and that's just creeping through traffic. But like, it's just, you're just, you're, you know, it's an upright position. You don't have a windshield. And so your chest and your face are the impact zone. So I put on, I

• 18:19Matt Farah?

  strapped on one of those like copper metal thing back braces, which I will never ride long distances on this again without one of those. That was a move.

• 18:28Speaker 01

  Also is effective. Good.

• 18:29Matt Farah?

  Very effective.

• 18:30Speaker 01

  Cool.

• 18:32Matt Farah?

  And like, so you, you know, we, there are, we rode up PCH through Malibu, um, got on the 101 and had to go like 20 miles to Ojai on the 101. And I was like, right before we got to Ojai, I was like, regretting this. I was like, God, this is.

• 18:48Speaker 01

  It's like four lanes each way.

• 18:49Matt Farah?

  I was like, this is going to be so, if so long. Um, and, uh, you know, then we get off and go through Ojai and up to 33. Fabulous. You know, Monday morning at like 9:30 in the morning, going out of town, nobody, great weather, you know, up and over into the valley. And you can see in this photo, I'm wearing my winter jacket. So.

• 19:10Speaker 01

  Oh, you went with winter jacket?

• 19:11Matt Farah?

  I went with winter. It's gonna, it was gonna be 107 in McKittrick when we passed through, but the low in Carmel was 51. So the swing, I had, and I can only had room to pack one jacket. So the swing, so I said, I'd rather be hot for like two hours at a place where we're moving at a high speed, higher, you know, high for a Vespa speed, than be really cold in the mornings, you know, for the whole rest of the time in Northern California where it was not going to be hot. So I went, I went winter jacket. Let me tell you, that was the move.

• 19:49Speaker 01

  Nice.

• 19:49Matt Farah?

  I was only a little bit hot when it got up to 105 because we were moving.

• 19:55Speaker 01

  Oh, and you have no windscreen. So the vents you have open are getting blasted.

• 19:58Matt Farah?

  Yeah, it was, it was okay. I was, I got a little sweaty in those. And like, certainly when we stopped, if you didn't stop, if we didn't stop under like a shade, it was brutal. But, uh, it was a little sweaty, but, but definitely that was the right move. Um, I almost ran out of gas. I, we, we, we went a hundred and four miles from Mari Copa to San Luis Obispo. And dude, me and Travis almost ran out of, like we, our fuel light was blinking red at us for over 30 miles. Now, as it turns out, I didn't study.

• 20:34Speaker 01

  The menu.

• 20:34Matt Farah?

  No, no, I didn't, I, I didn't check the actual fuel capacity. It's actually 2.24 gallons. And so the light comes on when you've got like.

• 20:48Matt Farah?

  Probably like the light comes on at like when you've used like 1.5, 1.6.

• 20:56Speaker 01

  Oh, okay.

• 20:56Matt Farah?

  It's there's a lot left. We found out that there is a lot left when the light comes on, but we did not know that. We did not have cell service at the time. It was very hot and we were riding uphill into the wind. So we were like pegged, like the thing like it.

• 21:13Speaker 01

  It was drinking at max capacity.

• 21:15Matt Farah?

  Yeah. And then, and then right as we were at like, we went into this one town and the only fuel station was fucking closed. Like had no gas and like they had no sympathy for us at all. And we were like, it was like nine miles further to the next gas station. And we're like, well, you know, but it was downhill. And so we made it and I ended up pumping like 1.8 gallons in.

• 21:38Speaker 01

  Oh, alright.

• 21:39Matt Farah?

  Is like, I thought it held 1.8. Like that's what I, that's what I thought it held, but then later he was like, oh shit dude. It's actually like 2.2. Like we, we were fine, but like, man, I've never had a fuel light blink at me for so long.

• 21:53Speaker 01

  I bet you were so stressed, dude.

• 21:54Matt Farah?

  I was so fucking stressed. It was so hot. It was over a hundred degrees.

• 21:59Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 21:59Matt Farah?

  We're riding west into the wind. Oh, it was brutal.

• 22:03Speaker 01

  And you were just staring at this thing. I could, I could see your face.

• 22:07Matt Farah?

  Okay. So that's, so that's like, so that's like the, that's like the bad parts, right?

• 22:10Speaker 01

  Fuck dude.

• 22:11Matt Farah?

  That's the bad parts. The good parts are pretty much everything else. Okay. The, the bike is, is comfortable at anything below 65. You're just, you're chilling. It's, it's so nice. It's not too windy. And so on all these, on, on the 33, on fucking P, PCH on this Vespa.

• 22:32Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 22:32Matt Farah?

  Was so incredibly fabulous and, and because we did it at like noon. And so there's other people out. There's like regular cars and shit. And so in a sports car, you're like, ah, these people. On a Vespa, if you're stuck behind a guy in a Jeep Wagoneer, that's like actually a pretty comfortable speed for you. You know, if they're not like crawling, if it's just you're, you are going the speed of regular cars.

• 22:58Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 22:58Matt Farah?

  But you're having fun. Um, I was able to fit like all of my clothes and things fit in my helmet bag, which fit perfectly into the rear cargo box. Super smart. And I fit a pair of shoes in the man purse. Travis just had this little portable bag strapped to the back of a cargoless cargo boxless thing. He was pretty hardcore. And then Ali had all the gadgets. He had like a set, another pouch and a phone mounted to this and that. He, he was like ready. He was packed up.

• 23:28Speaker 01

  The engineer.

• 23:29Matt Farah?

  He had a little, he had a lot of stuff. He brought a Hasselblad, like a big medium format film camera.

• 23:34Speaker 01

  Jeez. He's got that, that helmet. Those are cool.

• 23:37Matt Farah?

  But I packed, I really packed, uh, very weight consciously and consequently like, I did not alter the dynamics of my bike. Like it didn't ride like it was a bike loaded up with shit, which was like great. I brought exactly the right amount of stuff.

• 23:51Speaker 01

  Great. Um, did they, did their, or did Ali's bike, did he say it ride, it rode differently?

• 23:56Matt Farah?

  He doesn't have enough experience really to go, oh, okay. And, um, and he does, although he's ridden scooters a bunch, he's really never ridden scooters in the canyons before. So that was like kind of a new experience for him. So I don't think he was like as in tune with that type of thing as me. Um, but he didn't have a problem. He was, he was good. Um, but mine, I was really worried. Like if I put a bunch of shit in that box on the back, it makes it kind of like back heavy, but it, it really didn't. Um, just like the, the great parts, like dude, 17 mile drive and through the, the forest. You know, you're not supposed to ride motorcycles in there. They're not allowed. Um, but Ali was like,

• 24:39Matt Farah?

  if we make a breakfast reservation at Spanish Bay, at the hotel, we'll just like go to the gate and be like, but we have a reservation and then they'll have to let us in, right? And we're like, I don't know, but like fuck else are we gonna do it? Like let's try. So we make a breakfast reservation for eight o'clock in the morning. We rock up to the gate and they hassle us. They're like, you can't go in. And, and Ali did the talking. He's very professional. He's like, but we have a reservation. And they're like, but motorcycles aren't allowed. And he's like, but I have a reservation. And they're like, what's it under? He's like, he's, he says last name.

• 25:20Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 25:21Matt Farah?

  And, uh, and they're like, well, what, at what restaurant? And he says, and like, and what time? And he goes, here's the confirmation email. It's the logo on it. You know, the whole thing. And they're like, well, they're like, you're really not supposed to have motorcycles in here. And he's like, well, we're, we're meeting people. We just rode these from LA, but, but, but, but.

• 25:42Speaker 01

  It's not a motorcycle. It's not like, it's not a.

• 25:44Matt Farah?

  Yeah. And he was like, and, and he's like, we just, we just have to, you know, kind of played sort of dumb and they let us through. And, uh, like I, I'm not, this is not a, um, it's not a guaranteed bit of consumer advice. And I really wouldn't try it during car week. They probably, it probably won't fly during car week. But like, we were able to get past one person on one day and, and it was the person we needed. And, uh, dude, 7:30 in the morning, misty, 17 mile drive, not car week, nobody on it. Just us. The lone Cypress parking lot, zero cars in it.

• 26:24Speaker 01

  Wow.

• 26:25Matt Farah?

  The beach, that wherever all the influencers posed with their fucking Lambos and shit, empty, the whole thing. We did the whole drive empty. It was so dope. And at like, you know, and on a Vespa, you don't, you don't, you're going the speed limit effectively, but you're like carving and having like a great time.

• 26:44Speaker 01

  Yeah. And so I pull that up for people, but for anyone who's just listening, it's just this amazing semi-private road that runs along the ocean. It's like having a private, uh, PCH.

• 26:55Matt Farah?

  Yeah.

• 26:55Speaker 01

  Like PCH below Monterey, for people who haven't been there, is incredibly twisty. The rocks are jagged. The ocean is super blue. Like there's a reason lots of tourists go there. I mean, I grew up in the area and I still go down there and go, oh, wow. I forgot how beautiful this is.

• 27:08Matt Farah?

  There's a reason a house with a view is eight million dollars.

• 27:11Speaker 01

  Yeah. And 17 mile is like your own version of that. That's awesome.

• 27:15Matt Farah?

  Yeah. And on a Vespa, it's, it is perfect. It's just as per, as perfect of a drive, as of a drive as exists.

• 27:22Speaker 01

  Yeah. The, the Vespa's got the same energy as the Myers Manx. You know, like it's friendly. It's fun. You're going Corolla speeds.

• 27:29Matt Farah?

  Yeah.

• 27:29Speaker 01

  But you don't care because you're like taking in the sights and just having a good time. Look at that.

• 27:34Matt Farah?

  And at dude, on PCH, there's a, there's, it's open all the way through, but there's a couple small sections where it's one lane each way and they're repairing, you know, so that they have alternating traffic signals. Well, on a motherfucking Vespa, when the light is red, you go to the front.

• 27:53Speaker 01

  Oh, yeah.

• 27:54Matt Farah?

  And, and when the light turns green, the next 25 miles, that's your road. And because you're on a Vespa and not a fucking jixer, you're not going fast enough to catch that group in front of you. So you don't catch them until the, there's like three of these lights. This was unbelievable. We had clean run, clean run, clean run, red light, lane split, clean run, clean run, clean run, red light, lane split. Three times in a fucking row. It was unbelievable. I mean, I, I had, it's like, uh, it was like the, like the pits, uh, the yellow flags in a Cletus race. You just fucking boo boo boo. You know what I mean?

• 28:29Speaker 01

  Except they, they never put us to the front. Thank God.

• 28:31Matt Farah?

  Um, I will, going from, uh, going from Carmel to San Jose on the last day, taking the one out of Carmel when it was, you know, we rode through Del Monte Forest. We got breakfast and then we left. The one from Monterey to Santa Cruz was so fucking cold. It was like 55 degrees outside and I only brought my summer gloves. I didn't bring my winter gloves. Folks, one more quick break from the action because support of this program is coming in from Hims. Maybe you've got weight loss goals. Maybe you're already using FitBod for instance. And this summer, it's time to actually hit those goals. Weight loss by Hims is designed to support you every step of the way.

• 29:16Matt Farah?

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• 30:01Matt Farah?

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• 30:45Matt Farah?

  Wegovy clinical study information and restrictions, visit hims.com. And we were just on the one and traffic's going 75. Everyone's going 75. So we're going 75. Just sucks and you know, it was so bad. And finally, we, when we got to Santa Cruz, the sun came out right on the seventeen. And we had that lovely bit of the seventeen and, you know, ended in, ended in San Jose. But it was badass, man. Like I, I, it was really fun having the, the, the comms things.

• 31:20Speaker 01

  Oh yeah. How'd that work for talking to you?

• 31:22Matt Farah?

  When it works?

• 31:22Speaker 01

  Mm-hmm.

• 31:23Matt Farah?

  Greatest. It's so dope. Super fun. When it doesn't work and Ali's microphone, like however his microphone was connected in his helmet, kept like coming loose. And when it came loose, it would make static in my ear.

• 31:39Speaker 01

  Ooh.

• 31:39Matt Farah?

  Now, if you're listening to music and the other helmet is transmitting, talking, it lowers your music. And so his helmet kept doing static shit, which would then lower my music. And it was like, that was infuriating because I don't have a phone mount. My phone was in the pocket of the bike. Which ninety-five percent of the time is fine. But there isn't a good way to like, shut that the fuck up without having access to the phone. Like the, the Cardo, the communication app, like, if you have it there, you could easily be like, leave the group. Like you could just leave and just be like, this isn't working right now. Fix it later. Music and GPS, right?

