Reviewed: Mercedes AMG GT Pro and Vovlo EX30 EV

Matt Farah reviews the new Mercedes AMG GT Pro; Zack Klapman tested the Volvo EX30 Twin Performance; a clutch replacement that costs both arms; and we answer Patreon questions including: What do you think about fake manual transmissions? Before you become a car content creator.... Why did the U. S. love JDM cars more than cool UK cars (Carlton, Escort, etc)? Who pays when a racer/drifter hits another competition? Non-V8 commuter coupes for under $40k Teachers that drove cool cars Are "Porsche people" missing out? Are BMW's EVs selling as well as we think? Fun coupes for under $20k Hot take: ultra-high performance SUVs are stupid Euro delivery or nah? And more! Recorded September 23, 2026 Show Notes: Avants https://avants.com/tst use code TST for 10% off your membership! DeleteMe Get 20% off your DeleteMe plan when you go to www.joindeleteme.com/tire and use promo code TIRE at checkout. Square Get up to $200 off Square hardware when you sign up at https://square.com/go/tire #squarepod Mudflap Keep more of every dollar you earn, because Mudflap has your back. Sign up at https://Muddy.com/tire and get $100 in free fuel credit after approval. Casper Right now, save up to 20% on mattresses when you go to https://casper.com Use Off The Record! and ALWAYS fight your tickets! For a 10% discount on your first case go to https://www.offtherecord.com/TST Want your question answered? Want to watch the live stream, get ad-free podcasts, or exclusive podcasts? Join our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thesmokingtirepodcast Instagram: https://www. Instagram.com/thesmokingtire https://www. Instagram.com/therealzackklapman

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

• 0:00Matt Farah?

  What up everybody, welcome to the Smoking Tire Podcast. Today's episode is brought to you by Avance. That's right, Avance is back. Their first round of sponsorship of the Smoking Tire was so successful that they are back for more. What do you need to know? Avance is a membership club in which not only do you get a cool magazine, do you get invites to exclusive events around the United States centered around cool car culture things, but also you get all kinds of discounts on tires. That's right, members get 10% off at all discount tire stores across the country, plus an additional 10% if you buy Michelin and BF Goodrich.

• 0:42Matt Farah?

  That's right, if you are a two tire household, or if you go to the track or have multiple vehicles, you could save all kinds of money with an Avance membership. Plus, members get all kinds of sweet discounts at 10% off at FCP Euro, 5% off Hagerty Insurance, and more. Head over to avants.com/tst. That's A-V-A-N-T-S dot com slash T S T to learn more and sign up today. All right, folks, on this episode of the podcast, I've driven the AMG GT Pro. Zach has driven the Volvo EX30 Electric Hot Hatch. And, boy, does my vanquish need a lot of work. It's the Smoking Tire Podcast, let's learn about it all now.

• 1:28Speaker 01

  It's Patina. It's Patina, depending on who you talk to.

• 1:33Matt Farah?

  Patina.

• 1:34Speaker 01

  Patina.

• 1:35Matt Farah?

  It's important to pronounce it in the correct King's English.

• 1:38Speaker 01

  Exactly.

• 1:39Matt Farah?

  Queen's English, King's English.

• 1:40Speaker 01

  I think Porter was saying that to us.

• 1:43Matt Farah?

  Patton?

• 1:44Speaker 01

  We say Patina, and he's like, it's Patina because it's based off of this longer other word. But emphasis changes over the oceans.

• 1:51Matt Farah?

  It's based on patinate as a verb. He can eat a dick. He can, he can, he can.

• 1:57Speaker 01

  He can eat a garage.

• 1:58Matt Farah?

  He can chchch. He can choke on my Yankee Richard.

• 2:02Speaker 01

  Suck a penis. Uh, okay.

• 2:06Matt Farah?

  Hi.

• 2:07Speaker 01

  We're live.

• 2:09Matt Farah?

  You sure? First thing they're gonna hear is Yankee penis.

• 2:12Speaker 01

  Yep.

• 2:13Matt Farah?

  What up, how y'all doing? How y'all doing? New merch is live, that's what's up. New pens, Tactile Turn collab. This little guy right here, it's made of bronze.

• 2:24Speaker 01

  Very cool.

• 2:25Matt Farah?

  Made of bronze, has a beautiful weight. This is the width of it compared to a Sharpie.

• 2:29Speaker 01

  More narrow than a Sharpie.

• 2:31Matt Farah?

  Smaller than a Sharpie. It's like a, it's like a very tactile bick with like a bolt action lovely.

• 2:40Speaker 01

  Yeah, it's got the little release, it's all metal.

• 2:42Matt Farah?

  All metal.

• 2:42Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 2:43Matt Farah?