• 32:22Matt Farah?

  But without having the phone up, you can't like really do that. So when it worked and it worked, it worked when his, when his microphone was like fuck, fuck, not fuck cocked. And we were within, you know, a hundred yards of each other. It was fucking great. And if I could see how if you were in a group of people that you liked, it would add a beautiful dimension to motorcycle trips. Really, really big difference.

• 32:49Speaker 01

  Cool.

• 32:50Matt Farah?

  And only one person needs to have the GPS screen up if it's working. Everyone else, it's, you know, you can sort of.

• 32:55Speaker 01

  Follow.

• 32:56Matt Farah?

  Yeah. And, and it, GPS works okay, you know, works fine when it's just in your, in your ear anyway. Um, but it helps when one person goes, oh, there's a this thing, you know, coming up or cops.

• 33:07Speaker 01

  Mm-hmm.

• 33:08Matt Farah?

  You know, or, or whatever. Um, not that we were worried about cops, but, um, I, I, it was, uh, it was the trip almost exactly five hundred miles. And so, uh, I've completed the break in.

• 33:20Speaker 01

  Oh, yeah.

• 33:21Matt Farah?

  It was six hundred and seventy-five mile is the break in. So, um, it was, I mean, really like, it's a pretty great way to travel if you're not traveling at highway speeds. And if you are, I think the big tall windshield does solve some of that problem, but it's dorky. It's so dorky. The tall windshield is so tall.

• 33:42Speaker 01

  There's the ra, the ratio of windshield to scooter is, is different than windshield to motorcycle.

• 33:48Matt Farah?

  Yeah, the short one isn't tall enough. And it actually like just punches you in the face with the wind.

• 33:53Speaker 01

  Helmet up, yeah.

• 33:54Matt Farah?

  It sucks. And the tall one, it's like, it's like riding a phone booth down the road or something.

• 33:59Speaker 01

  Yeah. You got a boogie board on the front of your bike.

• 34:01Matt Farah?

  Um, I don't want to blow it up, but we stopped in Cayucos. Did you stop there? Cayucos?

• 34:06Speaker 01

  Maybe.

• 34:07Matt Farah?

  It's one of them towns, like north of Morro Bay. That's a good stop. There's like three or four motels that have been like, you know, up converted.

• 34:16Speaker 01

  Mm-hmm.

• 34:16Matt Farah?

  Couple good restaurants, nice little beach, very walkable, pretty sunset.

• 34:23Speaker 01

  Day two?

• 34:24Matt Farah?

  That was, uh, yeah, uh, yeah, it was on the first post, but there's not, uh, there, there wasn't an amazing picture of it other than our, our hotel. But that spot right there, Willow Creek is, uh, very nice. Good spot to stop on, on PCH.

• 34:37Speaker 01

  Now, does this make you want to do motorcycle trips? Cause they have a lot of the vibe. It's just, it's a different type of transportation, but like the group thing, talking to each other, expose the elements, all that stuff.

• 34:49Matt Farah?

  Yeah, it's, I mean, they're fun. And I've done a couple motorcycle trips before. They're fun. Doing it on a Vespa, the novelty of that, I think, adds something that having the quote right vehicle takes away.

• 35:04Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 35:05Matt Farah?

  Um, I ran the risk of being physically uncomfortable. I'm glad I'm fine. I did, I did a lot of stretches, a lot of cat cow in the hotel afterward. And I, and without that brace, man, I probably would have been in deep shit for sure. But, um, yeah, I mean, for sure. I'd like to do motorcycle. I really, I think, I think the next thing is to go to BMW's off-roading school and then do a BDR. Uh, cause I need, I, there, it has to be a novelty. Just riding, riding the correct motorcycle to a place isn't enough for me. It's gotta be something a little different and weird, I think, at this point.

• 35:41Speaker 01

  Yeah, that'd be really fun.

• 35:43Matt Farah?

  It, but, uh, and shout, you know, I gotta show some respect to Travis Langness, who rode back.

• 35:49Speaker 01

  In one day.

• 35:50Matt Farah?

  He rode back the fuck. He didn't ride this exact same route, but he did PCH back to the one oh one, back to LA. And I rode to San Jose for, you know, I rode two hours and then I went to the airport and sat there for two and a half hours. And then flew home and I was home for two hours and then he texted me that he just got home.

• 36:13Speaker 01

  Wow.

• 36:14Matt Farah?

  It's, yeah.

• 36:15Speaker 01

  That's pretty quick. I mean, Travis, uh, people should look him up on Instagram, but he does a lot of motorcycle reviews. And he's also like a, um, like CrossFit Spartan, like race type, he's very fit.

• 36:27Matt Farah?

  He's very fit.

• 36:27Speaker 01

  So he's like, oh, sitting here for five hours and just bombing back? No big deal.

• 36:31Matt Farah?

  Yeah. Um, I, I respect for that. I was, I was more than happy to leave my bike at range and have it shipped back. I like, I like that, the one way. Cause the, the trip back, yeah.

• 36:43Speaker 01

  It was all the magic was over. Yeah. You were like, all right, now you know you're returning unless you make the trip back really interesting, but it definitely has, I think, depreciating return.

• 36:51Matt Farah?

  Yeah. If you get, you know, for California people and, you know, you, if you can go drive PCH, you know, before this winter, you know, conveniently, you probably should.

• 37:02Speaker 01

  Yeah. The mudslides that happen are always very sizable and take years to repair. It's always in the middle of nowhere on the one. And then you can't get from San Luis Obispo to Monterey.

• 37:11Matt Farah?

  Yeah.

• 37:11Speaker 01

  So.

• 37:12Matt Farah?

  It's, it's, it's worth it if you can, if you can go do it, um, you know, while it's open and okay. And I, and I do love spending time up there. It's just a fucking great place to chill.

• 37:21Speaker 01

  Yeah, it is.

• 37:22Matt Farah?

  In the future, I would say, I, I packed right, but I didn't like cram, I should have crammed the winter, the winter gloves. I didn't, I was like, ah, it's not gonna be that cold, but yeah, that was cool.

• 37:36Speaker 01

  In a pinch, I wonder if you could bring like latex gloves and wear under or liners, you know, something like that.

• 37:40Matt Farah?

  That's what Travis actually the, said. He was like, that's what you do in a pinch is you put doctor gloves on underneath your, and I was like, oh, it's actually very smart and I will do that in the future if I'm, but I didn't have time to.

• 37:53Speaker 01

  Like keeping that in your moto kit, you know, squeeze it up like that big, yeah.

• 37:58Matt Farah?

  Yeah. No, that's a, that's a good idea. These bikes are amazing. We had no, no problems, you know, we all burned, you know, roughly the same amount of gas or, you know, you're getting like between fifty and a hundred miles a gallon. I mean, you're like, when you're, when we were ripping through the, we, you know, we took thirty-three north and the fifty-eight west. And the fifty-eight west is fucking awesome. I mean, we did it on DWA rally.

• 38:25Speaker 01

  Oh, right, right, right.

• 38:26Matt Farah?

  And when, in the black series, uh, we did it on that. Fifty-eight going to the, it's fucking banger. But it's, it was so hot and it was into the wind that we went really through gas. I could smell the fuel being dumped like into the bike. Um, and even then, like, it's not like we were going, it's not like we're fucking at, at fifty. I mean, we were going seventy uphill into the wind. But we had to be pegged, you know, to do it.

• 38:55Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 38:55Matt Farah?

  Um, but on the, the curvy bits, damn, that shit is good.

• 38:59Speaker 01

  Nice.

• 38:59Matt Farah?

  It was so fun.

• 39:00Speaker 01

  It looked really fun.

• 39:01Matt Farah?

  Yeah. Um, but, uh, and, and no, no mechanical issues, no tire issues, no, no anything. Bikes, bikes worked great.

• 39:09Speaker 01

  Great. I mean, they're mostly, they're all brand new.

• 39:11Matt Farah?

  That's, I mean, that is true. They are all brand new, but like, you know.

• 39:14Speaker 01

  I hope that continues. I was just like, oh, yeah, they're all brand new, so they should work that well, you know, plus five, plus two.

• 39:19Matt Farah?

  Travis lost, uh, lost ten PSI of air on his tires though, between day one and two. The temperature swing. I suspect, here's why. I, I suspect. Cause it was delivered to him like two days before as a press bike, when it was like super, super hot. And I think the tires were filled when they were hot and it was hot out. So they were artificially a little, little low because of the temperature when he, whereas I topped off Ali and I's tires like at, like eleven o'clock at night before we left, when it was like sixty-two degrees here. So it was just less temperature difference.

• 39:57Speaker 01

  So it got hotter, did you notice the tire firming up and?

• 40:00Matt Farah?

  No, cause we were just going, when it was really hot, we were just like going sort of straight down that part through the central valley. But when it got cold, I noticed, oh, like my, I'm a little saggy here. And I was like five PSI low. But I could see Travis's rear tire. I was like, we need to stop. And he was, he was ten, ten PSI.

• 40:19Speaker 01

  Whoa.

• 40:20Matt Farah?

  Yeah, yeah.

• 40:20Speaker 01

  Squishy.

• 40:21Matt Farah?

  And at least we noticed it first thing in the morning. So it was, it was not like we had, we rode a bunch without it. So I'm glad. And he brought, you know, like the Fantic compressor that we have. He has one of those that's half the size for motorcycles. And I was like, that's the, that's the move. Yeah, yeah.

• 40:36Speaker 01

  That's what you need.

• 40:37Matt Farah?

  Yeah.

• 40:37Speaker 01

  Oh, quick.

• 40:38Matt Farah?

  I've, I, I, I was thinking that maybe if there are other people who have Vespa, like maybe I could organize a bigger Vespa trip because it is pretty fun to be.

• 40:50Speaker 01

  Yeah. I, I think a lot of people will be listening and wanting to do this, either by themselves or join. You could do the, the Peter Piper of Vespa thing.

• 40:57Matt Farah?

  Yeah. And the other thing I would want to do is figure out a, you know, those cheapy like stadium seats where you sit on it? And there's like a strap and you get a backrest. I mean, maybe it's literally just one of those. How to get one of those for the Vespa seat where I can sit back on it a little bit for the longer rides.

• 41:17Speaker 01

  Some, I'm sure someone makes.

• 41:19Matt Farah?

  There is a, a permanent one you can get, but it's just the very, it's only this high. It's not like a backrest. It's like a, just your lower back on it. And maybe that helps, but I think I want.

• 41:31Speaker 01

  That almost seems like it just keeps you from sliding backwards, but you can't really lean into it. Cause you see Harleys that have, it's a low pad.

• 41:37Matt Farah?

  Yeah.

• 41:37Speaker 01

  But it's still, where's my camera? Like tall enough that you can lean into it. So.

• 41:42Matt Farah?

  Or, I mean, or I have to get some kind of piece of luggage that I, you know, strap to the box, which looks like shit. But I could just lean on that.

• 41:52Speaker 01

  Well, uh.

• 41:54Matt Farah?

  Is that a thing? Do you find, yeah?

• 41:55Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 41:58Speaker 01

  I mean, this seems tall enough to work. Oops.

• 42:03Matt Farah?

  Oh, that's taller than the one I've seen. That's pretty good.

• 42:08Matt Farah?

  I don't, that's, so that's for a 300. I'm not sure if that's for a 310. It's a slightly different.

• 42:14Speaker 01

  But yeah, they might have one for the 310. Is that, uh, now is that where, that's where you sit?

• 42:21Matt Farah?

  Yeah, I mean, that's, yeah. I don't sit like further back on the seat or anything like that. I sit, my butt goes where it looks like it's supposed to.

• 42:29Speaker 01

  Alright.

• 42:29Matt Farah?

  That's pretty cool. $275. Where do you, where does it look like it mounts to?

• 42:35Matt Farah?

  I wanna see it from a distance.

• 42:36Speaker 01

  It's just AI, it floats. Uh, oh.

• 42:38Matt Farah?

  What the fuck is that? Is that just like glued there? No.

• 42:43Speaker 01

  Installation.

• 42:44Matt Farah?

  Oh, wait. You have to un-staple, okay, so reupholster, you have to cut, okay, so it passes through the, the seat.

• 42:52Speaker 01

  Okay.

• 42:52Matt Farah?

  Okay.

• 42:53Speaker 01

  So it's pretty, so it's very permanent?

• 42:56Matt Farah?

  Yeah, but I'm never riding with a passenger, so what the fuck do I care?

• 42:59Speaker 01

  Right.

• 43:00Matt Farah?

  Oh, I mean, it's a little old man looking, but if I'm really gonna do road trips on it.

• 43:04Speaker 01

  Yeah, I mean, you know, I don't know how you can make a back, because I think the shape also, all of that piping is poorly done. You know, the shape kinda matches the Vespa vibe.

• 43:14Matt Farah?

  Yeah, it doesn't look, no, it doesn't look completely out of shape, it's fine. It's just, it's generally slightly old man-ish, but like, you know.

• 43:20Speaker 01

  It breaks up the long seat silhouette a bit, I think.

• 43:22Matt Farah?

  Yeah, but if you're gonna go hundreds of miles, your spinal health is more important than not looking dorky.

• 43:27Speaker 01

  Yeah, I mean, we wear tennis shoes all the time, so.

• 43:30Matt Farah?

  Yeah, I only need to impress one woman and she won't leave me because of that.

• 43:33Speaker 01

  Exactly, yeah.

• 43:35Matt Farah?

  Um, anyway, can't, can't recommend it highly enough. It was, it was great fucking fun. And what's funny is when you talk about, I'm like posting about going to Monterey, and it's like five days before Car Week, so everyone assumes that's why I'm going. And it's like, I'm just, I'm getting so many, "See you there, see you there," and, and you know, a lot of the, uh, a lot of the invites are coming to the stuff, which is great. And, uh, but we're gonna be in Detroit. The Woodward Dream proves.

• 44:01Speaker 01

  Yeah, it's gonna be fun.

• 44:03Matt Farah?

  Um, oh, today's the last day to order Blazers, isn't it? Thursday the 6th, last day.

• 44:08Speaker 01

  It is.

• 44:09Matt Farah?

  We've sold a bunch, more than I thought we would sell, so I'm happy about that. I hope, some people, at least one person was happy enough with their Blazer that they ordered the other one.

• 44:17Speaker 01

  Yeah, that was pretty cool.

• 44:18Matt Farah?

  They ordered it, they received it, and then they ordered the other one because they liked it so much, so that's cool. Um, yeah, you know, last day, get them while they last, because that's gonna be it. And, um, oh, did you see fucking John Oliver did a segment, uh, on Flock?

• 44:35Speaker 01

  I didn't.

• 44:36Matt Farah?

  Yeah, I don't wanna ruin it for you, it's very good.

• 44:38Speaker 01

  Does he like Flock?

• 44:39Matt Farah?

  He loves it!

• 44:40Speaker 01

  Oh, okay.

• 44:41Matt Farah?

  He's very, very bro.

• 44:43Speaker 01

  So he turned you around on how you feel about Flock?

• 44:45Matt Farah?

  Yeah, I've invested in the company.

• 44:46Speaker 01

  Oh, okay, good, yeah. How's Peter?

• 44:49Matt Farah?

  It's...

• 44:51Matt Farah?

  He took me on his yacht.

• 44:54Speaker 01

  Because he's not allowed to go into a hotel?

• 44:57Matt Farah?

  Um, yeah, he doesn't like it. He doesn't. And there's other ones too, this.

• 45:01Speaker 01

  Axon.

• 45:01Matt Farah?

  The, huh?

• 45:02Speaker 01

  Axon, did you cover that?

• 45:03Matt Farah?

  Yeah, and, uh, like, some with an S, it's not, like, Fucus or fuck, Fusis, Fusis maybe?

• 45:10Speaker 01

  Okay.

• 45:11Matt Farah?

  Um, it's, yeah, it's just, it's all bad, everything, everything. Fusis, this one is a, um, is a, is a, like a ring doorbell. But you sign up for a service that allows the police unlimited access to your camera. And there is a city, I think it was Rialto, California, that would not issue you a business license unless you got one of these fucking things.

• 45:34Speaker 01

  Whoa.

• 45:36Matt Farah?

  Yeah.

• 45:37Speaker 01

  Wow.

• 45:37Matt Farah?

  Yeah, yeah, I know, it's, it's bad, it's all bad.

• 45:39Speaker 01

  Wow.

• 45:40Matt Farah?

  Yeah, it's bad, Flock's bad, but now, but, but now, I mean, you know, John Oliver's talking about it, that's good.

• 45:46Speaker 01

  No, it's good, I mean, something I've seen going around is like, if they're removing Flock and, and people are like, "Yay, hurrah, we did it," just make sure they're not installing a different company without telling you, because Flock is kind of getting all of the flack, hey yo. Um, and meanwhile, the other companies can swoop in and replace them and no one really talks about it.

• 46:04Matt Farah?

  They're bird, they're taking the heat.

• 46:06Speaker 01

  Yeah, exactly.

• 46:06Matt Farah?

  Whereas here's Lime slash Uber.

• 46:08Speaker 01

  Very, very true.

• 46:10Matt Farah?

  You know what I mean? Now, now they're all Lime scooters.

• 46:12Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 46:13Matt Farah?

  Because we, because Bird took the fucking shots.

• 46:17Speaker 01

  But Axon's probably better because a certain person invested in that company.

• 46:21Matt Farah?

  Right.

• 46:21Speaker 01

  Couple months ago, so.

• 46:23Matt Farah?

  Oh, you did?

• 46:24Speaker 01

  No. Orange, Orange Man did.

• 46:26Matt Farah?

  Oh, really?

• 46:27Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 46:29Matt Farah?

  Trump invested in the surveillance, oh god.

• 46:31Speaker 01

  He did before, because they, they also make body cameras, so he did that before.

• 46:34Matt Farah?

  Oh, before, before mandating, before mandating body cameras.

• 46:37Speaker 01

  Before big thing, but yeah.

• 46:38Matt Farah?

  Yeah, yeah, yeah, I mean.

• 46:40Speaker 01

  They're probably really good.

• 46:41Matt Farah?

  Insider trading's good. Um, so anyway, yeah, if, you check out that, check out the John Oliver, uh, John Oliver on that. Um, yeah, it's really, oh, should we, should we open my new helmet before we go to, uh, go to the people?

• 46:55Speaker 01

  I mean, it is here.

• 46:56Matt Farah?

  I got a new helmet, not for motorcycle, that, that's my new motorcycling helmet in that photo. It's, it's, uh, it's an Arai. I've been a showy man for like 12 years, but, uh, I tried on the Arai and it was more comfortable, so I got that. Um, this is my new racing helmet, because my racing helmet expires at the end of this year, and I cannot go racing anymore. So I called Impact, who, who makes the helmet, and I said, "I want the same one I had, it was very comfortable," and they said, "Great, we can make it for you, but we have some new colors," because my last one was black, and they go, "We have tinted carbon fiber." So I have not opened this yet, but I said, "Race car red, tinted carbon fiber."

• 47:38Speaker 01

  Oh, that's dope, yeah. Because your suit is red, yours is red, white, and black.

• 47:42Matt Farah?

  Yeah, that's pretty cool, huh?

• 47:44Speaker 01

  That looks really cool. I mean, that looks like a Pagani.

• 47:47Matt Farah?

  They, there is no promotional consideration for this, and it's fucking scratched a little, oh no, that's like gunk. That's like glue, that's not scratched. Um, uh, no promotional consideration, full retail price. Um, but a friend of mine hit the wall in a race car at 100 miles an hour, wearing an Impact helmet, and I was like, "Good enough for me." That's, uh, that's, I mean, anecdotal, yes, but, uh, but I have really enjoyed wearing my last one for, for 10 years almost. I got it in, in 2018.

• 48:19Speaker 01

  Do they, like, measure your head shape before they make it, or are they known for a certain shape? You know, like some like Arai and Schway, they're all kind, like this one's for oval heads, and this is for more square heads.

• 48:31Matt Farah?

  I probably,

• 48:34Matt Farah?

  I probably went through that process with the first helmet. Frankly, I don't remember. I just called them and I said, "Here was my order number from back then, I want the new one." And here it is.

• 48:47Speaker 01

  Looks great.

• 48:47Matt Farah?

  Yeah, I don't know, but it's very comfortable on me. Um, you know, your mileage may vary, but I've really enjoyed, um, racing in my black one, so here we go. I can't believe it's been that many years.

• 48:58Speaker 01

  That's awesome. Yeah, was it 10 years they lasted? I think helmets, 15?

• 49:02Matt Farah?

  This one is good, I believe, until 2035. I think the standards like update every 10 years, but I think if, I think you can get more mileage out of a helmet if you buy it at the beginning of the whatever period.

• 49:17Speaker 01

  It also depends on the racing series. Some of, I think Lemons is pretty, like, easy about it, it's like 15 years or more. Um, WRL was a little tighter, it was like, they adhere to the 2025 SNL standard, whatever, so basically, if you're gonna go racing, make sure you have a helmet that matches the regulations.

• 49:33Matt Farah?

  Yeah.

• 49:34Speaker 01

  Otherwise you can't get your thing.

• 49:36Matt Farah?

  WRL told me that I can't use it anymore. I could still use the other one for like bullshit track days or whatever if I wanted, you know, it's still, still pretty, I mean, I probably wouldn't go past 10 or, 10 or 15 years, but like, it's, the padding is still good, it's not like I wear it that much. Um, because I only wear it for actual racing, for on-camera stuff, I wear the open-faced one, so it doesn't get as gross and as used as it probably could have.

• 50:00Speaker 01

  I think it, I wonder if it's just the construction standard changes, you know, rather than like the foam aging out, maybe it does too, it dries out and gets harder, I don't know.

• 50:08Matt Farah?

  Probably some of both, yeah. My motorcycle helmets get way, way more abuse and way gnarlier and need to be replaced way more often than.

• 50:17Speaker 01

  And you don't wear a balaclava when you ride, right? So yeah, you're sweating directly into that sponge.

• 50:21Matt Farah?

  Yeah.

• 50:21Speaker 01

  Delicious.

• 50:22Matt Farah?

  Mmm, mmm, mmm. Um, let's go to the people. Uh, they are very important to us.

• 50:28Speaker 01

  Mm-hmm.

• 50:29Matt Farah?

  Over at Patreon.com slash The Smoking Tire Podcast, they are keeping the boat floating down the ocean. And, uh, in, in times of drought even, even when there's not much ocean. Um, but we appreciate all of you very much. Of course, if you wanna ask questions for the show, watch the live stream, get the show before everybody else, get the show without ads, get extra show, and get access to exclusive collabs and things like that. Um, like the Notice Canyon watches, most of the colors did not make it out of the Patreon. Uh, Patreon.com slash The Smoking Tire Podcast is where you do it.

• 51:10Matt Farah?

  Let's go to, oh, and of course, um, tickets are still available for our live show in Los Angeles, August 18th, 8pm, technically Irvine, but I'm saying Los Angeles. LA people, OC people, come on down, we've got Smith and Sniff, an amazing podcast from the UK, uh, with Johnny Smith and Richard Porter. Uh, they're coming into LA to hang with us, they're a good time, they're fucking super, super smart.

• 51:34Speaker 01

  They're really, really funny, so if you're like, "I don't know who these guys are, I'm not sure, I wanna go to this show," if it's, if it's a, a mixed duo, they're really funny people.

• 51:42Matt Farah?

  They're bringing their words.

• 51:44Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 51:44Matt Farah?

  They have better words.

• 51:45Speaker 01

  We're gonna battle over country supremacy.

• 51:47Matt Farah?

  Better words than us. Um, so, those people have spoken, and, which is better, class, uh, Harlequin E63 AMG, if that's real, you should build, if it's not real, you should build that.

• 52:01Speaker 01

  That'd be cool.

• 52:02Matt Farah?

  Uh, "Is there a Rivian R2 review in the future?" Yes, there is a Rivian R2 that's coming in September.

• 52:11Matt Farah?

  Or maybe the last week in August, but yes, there's a Rivian R2 coming. Elderly woman behind the wheel of a small car. Very good. Um, car buying advice for my dad. He sold his 997 and wants something more utilitarian. He'd like a sporty wagon to haul things and has a budget of 60,000 bucks. A Golf R is too small. You can get all kinds of used AMG wagon for that, right?

• 52:40Speaker 01

  Yeah, for 60 grand.

• 52:42Matt Farah?

  Yeah, 60 grand, you can get, uh.

• 52:46Speaker 01

  Get an E 50, E 63?

• 52:48Matt Farah?

  Yeah, like, yeah, of, of, probably a pretty, a pretty good one, too. I mean, those will, those depreciate into that area and then sort of stay there for a while, right?

• 52:59Matt Farah?