  And it patinates.

• 2:44Speaker 01

  It does.

• 2:45Matt Farah?

  Which makes patina. Patinates.

• 2:49Speaker 01

  Patinates? How can we make it worse?

• 2:51Matt Farah?

  You can't, you can say patino like an American, but if you try to say patinates like an American, it does sound a little stupid. So, I think the English may have won that battle.

• 3:01Speaker 01

  Damn it. Well, that's one they won.

• 3:03Matt Farah?

  Yeah, yeah.

• 3:03Speaker 01

  They needed, they needed a W.

• 3:05Matt Farah?

  They may be currently winning.

• 3:06Speaker 01

  They lost the others.

• 3:07Matt Farah?

  Battle too, I don't know. Uh, yeah, so, uh, these were available to our patrons first, uh, limited to 100 units, uh, but there are some left, so we are making them available to the public, starting today. There'll be a link in our show notes for them. These things are sweet, I really like using it. Mine is what it looks like after a year of very heavy use. This was a lot more like golden.

• 3:35Speaker 01

  Yeah, the one on my desk is, looks like a totally different color.

• 3:39Matt Farah?

  The one on your desk was like a saxophone. A new saxophone, and this looks like a penny.

• 3:45Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 3:45Matt Farah?

  Yeah, it's awesome, I love this shit. I like making fun things that we can, I mean, we didn't make it, but Tactile Turn is great because I go, hey, I want one that like looks and feels kinda like this, and they go, like this? And I go, yes.

• 3:57Speaker 01

  Yeah, it's a nice size.

• 3:58Matt Farah?

  Yes, perfect. Uh, so, cars, cars have happened.

• 4:03Speaker 01

  Cars have happened.

• 4:04Matt Farah?

  Cars have happened, some cars have come, other have gone.

• 4:08Speaker 01

  Is that the Beatles song? I think it is.

• 4:11Matt Farah?

  Yeah, John Lennon said that.

• 4:13Speaker 01

  The wheels turn, turn, turn.

• 4:16Matt Farah?

  Some have come, others have gone. You know what's funny is when I, you know, I know those guys are geniuses, but about half of their songs basically are that, you know? Like, like "Day in the Life", when it's like, "When I wake up, comb my hair, throw a thing across my face", I'm like, you sound dopey as fuck saying that shit.

• 4:39Speaker 01

  I don't even remember that song. What's the title of that thing?

• 4:42Matt Farah?

  "Day in the Life", there's a lot, there are, people get real mad hearing me say this, like, I get it, they're geniuses, and some of their works, I believe, are genius level, but they also have some really dopey ass lyrics, the Beatles.

• 4:55Speaker 01

  I mean, I almost got in a fight with Glucker at my party because we were sitting around talking about music, and I was like, no, I don't really like that band, and he's like, what's wrong with you? And I go, and my neighbor, my neighbor sided with it, and my neighbor went more aggressive, and he was like, he's like, all right, we're not gonna talk again.

• 5:10Matt Farah?

  What was the band?

• 5:11Speaker 01

  I don't, maybe like, not Journey, something like that, maybe, uh...

• 5:16Matt Farah?

  Foreigner?

• 5:17Speaker 01

  I think it was Journey, it was like massive, but he's like, what's wrong with you? Why don't you like these massively popular bands? I go, you wanna go one more? I'm like, I'll tell you what, until I was 37, I thought the Beatles were fucking garbage.

• 5:26Matt Farah?

  Yeah.

• 5:26Speaker 01

  And Glucker was like, whoa.

• 5:28Matt Farah?

  Yeah.

• 5:29Speaker 01

  Just, no, I, but like you, I recognize their place in rock and roll.

• 5:33Matt Farah?

  Sure.

• 5:34Speaker 01

  And some of their songs are melodically wonderful, I just don't gravitate towards their music.

• 5:39Matt Farah?

  Look, I'm the biggest Pearl Jam fan that can exist, pretty much, but I could list you probably a top five most cringey Eddie Vedder lyrics if I wanted to. The man is not perfect.

• 5:51Speaker 01

  No, nobody is.

• 5:53Matt Farah?

  Neither are the Beatles.

• 5:54Speaker 01

  Yeah, no one.

• 5:55Matt Farah?

  Yeah.

• 5:55Speaker 01

  The more discs you make, you know, quality control is difficult to keep.

• 5:59Matt Farah?

  I mean, especially like, like, like, a lot of that, you know, it's generational, I'm sure, but a lot of that really early 60s, like, I think "I Wanna Hold Your Hand" sucks. Like, I think all of that, you know, buddy.

• 6:14Speaker 01

  Hard rock of the time.

• 6:15Matt Farah?