  57 grand, 2018, 2014, 27 grand. Yeah, 60 grand gets you plenty of E 63, dude. Uh, you get, you can get something nice.

• 53:11Speaker 01

  I mean, I feel like that's the only, you can also, I mean, you can get a Volvo if you want, but it's not going to be nearly as sporty or exciting or sound as good. Really well made, but just like a different vibe. I would totally get one of these, especially with the selectable all-wheel drive, right, dude?

• 53:25Matt Farah?

  I'm not sure what year they added that. If, I think, I think that 20, that 2018 did not have it, but the one after it did. It's that one, the 2021, go down. Like, I think that got it.

• 53:42Matt Farah?

  I think.

• 53:43Speaker 01

  That would be awesome.

• 53:44Matt Farah?

  How much, what is that, what did that one go for? That's 96 grand, but it's also matte finish and.

• 53:50Speaker 01

  You could talk them down a little bit, um, maybe.

• 53:53Matt Farah?

  Yeah, but I think, I, I think, uh, you, oh, production, maybe it's 2024 is when they added the selectable. I can't, I think it was.

• 54:02Speaker 01

  Farther back than that.

• 54:03Matt Farah?

  I think it was this generation, 2021, I believe it was. Um, but either way, the answer is E 63. It's just what year and what does your budget bear?

• 54:12Speaker 01

  Yep.

• 54:12Matt Farah?

  Right? Uh, Jeep of Theseus, with the relative success of the 911 Dakar and Huracan Storato. Could there be demand for a factory rally off-road sports car at a more entry-level price point? There have been rumors of a Mustang Raptor, but it seems nothing has come of that yet. I mean, for me, yeah, Mustang, Ford is the person to do that. They've got Mach-E Rally, they've got the Raptor. I mean, they're, they have a, uh, whimsy budget for these sorts of things.

• 54:42Speaker 01

  And they seem to be the kings of off-road. They also just unveiled the pictures of the, um, the Mustang sedan, which is pretty, like, looks good.

• 54:49Matt Farah?

  Really?

• 54:49Speaker 01

  Yeah, I'll show you. Looks good. Um.

• 54:51Matt Farah?

  Is it an EV? Or is it? Is it, it's gotta be a hybrid, right?

• 55:00Speaker 01

  Come on.

• 55:02Matt Farah?

  The Mustang sedan.

• 55:04Speaker 01

  The Mach 4.

• 55:07Matt Farah?

  Is that real? That's, that's, is that real?

• 55:11Speaker 01

  I mean, it's Motor Trend pictures?

• 55:12Matt Farah?

  I think that's a rendering.

• 55:15Matt Farah?

  A photo, a, a four-door Mustang concept has been shown to dealers earlier this year. This, this doesn't, this seems fake.

• 55:26Matt Farah?

  I don't think that's real. I don't think the photo's real. There are more photos in the, from somewhere besides Motor Trend, because they, they, they do a lot of mockups.

• 55:36Speaker 01

  Ah, okay.

• 55:38Matt Farah?

  I mean, this car that we are looking at is pretty nice looking.

• 55:41Speaker 01

  I think it makes a great-looking sedan.

• 55:43Matt Farah?

  It does, but.

• 55:46Matt Farah?

  Ford's execs remark suggest a Ford.

• 55:48Speaker 01

  Oh, I guess the picture was only from Motor Trend.

• 55:51Matt Farah?

  Yeah, so I think.

• 55:52Speaker 01

  I saw it posted by other people without the watermark, so I definitely thought it was like, oh, okay.

• 55:57Matt Farah?

  Yeah, Ford Mach 4 trademark fuel, okay.

• 56:01Speaker 01

  That looks worse.

• 56:02Matt Farah?

  Yeah, I mean.

• 56:02Speaker 01

  That looks like a Fusion. This back looks.

• 56:05Matt Farah?

  That is, that's a Mustang nose and on a Fusion.

• 56:07Speaker 01

  On a Fusion, that's not good.

• 56:09Matt Farah?

  Or like a.

• 56:10Speaker 01

  Man, this is like the second week I got.

• 56:12Matt Farah?

  You got had.

• 56:13Speaker 01

  I got had again.

• 56:14Matt Farah?

  Had, and probably not even by AI. You got had by Motor Trend.

• 56:18Speaker 01

  Who I.

• 56:18Matt Farah?

  Not even had, but.

• 56:20Speaker 01

  Oh, I'll move on.

• 56:24Speaker 01

  Uh, Mustang Raptor, I mean, they just gotta figure out the price points and the manufacturing, but yeah, if anyone can do it, it's them.

• 56:29Matt Farah?

  Yeah, uh, or, um, Toyota. I think Toyota could do an 86. Right? Or Su, I mean, Su, Su.

• 56:40Speaker 01

  Subaru kinda does that, though.

• 56:41Matt Farah?

  Subaru BRZ Wilderness could be.

• 56:44Speaker 01

  So cool.

• 56:45Matt Farah?

  Yeah.

• 56:45Speaker 01

  But they, but they need more power.

• 56:47Matt Farah?

  Yeah.

• 56:48Speaker 01

  And they don't want to do that, so they're kind of stuck.

• 56:50Matt Farah?

  Uh, Rage Against the Tire-Changing Machine. Where do you envision TST if you had 10X or 100X the paid Patreon subscribers?

• 57:01Speaker 01

  I mean, if we had 100X.

• 57:02Matt Farah?

  100X, I'm not doing anything else.

• 57:04Speaker 01

  Right, yeah, uh, I would, I would have a second car.

• 57:08Matt Farah?

  You'd have five cars if you had 100X.

• 57:10Speaker 01

  I know, um.

• 57:12Matt Farah?

  You'd have a house.

• 57:13Speaker 01

  Uh, yeah, I'd have a house. Uh, if we had 10X, I think

• 57:18Speaker 01

  we'd probably be able to fund our own tour and just make money on the tickets versus we've been looking for sponsors for a tour.

• 57:28Matt Farah?

  Yeah.

• 57:28Speaker 01

  Like, we'd probably get to do that and maybe add, like, we could add a news show to the week. Um, we could probably just provide more stuff.

• 57:38Matt Farah?

  Yeah.

• 57:38Speaker 01

  Dedicate more time to it and maybe move away from the car review stuff. Um, or pay an editor to do that stuff and just focus on podcasts.

• 57:49Matt Farah?

  Yeah, it would, it would, it would look like, like, because Are You Garbage essentially has like 10X what we have now. It would essentially look like that. It would be a tour where you're selling 500-seat theaters. It would be of, of, of four or five dudes or, or ladies that support behind the scenes, doing, doing that kind of stuff. And you and I focusing on, on making content and without having to do nuts and bolts things.

• 58:16Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 58:17Matt Farah?

  That's what 10X looks like. 100X is like that, but I'd be wearing like a Jacob.

• 58:24Speaker 01

  You know, 100X, 100X, I'd wanna blend in somehow like the Cletus team show element. Like, that's a lot of money, so we could do like a festival of some kind.

• 58:35Matt Farah?

  Yeah, a cruise.

• 58:37Speaker 01

  Try to compete with Gridlife and that would be dumb. No, we could do a cruise.

• 58:41Matt Farah?

  Which is the, what's the boat that has the go-kart track on it? What if we had a, what if it was a cruise with a, with an endurance race that went the full

• 58:53Matt Farah?

  trip, the full, like a seven day?

• 58:56Speaker 01

  Uh, Norwegian cruise lines have go-kart tracks.

• 58:59Matt Farah?

  Yeah, can you get a photo of a go-kart track on a cruise line? Cause if we could do a TST cruise where there was an actual endurance race on the cruise, it might be the only way you'll ever get me back onto a cruise ship again.

• 59:12Speaker 01

  Yeah, everyone would be worth the diarrhea. Don't worry.

• 59:16Matt Farah?

  Let's see.

• 59:17Speaker 01

  Dude, this is pretty.

• 59:18Matt Farah?

  The go-kart track?

• 59:19Speaker 01

  Looking.

• 59:20Matt Farah?

  Oh, wow.

• 59:21Speaker 01

  It's on the roof of the boat. They say it's a two-story track, which it technically is, so you've got elevation.

• 59:27Matt Farah?

  Yeah, it does have.

• 59:28Speaker 01

  But, I mean, that is wild.

• 59:31Matt Farah?

  Yeah, I mean, it's, do you think that it's like the karts are electric, like K1's karts? Probably, right?

• 59:37Speaker 01

  Probably now, yeah, but they used to be gas, but they're probably, probably electric now. Well, but then you have to have more, like, K1 has a lot of karts because they had to charge someone to drive, so maybe there's still gas.

• 59:48Matt Farah?

  If this is outdoors, it would make sense that they're gas.

• 59:50Speaker 01

  It's not like the cruise ship's worried about emissions, so.

• 59:52Matt Farah?

  It's right next to a smokestack.

• 59:54Speaker 01

  Yeah, so you, so you hide.

• 59:56Matt Farah?

  It's right next to an exhaust pipe the size of a fucking box truck.

• 1:00:00Speaker 01

  Multiple exhaust, um, yeah, so you hide the emissions of the go-kart with, uh, amongst the exhaust of the ship. Yeah, it's probably, I don't know, but that's cool. They have a number of them.

• 1:00:09Matt Farah?

  Can you just get, see if you can get up close photos of the go-kart track? Because that would actually be kind of fun. If you had like a 24-hour Enduro on a cruise ship.

• 1:00:19Speaker 01

  That would be really cool.

• 1:00:20Matt Farah?

  That's what I would do with 100X more subscribers. I would have the TST cruise with a, a go-kart and, those are adults, those are the K1 karts, basically.

• 1:00:32Speaker 01

  Yeah, you're right. Uh, I can't, yeah, they look like they're probably electric. There's not enough, there's no engine back.

• 1:00:36Matt Farah?

  Yeah.

• 1:00:37Speaker 01

  All right. Oh, here we go. There's the back.

• 1:00:39Matt Farah?

  I wonder if they're like real slow, though. That would be my concern. My concern would be that they're actually like slow as shit and not fun to drive.

• 1:00:48Speaker 01

  That's possible.

• 1:00:49Matt Farah?

  Can someone, if we've had anyone, uh, leave a comment? Uh, you don't need to make a whole email about it, but leave, leave a comment on the show.

• 1:00:58Speaker 01

  Oh shit, they go 30 miles per hour.

• 1:01:00Matt Farah?

  Okay.

• 1:01:01Speaker 01

  According to Car and Driver.

• 1:01:02Matt Farah?

  All right, if anyone out, if anyone, especially a patron, has let, has, has actually driven the go-karts on a Norwegian cruise ship, do let us know.

• 1:01:11Speaker 01

  I mean, and, and look, the walls are glass, so you might be able to kind of see the ocean below you. That's pretty fun.

• 1:01:16Matt Farah?

  Yeah.

• 1:01:17Speaker 01

  I don't know, top speed of 30, but can they reach that top speed? That's the question, because there's not much of a straightaway anywhere.

• 1:01:24Matt Farah?

  An 11,500-foot track? It's like a, wait. 11,500 foot, that can't be right.

• 1:01:32Speaker 01

  That's like.

• 1:01:33Matt Farah?

  That's not right. It's not a two-mile circuit. It's.

• 1:01:37Speaker 01

  It's probably square foot.

• 1:01:38Matt Farah?

  Oh, right.

• 1:01:39Speaker 01

  So with.

• 1:01:40Matt Farah?

  Square, 11,500-foot square foot track, right? Yeah, it's probably like a, it's probably like a quarter-mile track, right?

• 1:01:49Speaker 01

  It's not bad, though. It's got, it's got a lot of hairpins. It's got like a little chicane.

• 1:01:54Matt Farah?

  Man, imagine in the wet, imagine in the wet, dude. We do one of these Norwegian, we do like a fjord cruise at 24-hour race, full daylight.

• 1:02:04Speaker 01

  Oh, that's true.

• 1:02:04Matt Farah?

  The summer, full daylight.

• 1:02:06Speaker 01

  Man, that'd be cool.

• 1:02:07Matt Farah?

  That'd be sick.

• 1:02:08Speaker 01

  Two-hour stints.

• 1:02:09Matt Farah?

  And by the way, respect the barriers. I mean, these are, they're really nice-looking barriers, actually.

• 1:02:15Speaker 01

  And, uh, yeah, it's like an accordion system with plexiglass, so you can see what's around you, which I also like.

• 1:02:22Matt Farah?

  Bro, imagine getting fucking pegged into the glass wall 100 feet above the ocean.

• 1:02:29Speaker 01

  Yeah, the fear would be real, because your brain is not, like, your lizard brain is still gonna be freaked out, like, oh, I'm going to the edge. That's rad.

• 1:02:37Matt Farah?

  Yeah, all right, if anyone who's a patron or whatever has actually driven these go-karts on a Norwegian cruise ship.

• 1:02:42Speaker 01

  Leave a comment, don't send any.

• 1:02:43Matt Farah?

  Let us know, yeah. Sundervunch, optional carbon cuck chair. I'm debating between a Ranger Raptor with a lightweight canopy camper versus a Grenadier with a roof conversion for base camp rig for hunting, climbing, backcountry, skiing in the Waidahoe. Well, I'm sure that's something people say. I've never heard Waidahoe before, but it's a good one. I'm torn because the Raptor will be better to drive, but the vibes of the Ineos are immaculate, more, both are more than capable for the off-roading.

• 1:03:17Matt Farah?

  I just, I hate the steering of the Ineos so much. I just, I hate it so much. It would be, it's a deal breaker for me.

• 1:03:26Speaker 01

  It's better. It's like a Wrangler.

• 1:03:29Matt Farah?

  Yeah.

• 1:03:29Speaker 01

  But it, yeah, now at least it self centers. I think the Raptor will drive better most of the time. Uh, it rides softer. It's way better on the road. The only thing that came to mind for me is that if I put like a canopy camper on it, that's not a pop-up thing. I'm not gonna be driving the Raptor fast rally style anyway, because I'm worried about everything inside, like the camper falling apart over time. So because of that, you could lean toward the vibes, but the other thing to think about is how, where's your nearest Ineos dealer service center versus Ford service center? Like you're in Wydeho. You know, Ineos has a BMW engine. It's a small boutique manufacturer. That's something I would be concerned about. So I'd probably lean Raptor just for service reasons.

• 1:04:13Matt Farah?

  Yeah.

• 1:04:15Matt Farah?

  Doug DiMiro's burner account. Thoughts on the Genesis G90, shopping it against a 7 Series for a lease?

• 1:04:23Speaker 01

  7 Series is

• 1:04:24Matt Farah?

  That's a no-go.

• 1:04:25Speaker 01

  One of the most unattractive cars.

• 1:04:27Matt Farah?

  That's a just

• 1:04:28Speaker 01

  I've ever seen. I couldn't get in it. I wouldn't want to get out of it.

• 1:04:31Matt Farah?

  Yeah.

• 1:04:31Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:04:32Matt Farah?

  That's a no-go.

• 1:04:33Speaker 01

  No.

• 1:04:33Matt Farah?

  Not, it's not a good looking car.

• 1:04:34Speaker 01

  I see a lot of them around to use their own, but that's my answer.

• 1:04:38Matt Farah?

  I drove Uncle Phil's Genesis G90. Lovely. It's, you know, it's, it's doing the thing that Genesis does, which is aping a Bentley. And, and the G90 apes the flying spur pretty well in a lot of ways, if you are not pushing performance. Like, if, if you're running errands and you're cruising around your neighborhood and you're just going down the highway like everybody else, it is a pretty good ape for a flying spur.

• 1:05:11Speaker 01

  And look, that's a much better looking car.

• 1:05:13Matt Farah?

  Than a 7 Series?

• 1:05:14Speaker 01

  Than a 7 Series.

• 1:05:15Matt Farah?

  Oh, yeah.

• 1:05:15Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:05:16Matt Farah?

  I'm driving the G80, um, which I just got in this morning for the first time, and you're gonna drive it tomorrow. Um, quite lovely, honestly. It's pretty, seems pretty nice.

• 1:05:27Speaker 01

  I think they do a really good job. So, yeah, definitely go G90.

• 1:05:31Matt Farah?

  Puro Sanguine.

• 1:05:33Speaker 01

  It's a good one.

• 1:05:34Matt Farah?

  Great. Would you rather drive a bad automated manual or a good CVT? Hmm.

• 1:05:44Matt Farah?

  What is a good CVT?

• 1:05:45Speaker 01

  And there was an earlier part I deleted, but this person's like, if the rest of the car was great. So just assume the car for both examples is whatever you'd want it to be, but this is, these are the transmission choices you have.

• 1:05:56Matt Farah?

  What is a good CVT?

• 1:05:57Speaker 01

  I would still want manual because I can at least experience the rev range. And if the car is sorted, I'm probably gonna want to hear the exhaust note, but the CVT just hits that one note and just Yeah. That for the whole time.

• 1:06:12Matt Farah?

  I think my answer could be either, it's entirely dependent on the rest of the car. Like, like is the rest of the car a average sedan commuter, or is the rest of the car a Pagani? You know, or is the rest of the car Miata? Like, I'd rather drive a bad automated manual, like a single clutch from a Ferrari 360 in a, in a sports car, whereas I'd rather drive a good CVT in a daily driver car.

• 1:06:44Matt Farah?

  Air-cooled testicles. Would the Lamborghini Temerario be a better car if it followed the Revuelto's formula of a big NA motor with electric assist? I can't help but wonder if it would be a bigger hit with a Soulful V10 hybrid instead of the twin turbo V8?

• 1:07:07Matt Farah?

  Maybe. Because at low RPMs, the V8 does not sound that good. Just doesn't. Sounds good when you're zinging it past fucking 7 and you still got 3,000 to go. Then it's nice.

• 1:07:21Speaker 01

  Does it have particulate filter for Europe? I wonder what it'd sound like if you get rid of that.

• 1:07:26Matt Farah?

  Yeah, I mean

• 1:07:26Speaker 01

  If Krupovich does some things.

• 1:07:28Matt Farah?

  Every single exotic car on the market today, you just need to prepare. God, I mean, there is no better business to be in right now than to be a company that makes supercar exhausts, because every single one of these cars sounds worse than the car that came before it. And even the fucking engineers, when I was in Italy, even them, they're like, we like the Krupovich, but you know, the, the, uh, the two-bit style is also very nice, you know? But you must, you must have changed.

• 1:07:56Speaker 01

  You gotta do something.

• 1:07:56Matt Farah?

  When the car gets

• 1:07:57Speaker 01

  You can't leave a star.

• 1:07:58Matt Farah?

  Yeah. When the car gets to America, you must change, which is not our fault. We try, but you know, you cannot do.

• 1:08:07Matt Farah?

  Yeah, so would it be better with a V10 hybrid instead of a twin turbo V? I mean, maybe. Yeah, I mean, maybe.

• 1:08:12Speaker 01

  I think in a vacuum, yeah, because it would sound like its predecessor and it would sound cool and it'd just be a more interesting powertrain also than, everything's got a TT 4.0 V8 these days. So, yeah, that'd be rad. But again, like the packaging would be the question.

• 1:08:26Matt Farah?

  Yeah.

• 1:08:26Speaker 01

  It would change how the car, uh, probably how it's sized, where the hybrid stuff lands, blah, blah, blah.

• 1:08:31Matt Farah?

  Yeah.

• 1:08:34Matt Farah?

  And I do like revving into 10. 10 is a long, that's, it's, it's so many revs to get to 10. Like, you can't believe where you want to shift that car, there's still so many more revs. It's like, it's so fast. And so for someone in a, in a room in, in, um, Santa Gata saying, the GT3, it goes to 9, we go to 10. Like, and that being the thing, and going, okay, how do we get to 10? And, and, and I, I fucking respect the shit out of that.

• 1:09:08Speaker 01

  I do too. I think they, they probably looked at the fact that everyone's got a 4.0 V8 and they said, how do we make ours different?

• 1:09:13Matt Farah?

  Yeah.

• 1:09:14Speaker 01

  10, when I drive cars that rev to 9, I still have to, it takes hours to adjust my brain to being like, it's acceptable to hit this number.

• 1:09:20Matt Farah?

  Yeah.

• 1:09:21Speaker 01

  10 is just the next step.

• 1:09:22Matt Farah?

  And they also had, you know, Audi and Porsche with a 4.0 V8, a sort of experience, and them, the Urus, where they can, they sort of know things already, whereas if they go, we're gonna have a V10, it's gonna be all new, it's gonna be a different displacement, it's gonna be a different size, it's gonna be a different positioning in this new car. Yeah, that, that may be tough. So, even Lamborghini has, has cost considerations. Crater. Started autocrossing this year in my S2000, but I came to find it's not the competitive car in its street class. The ND Miata is. I'm thinking of

• 1:10:05Matt Farah?

  relegating the S2000 to being my weekend fun car and getting a dedicated autocross car and likely a Miata.

• 1:10:14Matt Farah?

  I'm torn between three options. Just buy the ND, option number one. Use the S2000 one or two more years to see what happens with an NE.

• 1:10:24Speaker 01

  Next Miata, yeah.

• 1:10:26Matt Farah?

  Or find an NC and make a CSX spec car. Which I guess is just a different class.

• 1:10:33Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:10:37Speaker 01

  I'd probably go that. Like, I, I don't know. My brain went to, if it's gonna be a dedicated autocross car, I would, I would go cheaper and then spend the money on mods versus getting an ND that's gonna cost like, those cost quite a bit, even when they're used. So unless, if you can run like an NA, B, or C in the same class and put some suspension mods on it, I mean, just make it more yours. I would rather do that if it's gonna be a dedicate, a car for a dedicated thing as small, literally and figuratively, as autocross.

• 1:11:05Matt Farah?

  And that, this CSX spec car, I don't know what that is, but I assume that that CSX spec will remain constant as the NE comes out, right? So if it's, I don't, and I don't, admittedly, I don't know the classes of your autocross. But if you're talking about street class, and do you get an ND to be competitive in street class, or wait to see if the NE is more competitive in street class, you are at the whims of Mazda for a while. Whereas if you get a NC and have this CSX spec car, then that will remain constant one, no matter what, like new cars come out. So you could do that and then also, while simultaneously taking a wait and see.

• 1:11:48Speaker 01

  So CSX is specifically for the NC and it's, they have rules on suspension, alignment, wheels, tires, like exhaust mods, brakes, like, it's very specific on what you can do. So then you're, then you're running an NC spec class essentially.

• 1:12:03Matt Farah?

  That's okay.

• 1:12:04Speaker 01

  It is.

• 1:12:05Matt Farah?

  Yeah. I would prob, if you already are keeping your S2000 for the weekends, right? And so you need your autocross car to be like, street legal, but not really streetable, right?

• 1:12:19Matt Farah?

  I, I would not want an ND street car and an S2000 street car. Those are, on the road, those are the same thing, effectively.

• 1:12:26Speaker 01

  And the ND's a really nice thing.

• 1:12:27Matt Farah?

  Yeah.

• 1:12:28Speaker 01

  So I wouldn't want to like mod it too much and run it in autocross. I mean, I get people want the, they want the 1.8 engine, sure, but sorry, I cut you off.

• 1:12:35Matt Farah?

  No, no.

• 1:12:36Speaker 01

  CSX.

• 1:12:37Matt Farah?

  I would say CSX. Or, or run what you brung. I mean, autocross is, it's, it's, if it's not As competitive i- i- if you you could just, I mean, try and beat the odds. You know, try and outdrive your car, try and try and overperform the car you got.

• 1:12:53Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:12:53Matt Farah?

  You know, that too. Try different mods that are legal within the class where you might have better results.

• 1:13:01Matt Farah?

  Be a better fucking driver. No.

• 1:13:04Matt Farah?

  Maybe you're not competitive.

• 1:13:07Matt Farah?

  Have you have you tried? Yeah.

• 1:13:09Speaker 01

  Try revving it to nine.

• 1:13:11Matt Farah?

  It goes to nine. It's the AP one, right? So it goes to ninety.

• 1:13:15Speaker 01

  So, yeah.

• 1:13:16Matt Farah?

  Is it nine or ninety? Is there over nine?

• 1:13:18Speaker 01

  Ninety-one, right? And then AP two was like eighty-five.

• 1:13:21Matt Farah?

  Yeah. Tame Impala SS. My dream car has always been the Ferrari four five eight, but the K-shaped economy has pushed it from a somewhat reasonable aspiration to almost unfathomable at the three hundred. Is it cost three hundred thousand dollars to get a four five eight now? You should you shouldn't be doing that. Don't don't do that. That's that's that's not a three hundred and fifty thousand dollar driving experience. You should not pay that for that car. Other than the C eight Z O six, I already have a vet and I don't really love how the C eight looks. What are some depreciated exotics for one eighty-five that you'd rather have?

• 1:14:04Matt Farah?