  That sock hop inspired fucking bullshit, I think that shit is garbage. But like, its place in history is crucial.

• 6:23Speaker 01

  Sure.

• 6:24Matt Farah?

  Just sucks.

• 6:24Speaker 01

  And my dad loves that stuff, and then, but then, the Stones are his favorite band, and that's a totally different type of genre than sock hop, but like, you know, when you're in high school, like you've, the music you get in HJ2, you're like, this song's pretty good.

• 6:38Speaker 01

  And then when you're 25, you're like, actually, the Stones are pretty good.

• 6:42Matt Farah?

  If you're, if you're in high school, and you're 18, and your girlfriend is like 16 or 17, whatever's legal, 17 and 16, let's call it, and you, you could convince her that this is some metaphorical shit, she'll think you're super, super duper smart for about six months until she realizes you're completely full of shit.

• 7:03Speaker 01

  But then she'll leave you and go to the concert and stand with the other screaming women at the front, and not care what you, or she'll make you do the accent the whole time.

• 7:10Matt Farah?

  Until someone does it with Bob Dylan, and then, you know. Oh, man, yeah, there's cars in there somewhere.

• 7:16Speaker 01

  My folks went to see him, uh, like a couple months ago, he wore a hoodie the whole time. I guess he played piano, and there was no spotlight on him. It was like, like.

• 7:26Matt Farah?

  So he's turned into Maynard from Tool.

• 7:28Speaker 01

  Yeah, he's like, really below radar at his own concert, like, he's doing the thing, I mean, he's really old. But for whatever reason, he's like, he's had enough spotlight, literally, and he's just like, nah, I'll just play the music. Yeah.

• 7:41Matt Farah?

  Turn the lights off, we're doing it dark.

• 7:43Speaker 01

  Go ahead and down.

• 7:45Matt Farah?

  Yeah, man, these guys are getting old as fuck, what can you do? They gotta, you know, they can't handle bright lights anymore.

• 7:50Speaker 01

  I mean, Jagger's just waiting for the exoskeleton. He needs that to just help him keep moving, dancing, paying for new children. Yeah.

• 7:58Matt Farah?

  I, when I think about, has someone ever done a, like a, someone who's studying like anthropology or something, should do their senior thesis, or like their graduate thesis, on the study of a group of people that lived and died inside of Mick Jagger's life. You know what I mean? Because it's, too many people were born after him and died before him.

• 8:25Speaker 01

  That's true.

• 8:26Matt Farah?

  That's, that is one of the great tragedies of life. Not that he should have died earlier, just that he's found a way to live till eternity.

• 8:36Speaker 01

  He's 83, and.

• 8:37Matt Farah?

  And, and just, and a new father, congratulations.

• 8:41Speaker 01

  Yeah. He's opening franchises, as they say.

• 8:45Matt Farah?

  Right? Yeah, so, that's, the number of people that have, the number of car companies that have lived and died inside of Mick Jagger's life. So, one that hasn't, Mercedes-Benz. Uh, I spent a week driving the AMG GT Pro, which is a very funny name for this, that Mercedes is, uh, is sticking with the, with the Pro thing. It's definitely the trackiest of the AMG GT line, but the AMG GT line as a whole is, uh, notably softer now than it, than it was in the previous generation.

• 9:24Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 9:25Matt Farah?

  Um, it's got a backseat now. It's got all-wheel drive. It's a, you can physically see the whole, you know, the car's taller. But like, you know, we didn't love the SL when we first drove the SL. That's very soft and very.

• 9:40Speaker 01

  Well, the rear steer on it was mostly just poorly programmed. And then when they brought the rear steer to this car, they had definitely fixed it.

• 9:47Matt Farah?

  Yeah.

• 9:47Speaker 01

  It was, I think it was two or maybe three years later.

• 9:50Matt Farah?

  Yeah.

• 9:50Speaker 01

  That we finally drove the red car. It was much, much better.

• 9:52Matt Farah?

  Right. And so this car was even better than the red one, which was a GT 63S, I think. And then this is the Pro. And then they have the SE Performance, the hybrid one, which.

• 10:04Speaker 01

  You don't want that one.

• 10:05Matt Farah?

  We don't turn it. It offers the things you do.

• 10:09Speaker 01

  So. Your trunk is small enough.

• 10:10Matt Farah?

  Yeah. Actually, the trunk in this one is big.

• 10:13Speaker 01

  But the E Performance, they usually, they put the motor on the diff and then the trunk goes up.

• 10:17Matt Farah?