  Habibi, the Maserati MC twenty is your chariot. Right? Would you not take a Maserati MC twenty C L O for one eighty-five as a road car?

• 1:14:16Speaker 01

  It's a pretty great road car. It it looks great. It rides great. It looks great. It's pretty. It's fast.

• 1:14:23Matt Farah?

  You look like a billionaire in that car.

• 1:14:24Speaker 01

  Yeah, you do. They look really good. And yeah, I looked at cars and bids. Recent sales of three of four five eights are in the threes.

• 1:14:32Matt Farah?

  Get the fuck out of here.

• 1:14:33Speaker 01

  There's some results in twenty twenty-five that are half as much, which is crazy.

• 1:14:37Matt Farah?

  Yeah.

• 1:14:38Speaker 01

  Nine thousand, a year ago, a nine thousand mile twenty thirteen Spider went for one sixty-six.

• 1:14:44Matt Farah?

  Yeah.

• 1:14:44Speaker 01

  And then in February this year, a car with almost the same miles, also Spider, went for three thirty-five.

• 1:14:52Matt Farah?

  Yeah, no, skip that. Actually, a guy came up to me at in Malibu. When we were on our way, we stopped for breakfast on the strip and he said, he said basically the same thing. He said to me, I I couldn't afford a four or five. This was a sentence I never thought I would hear. I couldn't afford a four five eight, so I bought a four eight eight.

• 1:15:17Speaker 01

  Whoa.

• 1:15:17Matt Farah?

  And I went, I'm sorry, what? And he went, yeah, the naturally aspirated one is two. And I go, look, man. I I think you have come up, if you got a four eighty-eight for cheaper than a four five eight.

• 1:15:32Speaker 01

  I think it's only a matter of time before that rises, but this is like when when thirty-sixes were more expensive than E forty-sixes and anything else.

• 1:15:39Matt Farah?

  That's that's silly. Johnny E V. Oh, so other than other than a C eight Z O six at one eighty-five, I mean, dude, you have so much money to spend on a Porsche for a hundred and eighty-five thousand dollars.

• 1:15:50Speaker 01

  Yeah, very true. I mean, you could get used GT.

• 1:15:53Matt Farah?

  Nine nine one dot two GT three, this manual, this manual, would you now you're now we're talking.

• 1:15:58Speaker 01

  You could get a brand new Carrera T and probably get the power package we drove.

• 1:16:03Matt Farah?

  You could probably get an almost new Spider RS.

• 1:16:06Speaker 01

  Oh.

• 1:16:07Matt Farah?

  Which would be the titties.

• 1:16:08Speaker 01

  If you could get get a used Spider RS and then pay the twenty grand for the gears.

• 1:16:13Matt Farah?

  Oh, no, well, Spider RS.

• 1:16:15Speaker 01

  Oh, sorry.

• 1:16:16Matt Farah?

  Is a, oh, a used regular Spider? Yeah, you get a seven one eight Spider and do a light flywheel gears and an exhaust and you're in business for a lot less money than that.

• 1:16:27Speaker 01

  I would totally.

• 1:16:27Matt Farah?

  One eighty-five K. Also, you get a six-speed, a new six-speed nine eleven Carrera T and go down, call our fucking buddies down there in Florida.

• 1:16:37Speaker 01

  You know, it's funny, that's what I literally just said.

• 1:16:39Matt Farah?

  Did you? You said flat six?

• 1:16:42Speaker 01

  I said you could get a brand new Carrera T and then you could get that power kit we drove.

• 1:16:45Matt Farah?

  Sorry, yeah, yeah. Yeah, you're right. There you go. You were that. You were correct then.

• 1:16:51Speaker 01

  And I'm, yeah, that's right. And you're correct now.

• 1:16:54Matt Farah?

  You're correct. We're both right.

• 1:16:55Speaker 01

  All right.

• 1:16:55Matt Farah?

  Just at different times. Johnny E V. Year ver- year vermin saw Zach. I know you saw that SLS result on BAT. Doug has talked a lot about how BAT is a become a market manipulation platform. Do you agree?

• 1:17:10Speaker 01

  Did you see this story?

• 1:17:11Matt Farah?

  The, yeah, it was like a seven hundred thousand dollar SLS.

• 1:17:13Speaker 01

  Seventy-five.

• 1:17:14Matt Farah?

  How how low were the miles?

• 1:17:18Speaker 01

  Two fifty-one.

• 1:17:19Matt Farah?

  Yeah, okay, you know, there's not, there weren't a lot of SLSs. I mean, this is a huge fucking number, okay? Huge number. The winning bid jumped nearly two hundred thousand dollars.

• 1:17:31Speaker 01

  That was one of the things people really talked about is, you know, the bidding was going like twenty-five grand, twenty-five grand, twenty. And then someone went, it went from like four twenty to six twenty.

• 1:17:40Matt Farah?

  Yeah.

• 1:17:41Speaker 01

  It was taking these suspiciously large leaps. So unless someone was is rich as fuck and drunk and they're just like, I'm just gonna try to to win this right now, or were the, is it the thing of pumping the market?

• 1:17:54Matt Farah?

  Couple of things happening at once. One, a high price for this car is not shocking. This is a very pretty car. They've aged really well. And this is really low miles. This is a like-new condition, one of these. How it would take you a fucking long time to find a better one.

• 1:18:13Speaker 01

  True.

• 1:18:13Matt Farah?

  It would take a lot of work to find a better one. Now, that does, and also Doug, who I love and is currently using the word summer as a verb, is probably not the right person to say that Bring a Trailer is a place for market manipulation because it's not like his site is it maybe if it's used for market manipulation less, that's because there's less valuable cars on it.

• 1:18:37Speaker 01

  Very true.

• 1:18:38Matt Farah?

  It's not because, as far as I know, and I love Doug and I like cars and bids, there's anything inherently less different, they're different about the platform that would make it harder to do market manipulation.

• 1:18:49Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 1:18:50Matt Farah?

  Like you could you could do market manipulation on either of these platforms very easily.

• 1:18:53Speaker 01

  Yeah, the the mechanics of the site of any of these sites just allow for that if someone just wants to create two accounts.

• 1:18:59Matt Farah?

  Yeah.

• 1:18:59Speaker 01

  And bid themselves up.

• 1:19:00Matt Farah?

  Yes.

• 1:19:00Speaker 01

  And as we've talked about before, the penalty for backing out of a sale isn't that huge. I mean, you can get banned, but you can just make a new thing if you want to. So it's pretty easy to do it.

• 1:19:10Matt Farah?

  Yeah, I mean, if you're willing to pay five grand, right, five grand is what it costs to create a fake sale on Bring a Trailer, right? Because if you create an auction, and and by the way, on on cars and bids too, and maybe it's even less because the limits are lower, but you you create a listing for this car. You already agree to sell this car to someone else at a agreed-upon price that is going to be lower than the final price here. You know, maybe, like, maybe, and I'm, this is a hypothetical, I know nothing about the people behind this particular auction, but let's just say because it's because that two hundred thousand dollar jump, what was the last bid before the big fucking jump?

• 1:19:55Matt Farah?

  So it's if it went from, you know, let's five seventy-five to seven seventy-five, let's just say, because I don't know. All right, I I don't know, but let's just say that at the very end it jumped by two hundred thousand. Let's say it was, you know, ten thousand below the price that the person already agreed to pay. So they pump it up like crazy to make sure that they win, knowing they're already going to pay this price on the side. But there is a recorded public sale that has a huge number. And so you can then use that as a comp later. You could use that for all kinds of things. Dealers can use that as comps for stuff. And it's

• 1:20:41Matt Farah?

  you don't have to prove that an actual transaction ever takes place, that the car ever changes hands. There's not like, you know, any kind of real follow-up to make sure that that amount is actually sent in the wire or anything like that. They hit, they hit the bidder, the winning bidder with the five K premium. As far as Bring a Trailer is concerned, that's over. All you have to do is in the follow-up email, was this transaction completed? Yes. And like.

• 1:21:12Speaker 01

  And we, you know, as you said, we're speculating, we're hypothesizing, but based on what people are talking about on the internet. So the bids went five seventy-five, five seventy-six, and then seven seventy-five.

• 1:21:22Matt Farah?

  So the winning account created this month and never bid on any other cars.

• 1:21:25Speaker 01

  Yeah, and Bring a Trailer responded to some comments saying that the the buyer entered that amount manually. So some people were like, maybe they meant to enter five seventy-five or a different number, but they were like, no, no, they put they put it in manually. But yeah, new account hasn't bid on any other cars.

• 1:21:42Matt Farah?

  So, you know, there's there's a lot of ways you can use this system to create fake comps to pretend to sell a car for a price that you didn't actually sell it for. And shit like that. I mean, it's just, it is what it is. It's also a great place to sell a car. I mean, if you really want to sell a car, it is a great place to sell a car. It can be a great place to buy a car if you, as a buyer, do the other diligence that you would do if it was on the sketchiest fucking used car lot imaginable.

• 1:22:17Speaker 01

  It's nineteen twenty stock market meets used car lot, basically.

• 1:22:20Matt Farah?

  Yeah. Zach's V twelve Cobra says, I bought a broken R fifty-three Mini last weekend for two thousand bucks. I'm working to get it back on the road and then modify it for track. Wheels, tires, and suspension are where I will start, but if you had a cheap R fifty-three to make a track car, how would you build it? Cooling. So it's got a, the R fifty-three, as far as I know, is an air-to-air charge cooler that if you. Upgraded to an air to water charge cooler for the track. And I don't know if like M7 or any of those companies make that. If it's hot where you live, you will experience better performance from your supercharger.

• 1:23:01Matt Farah?

  If you can do an air to water intercooler or charge cooler upgrade. That might not even be a thing. Like, I might be making up that that's a mod that exists, but I'm sure someone.

• 1:23:12Speaker 01

  Well, someone definitely makes a huge front mounted intercooler.

• 1:23:15Matt Farah?

  Yeah, so that's probably it.

• 1:23:16Speaker 01

  Run that.

• 1:23:17Matt Farah?

  Yeah, that's probably it.

• 1:23:18Speaker 01

  Yeah, it looks like it's air to water.

• 1:23:20Matt Farah?

  Yeah, so the front mount, the front mount upgrade. Um, I recall in mind that the traction control was kind of an issue. And off didn't necessarily fully mean off. So I might try and figure out how to make off fully off on my, on the traction control. But that's gonna be a fun car. It's gonna make really cool sounds.

• 1:23:41Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:23:41Matt Farah?

  It's gonna go.

• 1:23:42Speaker 01

  So fun.

• 1:23:43Matt Farah?

  Um, the all USDM rejects. Spent a week in San Diego for my 30th and driving around, I noticed more Baja prerunner overland builds than sports cars. Is this typical for that area?

• 1:23:55Speaker 01

  Yes. So just east of San Diego is Acateal Wells, which is like a huge, open, sandy desert area. They do, the sand drags happen out there, I think. Um, and also, oh, Glamis, that's also, that's where they do the sand drags. But basically, there's tons of open desert off roading available just to the east of San Diego, not to mention Baja.

• 1:24:15Matt Farah?

  Yeah, a lot of people go to Mexico from San Diego and go play in the desert down there. Go to their, you know, vacation houses or whatever in Mexico. I know of quite a few people, almost everyone I know in San Diego has a cheap vacation house in Mexico. Um, so it's, uh, yeah, that's, that's more of a thing. And there's not that many, there's not none, but there aren't that many amazing driving roads by San Diego compared to LA.

• 1:24:41Speaker 01

  Mm hmm.

• 1:24:42Matt Farah?

  Um, there's a couple, but there's not as many.

• 1:24:44Speaker 01

  There's like two.

• 1:24:45Matt Farah?

  Yeah.

• 1:24:45Speaker 01

  And they're a ways away.

• 1:24:46Matt Farah?

  Yeah.

• 1:24:46Speaker 01

  So the culture there is just aimed more at off roading. And then there's plenty of people who build the truck and never really run it, but it's same for the sports car world.

• 1:24:55Matt Farah?

  Yeah, but that Rancho Santa Fe Cars and Coffee is pretty dope. I do like that. Chetty Corvetter says, if you were to design a personality test based on car preferences, what kind of questions would you ask?

• 1:25:09Speaker 01

  Is this like, like the Enneagram test, is it called?

• 1:25:11Matt Farah?

  Yeah, personality test based.

• 1:25:14Speaker 01

  It might be a longer question.

• 1:25:15Matt Farah?

  Yeah, we have to really ponder this, but it would be like, do you reverse into a spot or go forward?

• 1:25:19Speaker 01

  That's a good one. Um. Do you signal?

• 1:25:22Matt Farah?

  Do you, do you signal? Do you, um?

• 1:25:25Speaker 01

  Do you let people enter in front of you on merging? Or do you goose it to get ahead of them for that one spot?

• 1:25:31Matt Farah?

  Yeah, you and three other people approach a four way stop sign at almost exactly the same time. What do you do? How do you feel about the California roll?

• 1:25:42Speaker 01

  If you arrive at a stop sign at basically the same time as someone else, just one person. And no one's there to watch you take their, their glory and take that moment.

• 1:25:51Matt Farah?

  You're in an Uber. And the, it's a Tesla and the person activates FSD. What do you do? By the way, I was in a fucking, and, and, and here's how you know Uber drivers are getting fucked. I was in an Uber Comfort. I booked a Comfort from the airport yesterday and it was a Model 3. And the rear seat. A, that's not a Comfort car. And B, uh, it, it was old enough. It was like an early Model 3. And the rear seat was actual duct tape. Like the, the right rear seat had been blown through and, and it was made of duct tape.

• 1:26:31Speaker 01

  Wow.

• 1:26:32Matt Farah?

  And the guy was fucking, the guy couldn't have been nicer. He did not use FSD. He, it was, he was like, I wasn't about to like, like not help this guy out as best I could. So I, I gave him a nice tip and, you know, I didn't complain about his duct tape seat, but like, that guy's not making enough money.

• 1:26:49Speaker 01

  Yeah, if you can't buy a seat cover.

• 1:26:51Matt Farah?

  Yeah, that guy's not making enough money. Christian in Chicago, um, oh, boy. Okay, thank God. You're asking about cars. I, he's, he started with, I'm coming to LA for vacation. I was like, please, not tour guide. Please don't.

• 1:27:03Speaker 01

  Oh, no, I delete those.

• 1:27:05Matt Farah?

  Uh, uh, looking for the softest riding isolation tank car on Turo. I'm looking at a GLS Maybach, a Rolls Cullinan, an S-Class and a Benteke. The Rolls is a huge jump in price. Is it that much better than other cars?

• 1:27:21Speaker 01

  I have not been in a Rolls Cullinan ever.

• 1:27:23Matt Farah?

  No?

• 1:27:23Speaker 01

  But, no, but the GLS Maybach that we tested.

• 1:27:26Matt Farah?

  Sick.

• 1:27:26Speaker 01

  Amazing. Road great. I mean, that's my choice just because I've, I've been in it.

• 1:27:32Matt Farah?

  The, the difference between a GLS Maybach and a Rolls Royce is, is mostly about, in LA, about how you are going to be perceived by others.

• 1:27:46Speaker 01

  Very true.

• 1:27:47Matt Farah?

  The GLS Maybach with the hydraulic suspension rides unbelievably well and is very comfortable. It is also essentially invisible in this city. If it's not some insane color, most of them you just are just regular cars for people. They're expensive, they're nice, but.

• 1:28:02Speaker 01

  And they, I saw one that they had a lot of graphics on it where it looked like, it looked like someone had made that, those mods themselves. Like it, it kind of looks like a used GLS that someone then wrapped the hood or something. So, you know, it's hard to tell if it's like a legit Maybach or not.

• 1:28:17Matt Farah?

  There's two fake Maybachs in my neighborhood. There's a real obvious one that has where Hannah and I go for walks. I'll send you a photo of it later. It's like pretty funny.

• 1:28:25Speaker 01

  Too many ends.

• 1:28:27Matt Farah?

  Like, if you didn't know, you wouldn't know. But there's some, there's a couple like real obvious tells where if you do know, you're like Mercedes would not have done that. Even, even in Maybach's like gaudy fucking, you know, era that they're in now, they wouldn't have done this. I'll, but it's pretty funny details, um, where it falls apart.

• 1:28:46Speaker 01

  All right.

• 1:28:48Matt Farah?

  Um, a Rolls Royce is also a beautiful thing to use. And it's, it's entirely unique in the world of cars. Like, they don't drive like anything else. They drive like yachts, which if you've never experienced it and you can afford it, it is a, it is a really cool and interesting experience.

• 1:29:08Speaker 01

  Mm hmm.

• 1:29:08Matt Farah?

  You know?

• 1:29:09Speaker 01

  Good point.

• 1:29:09Matt Farah?

  But as a Turo rental, you may or may not be getting the best of that.

• 1:29:14Speaker 01

  Yeah, it depends on what condition it's in. Very true.

• 1:29:16Matt Farah?

  Uh, Josh G, if you have to compromise regarding your seating position, what do you prioritize? Hands or legs? Hmm, am I driving a short distance? Hands. Am I driving a long distance? Legs.

• 1:29:29Speaker 01

  Yeah, is it a sports car? Or, you know, then I would prioritize hands. If it's a luxury car, legs.

• 1:29:36Matt Farah?

  Mm hmm. Tim A, what is the best mid-engined grand tourer that isn't a C8 Corvette? The Lotus Amira.

• 1:29:43Speaker 01

  Yeah, yeah. Really? Yeah, rides great.

• 1:29:47Matt Farah?

  Yeah.

• 1:29:47Speaker 01

  Comfortable seats, great.

• 1:29:48Matt Farah?

  And, uh, and, and also like Cayman, but, but the, and Boxer, but they don't make them anymore.

• 1:29:53Speaker 01

  But I, I still think the Evora rides softer than the, the Porsche does. So if I was doing straight up grand touring and I didn't care about like the shift precision, I would definitely go, uh, Amira.

• 1:30:02Matt Farah?

  Yeah. Uh, over a Chiva, driving something like a Vespa long distance, do you need to bring any emergency tools and fluids or just wing it? Um, good question. I sort of just winged it. Travis had the tire inflator and one of us, I think also Travis, had the Vespa factory toolkit. Um, we all had brand new bikes. So we didn't really, if it, if it was me by myself out there for a couple of weeks or something like, I probably would bring some oil, you know, I'd probably bring, um, a tire patch, a plug kit,

• 1:30:47Matt Farah?

  you know, for if I got a flat along with one of those little compressors. So maybe I could fix it on the side of the road. Um, but that was really it, I think. Yeah, I don't think we, I think we sort of expected everything to go okay.

• 1:31:01Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:31:01Matt Farah?

  And then it did. Um, fat guy in a little car. What's the stupidest thing you've ever taken a car into the shop for? And then it turned out it was something simple.

• 1:31:13Speaker 01

  Um, they have an example about.

• 1:31:15Matt Farah?

  Oh, they put water.

• 1:31:17Speaker 01

  They realized there was water in their gas tank and that's why their, their stuff wouldn't start. Um, well, when my, when my Crown Vic threw a plug out, it was like side of the road, nighttime, middle of 101 and I called Musto. I was like, how come this thing sounds weird all of a sudden and just like is running strangely? And he said, look in the engine bay. Do you see anything strange? And I was like, well, there's this weird intake hole, but da, da, da. And then later I, I realized the, the spark plug had shot out of its like place. And somehow I looked at that quickly and was like, well, this might just be something the engine has. And that was really stupid.

• 1:31:52Matt Farah?

  And the spark plug went through the intake, shot into it? There was a hole? Or the hole was in the fucking?

• 1:31:58Speaker 01

  No, well, the plugs on that engine are like accessible right there. So I thought it was like an intake, but no, no, I'm looking at like where the spark plug should be.

• 1:32:06Matt Farah?

  Into the cylinder.

• 1:32:06Speaker 01

  And I was just panicked on the side of the highway at nighttime and yeah, so that was like, I felt very dumb after that.

• 1:32:12Matt Farah?

  Yeah, uh, I'm sure I've, I'm, I'm quite certain that I have had something very easy and dumb that I thought was a bigger deal, uh, than it was. Hmm.

• 1:32:25Speaker 01

  Like, obvious once they replaced my gas cap because it was leaking and causing a check engine light.

• 1:32:31Matt Farah?

  Oh, that's funny.

• 1:32:32Speaker 01

  And I was like, what if it's an expensive thing? And they went, gas cap.

• 1:32:35Matt Farah?

  Yeah. The pow, I mean, the pow, it took 30 hours or something for Mad Mike to diagnose that ultimately this electrical drain came from a bad headlight switch in the blinker stalk. It was a $25 part.

• 1:32:51Speaker 01

  I think I have to bring my car to him because the number of speakers that are on in my car at any given time changes and it doesn't, it's like, sometimes the wheel is straight, sometimes I turn the wheels, accelerating, it's all, it just, there's gotta be a loose wire somewhere. And he seems like the person who knows how to find such things.

• 1:33:08Matt Farah?

  Mm-hmm.

• 1:33:09Speaker 01

  This is a good, like, philosophy question.

• 1:33:13Matt Farah?

  Okay, I miss when AI was just a shop in Westchester. Is this a valid feeling or am I just old and out of touch? I'm having a hard time finding the enthusiasm I once had for the car hobby, watching values run away and emphasis being put more on dollar value preservation or investment than actually just using or enjoying the car itself. I went to Cars and Coffee recently and talked to multiple people who are gassed I modified my car from factory because it destroyed resale on a car I have zero intention of selling. And if I did, I got more enjoyment from the mods than the money I lost. I'm having a hard time with the collector mentality that seems so prevalent. Yeah.

• 1:33:56Matt Farah?

  I mean, that is a thing. It's not a universal thing. If you go to, like, you know, if you hang out with exotic owners, you're probably, you might find that.

• 1:34:12Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:34:13Matt Farah?

  Certain communities, if you go to, like, Champ Car Race, you're not gonna find it.

• 1:34:18Speaker 01

  Yeah, if you go to Track Day, you're not gonna find that.

• 1:34:21Matt Farah?

  Yeah.

• 1:34:22Speaker 01

  If you go, you know, something I do like about good vibes and ACH seems to be getting more dangerous, but like, the people that, you have to drive to get up there, you have to drive a difficult road, and I think people in those kinds of crowds where it's more focused on driving, could be autocross, could be a track day, could be something like that, they're more about like, how are you enjoying your car? Oh, did the mods make your car better or make you enjoy your car more?

• 1:34:45Matt Farah?

  I think you, I think you're having selection bias from talking to people at the kind of place where you find people with this type of mentality. You know, Cars and Coffee is where you're going to find collectors. You'll find some, you'll find other people too, but a Track Day, like you said, or a car, a destination drive somewhere, you're not gonna find collectors. You're gonna find people who are putting miles on cars and putting wear on cars and going fast in cars and things like that. So, I don't disagree with you. There's a lot of people, I mean, first off, there are fewer and fewer affordable sports

• 1:35:30Matt Farah?

  cars. People are taking these long loans on cars. People are, over the last few years, have watched the values climb, wanted to get in on the action, have their money parked in a nice car and expect a return. And you're seeing these, you know, clips around of people that are, all of a sudden, you know, like, what do you mean, I lost 25 grand in a year on a 911 Carrera Cabriolet? You know? They genuinely expected to get their money back out of that car and then some. And a lot of these folks are capitalist types that saw this market and genuinely saw this car as an investment and saw themselves as smart for buying it, and so.

• 1:36:11Speaker 01

  I think it's also become its own corner or type of car enthusiast. Like, for a long time, investing in cars was something, like, we know specialists that have been doing this for 60 years or maybe 40 years, but in the 80s and 90s, it wasn't really a thing. It would happen almost by accident with like, some very select exceptions, but then all of a sudden, it was like, the 80s cars were getting more expensive, the 90s cars, like, everyone was kind of caught up in the investment river and everyone suddenly was paying attention to their car, like, oh shit, my E36 quadrupled in value? My E30 that used to cost a dollar is now worth $15,000? So it almost like, infected everybody and then I think a lot more people came into the

• 1:36:53Speaker 01

  quote hobby from the investment side, not from the driving side.

• 1:36:57Matt Farah?

  And now, as we're seeing, and we've talked about on previous shows, people that are kind of our age, that have wealthy boomer parents who are dying and leaving them a good amount of money and setting them up with financial advisors and based on the past market, the financial advisors are saying, hey, you know, cars actually are, if you wanted to spend some of this money on cars, you know, that are, they're blue chip investor cars, that's okay, that's a safe investment. So they're being, you know, led along to think this, these are wise investments, but

• 1:37:39Matt Farah?

  the problem with car enthusiasm is that it's with a very, very rare exception, at the high end, capitalism beats it. The addiction to making a smart investment in a thing that you sold for more money than you bought it for, you being that smart guy that got that thing, and the addiction to that outweighs the opposite end of the gentleman who just died a couple of months ago, that guy Phil, who bought a fucking GT4, sent it to Sharky, did everything, and then drove down PCH every morning at a zillion miles an hour and has 200,000 PCH miles on that same car.

• 1:38:19Matt Farah?

  I mean, he passed away a couple of months ago, but, but, you know, that's sort of, that's where the rare exception of where car enthusiasm beats capitalism. You know, and a lot of the rest of the time, the fucking lizard brain for, to have that be a smart investment move, just beats the, this is, this is my entertainment fund. My investment is over there, this is fucking, I'm gonna, if I burn this to the ground, it's my, that's my entertainment fund. That's like me going to Vegas and getting out a few hundred bucks from the ATM and going, if this is gone, it's gone. That's my entertainment fund. I make money doing something else. That's how I try to be.

• 1:39:04Matt Farah?

  It's hard. It's really hard. And when you're super successful at business and buying really expensive cars, it's really hard.

• 1:39:11Speaker 01

  Well, you've wired yourself to always make money. So you're like, well, I don't wanna lose money over here, I, you know?

• 1:39:16Matt Farah?

  You can't mental, I mean, you know, it's so hard mentally to go, I lost money on that thing. You didn't go, like, that's why I love the dollars per mile. That's like, it's like, my Ferrari, it cost me 66 cents a mile. Like, that's great. That's a great thing for me to spend my money on, to drive a Ferrari for a couple of years. Like, that's Freddie math. Like, I love that math. So much better than, the car's good, we kept stock, fucking investment bullshit. Let's see. Uh, I don't love any of these, keep going.

• 1:39:57Matt Farah?

  Okay. Double Rods wants us to fact-check him, is a 2025 Aston Vantage with 4,000 miles, has an unfixable ADAS failure due to what they think is a wiring harness issue. It was my dream car in a Q-spec build. Oh, this is your car? You already have this car? Don't know what the resolution yet is, but I would like to stay in an Aston. I'm not sure this is wise financially, but I'm 100% thinking emotionally right now. What are your opinions?

• 1:40:36Speaker 01

  Is the question, should I stay with Aston?

• 1:40:39Matt Farah?

  I don't think this is a systematic problem. We haven't read stories of masses of Aston Martins that have unfixable ADAS failures. How, having said that, we've complained about the ADAS in every Aston Martin we've driven the last five years.

• 1:40:54Speaker 01

  True, but your complaint is usually it's too many buttons to turn it off.

• 1:40:57Matt Farah?

  Yeah, it's annoying to turn it off.

• 1:40:58Speaker 01

  I mean, I guess if the question, if Aston would probably love nothing more than to keep your money in their system, so if they could put you in a different one for even money, that same car, like, I would do that. I mean, I really like the new Vantage, so I get it, I would go, oh man, it had this problem I can't fix. That sucks. You're like, okay, try a different, try another one.

• 1:41:19Matt Farah?

  Yeah. If they're, if Aston is willing to get you in another car and buy this one back.

• 1:41:26Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:41:27Matt Farah?

  You know?

• 1:41:28Speaker 01

  Which it sounds like they should, if it's unfixable and it's definitely within warranty, so.

• 1:41:33Matt Farah?

  Yeah, I mean, and depending on how long they've had the car, like, you have, you could have a very clear lemon law claim. I mean, lemon laws apply to cars that are only driven on weekends just as much as they apply to daily drivers. So, you might, my opinions are, first things first, depending on the circumstances, call a lemon law lawyer and get a consult and tell them what happened. They might have to force Aston to buy your car back.

• 1:41:55Speaker 01

  They might.

• 1:41:56Matt Farah?

  And if Aston can get you into another one, they'd much rather do that than write you a check.

• 1:42:00Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:42:01Matt Farah?

  So.

• 1:42:02Speaker 01

  And if you tell them that, I'm not a lawyer, but that might help ease that process. They go, oh, okay, you're not gonna take your money to Ferrari, like, you just don't want this car.

• 1:42:09Matt Farah?

  Yeah.

• 1:42:10Speaker 01

  All right, yeah.

• 1:42:11Matt Farah?

  I get that you may not be able to get another Q-spec build, or it may be tough to replace that, but like, they'll get you in another Aston. Lawrence Stroll has the money.

• 1:42:20Speaker 01

  He needs to keep paying for Lance's driving.

• 1:42:23Matt Farah?

  Um, oh wow, okay, hang on. Uh, all right, this is a long one. Racing Bulls on Parade says, I just bought a 2019 Civic Type R from a friend for 26K plus my old daily, undefined old daily. And now I daily this Champ White for an hour, three times a week, and I love it. Okay. I'm looking at pricing for that era of Civic Type R, I think I bought in at a good time. I know the newer car has some refinements and improvements, but the old one feels like getting 90% of the new one at 50% of the cost.

• 1:43:04Matt Farah?

  Do you think the FK8 is the sleeper purchase for car enthusiasts at the moment and is the 25K range the floor for these cars?

• 1:43:13Speaker 01

  This is the investment question, right here. I mean, sleeper, no, look at the thing. Like, it looks like a transformer that got stuck halfway.

• 1:43:21Matt Farah?

  Yeah.

• 1:43:22Speaker 01

  But, you know, they're a great performance bargain and they, I think they do give you most of what the new one does, other than the styling of the new one's improved and there's some like, really small changes they made.

• 1:43:32Matt Farah?

  Uh, yeah, I like the ride better in the new one. I like the styling better for sure, but dynamically, they're not that different.

• 1:43:44Matt Farah?

  And sure, well, but there's some holes in this. Twenty-six K plus my old daily is how much, I don't know.

• 1:43:52Speaker 01

  Right.

• 1:43:53Matt Farah?

  And is the twenty-five K range the floor? Maybe, maybe not. It certainly will depreciate much slower than other cars. Enthusiast cars like this always do. Clean stock ones will depreciate slower than modified ones, for sure.

• 1:44:15Matt Farah?

  And, I mean, yeah, as long as they work, like twenty, twenty-five, sure, that could, that sounds right.

• 1:44:22Speaker 01

  Yeah, I mean, this person says, will the price stay, or will it maybe appreciate soonish?

• 1:44:27Matt Farah?

  No.

• 1:44:28Speaker 01

  I don't think we can speculate on that. It just seems too recent, six years old, yeah.

• 1:44:33Matt Farah?

  Yeah, no, it needs to be older than that.

• 1:44:35Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:44:37Matt Farah?

  They need to not be currently making a better version of it for it to appreciate.

• 1:44:42Speaker 01

  Yeah, I think people liked the new one for so many reasons, and that would probably have a slower decline in price than the one you drive.

• 1:44:53Matt Farah?

  Overachiever, last one, I like this one. The World Wide Web turns thirty-five years old today.

• 1:45:00Speaker 01

  Wow.

• 1:45:01Matt Farah?

  What would you consider to be the internet's biggest impact on car culture?

• 1:45:06Speaker 01

  I had tied between YouTube and forums, I think. I think forums were the sharing of knowledge that led to, I think, the explosion of DIY stuff. Helped people find groups for driving and track stuff, like it was the community. It was the town square that was everywhere. But then YouTube, I think, inspired people to do more stuff with their cars, because you could see things being done and go, oh, I want to do that. Or go there, or drive that way.

• 1:45:35Matt Farah?

  Man, I would put it in a three-way tie. Forums, YouTube, and Instagram.

• 1:45:44Matt Farah?

  Yeah, I mean, the sharing of knowledge, in terms of how to fix stuff and resources for other people that have had similar problems, is huge. YouTube and the way that it made it sort of, the way that it made big horsepower and stuff sort of normal.

• 1:46:05Speaker 01

  True, yeah.

• 1:46:07Matt Farah?

  Not to mention, you know, without YouTube, I don't know how long it would have taken for, or without the internet, we wouldn't have seen Top Gear, and that certainly was a big deal. And then Instagram allowed you to, you know, show off your car as an expression of your personality outside of your own social circle.

• 1:46:30Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:46:31Matt Farah?

  In a new way, and outside of just like nerdy car forums. Like, show off your car to regular people, you know, in a way that is not just showing off to other like nerds. So I think a three-way tie between those, but yeah, I mean, big concepts, not like Final Gear is the thing that did it, you know? What was fucking, Street Fire?

• 1:47:00Speaker 01

  Oh, yeah.

• 1:47:01Matt Farah?

  Street Fire, for sure.

• 1:47:05Matt Farah?

  The internet, yeah.

• 1:47:08Speaker 01

  Yeah, I think the sharing of knowledge, and then the democratization of sharing knowledge and experience visually. Because before that, it was magazines and a few TV shows, but the TV shows, the car shows we had on TV here were like dull. They were like, look at this thing, and then your top tier going like, we're gonna go on adventures. And then YouTube allowed everybody to, you know, like, that's what we did.

• 1:47:32Matt Farah?

  Yeah.

• 1:47:33Speaker 01

  Go on adventures, or burnouts, or Drift, or Gymkhana, like, it just amplified all of these little subcultures.

• 1:47:39Matt Farah?

  YouTube allowed, you know what, I'm gonna go YouTube, because YouTube allowed

• 1:47:50Matt Farah?

  people to make exciting car television that could not have been made in America under that, under our TV system. Top Gear only got to be Top Gear because it quietly existed as sort of the BBC's car show for a couple of years whilst figuring out what they were going on, what they were gonna do. And they did not have the kind of returns in seasons one through three that would have kept them on the air in America, if it was reliant on advertising and whatever. They were just sort of, they got, you know, because of how the BBC operates, being a government entity,

• 1:48:33Matt Farah?

  they got to be sort of ignored by the BBC and allowed to like figure shit out, whereas fucking, I mean, how many times, we tried to make a show on cable, our show got turned from an hour show into a half-hour show, halfway through the first season.

• 1:48:50Speaker 01

  Right.

• 1:48:50Matt Farah?

  Like, by the time we like figured out how to make bits work, they were like, this isn't working. And you're like, you didn't let us try, like.

• 1:48:58Speaker 01

  And the same thing happened with, I think, Top Gear USA, with Adam Ferrara, Tanner, and Rutledge. It was starting to work, like, it was really, because those guys were starting to be real friends, which they still are. And that's essential to those kinds of trio shows. And it was just starting to work, and you gotta get like the people out of the room that aren't into cars, don't understand stuff, and get people in the room that do, and then they, you know, canceled it for all those weird reasons, they canceled it.

• 1:49:24Matt Farah?

  Yeah, like, on the beginning on YouTube, I wanted to get on TV, but every time I could have, every time I got on TV, almost, Esquire was really the only cool people, Esquire and G4, they were fucking cool. Outside of that.

• 1:49:37Speaker 01

  G4.

• 1:49:38Matt Farah?

  G4 was cool, they let us just make, deliver in segments.

• 1:49:41Speaker 01

  Yep.

• 1:49:41Matt Farah?

  Here's, go film a thing, bring it back.

• 1:49:43Speaker 01

  G4 was our BBC, pretty much, you know, we've both read the books from Willman and Porter, but what Willman says is they had, their executive producer at the BBC who's in charge of them was pretty much like, we trust you, these ideas make sense, because Jeremy had a long history of hosting car stuff and writing about it. And this person basically was like, oh, okay, green light, like, you understand this world, I don't. And that doesn't really happen in American television, at least in our experience.

• 1:50:10Matt Farah?

  It only happened at G4, but it happens almost nowhere else. And I've been approached about getting back on television in a million different ways, all of which are variations of, when I tell them what I want to do, they're like, can't you just like get some buddies together and like have a fake shop and flip cars? And I'm like, no, no. And so, yeah, the internet, you bypass that system, and particularly the, you know, YouTube of 2010 to 2017 or 18. That period of YouTube where you could still use social media, and you could still use blogs and other forums and stuff to like spread your thing.

• 1:50:51Matt Farah?

  You didn't have to like trick the algorithm into sharing your shit. Like, people would share your shit, it doesn't happen anymore.

• 1:51:00Speaker 01

  There's just, yeah, there's too much stuff, and the algorithm has too much control, sure. But yeah, yeah, YouTube.

• 1:51:05Matt Farah?

  That's our program, folks, we appreciate you very much. We especially appreciate our patrons, love you guys, thank you for supporting us. August 18th in Orange County, come see us with Smith and Sniff. Today, August 6th is the last day to order our custom hoodie blazers. Use the link in the show notes if you're getting it today. And, yeah, we'll see you guys next time, bye.