  Yeah, yeah, yeah. It matters a lot in the SL, which we got, when we drove the E Performance, it was the SL. And it had like, then it was like no trunk left. The GT does have much more trunk. You can get golf clubs in there. You can get a bunch, a bunch of luggage. You could, you could go on a long, long road trip in one of these things. And that's actually, even though this is the Pro and it's the tracky one with the sticky tires and all that bullshit. A long road trip is still ultimately what this car is best at.

• 10:47Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 10:48Matt Farah?

  It is a, it is a, it's somewhere between an Aston Vantage and a Bentley GT. Right? It's a little more refined than the Aston. Not, not quite as quick, not quite as crazy, but it's got more space. It's a little more settled. You know, I like, we, we love the Vantage for being like crazy. You know, that's a great front engine like.

• 11:13Speaker 01

  Front engine sports car, yeah.

• 11:14Matt Farah?

  Love it. This is a little more GT. And it does, you know, I drove one for Performance Car of the Year last year. And we're doing Performance Car of the Year again next week, which is why I'm not going to be here. And we're recording ahead, but this car on track, it's great if you want to run. You could, it's, it's actually pretty solid on a racetrack, provided your goal is to do what most people want to do, which is to run a clean line. Go fast on the track, but, but essentially keep the wheels within grip. It doesn't love being driven beyond the limit of grip, even with the systems being off. There's not a lot of people really realistically looking to do that.

• 11:59Matt Farah?

  Most of us are car journalists, you know, most people that are buying this car are going to use it as either their everyday car. Cause you can get it on PSS5s and not, the Cup 2R that my test car came in was an, was an optional tire.

• 12:16Speaker 01

  Okay.

• 12:16Matt Farah?

  You can get it on PSS5. I think it's no cost either way. And you, you would want it on the normal tire. There's, there's not really a benefit to the Cup 2R for any real reason. But it, it hasn't, it has a very nice ride. It has really good brakes. It has a bunch of power. It's not that communicative, shocker, but it's, it's effective going, going around a corner and going, stopping and turning. And, and, but ultimately like, I would use it as a daily driver slash GT car, even though it's like, it looks kind of aggressive, like it's not actually as aggressive as it looks.

• 12:55Speaker 01

  Well, cause the old Pro, the AMG GT Pro.

• 12:59Matt Farah?

  I think it was GT-R Pro.

• 13:00Speaker 01

  Well, there was the GT, oh, right. There was the GT-R Pro. I mean, that was like, that had the 10-way traction, or 10, 10-step yellow button. The knob, you could adjust the traction control. I mean, that was kind of aiming for like, not quite GG3RS, but I think that was maybe its competitor.

• 13:16Matt Farah?

  It was going that way.

• 13:17Speaker 01

  It was headed that way. This feels like, it was like Carrera S or Turbo? Like where would you land this in the Porsche lexicon?

• 13:26Matt Farah?

  It's probably about, I mean, it's definitely not as dynamic as a Turbo S. Like I think, I think a 911 is, to me, a 911 is more fun to drive than this, like pretty much all of them. I would say this is kind of like the Aston Vantage. And I mean, they have a similar engine. I mean, they both use the, a, a, a variant of the same engine. Aston's is a little hotter. The Aston's lighter. The Aston is rear-wheel drive only.

• 14:01Matt Farah?

  This, this is, is, you know, it's priced like the Aston comparable, within 10, 10,000 bucks or so of the Aston. Recognizing that 10,000 bucks isn't nothing, but I'm talking about 5% here of the car, depending on how you get options and whatever. And if you're a little taller and have more stuff and you, and you kind of want to be a little more like Bentley GT Lite than, than Aston Martin, this is your car. On the other hand, for $200,000, which is about what this is, my money. Guys, taking a break because support is coming in from Delete Me.

• 14:43Matt Farah?

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• 15:25Matt Farah?

  But what happens is too much of your information out there and it can be used maliciously against you. So Delete Me goes around to all these data broker websites. That's who's buying and selling your data. And they make sure these people get your data off their website. Sometimes it's fully automatic. Sometimes you gotta do a couple of clicks, but it's an ongoing service as long as you keep your Delete Me account active, right? Every month you get a report with how much they've found and deleted and what you might have to do to get a few of those deletions all the way through, because it's not a fully automated process. But Delete Me does all the hard work to wipe your personal information from these data broker websites.

• 16:09Matt Farah?

  So take control of your data and keep your private life private by signing up for Delete Me. Now at a special discount for our listeners, get 20% off your Delete Me plan when you go to joindelete.me.com/tire and use promo code tire at checkout. That's the only way to get 20% off is to go to www.joindelete.me.com/tire and enter code tire at checkout. That's www.joindelete.me.com/tire, code tire. And we're also supported today by Square. It's the system that fixes one of the biggest headaches in running a business.

• 16:48Matt Farah?

  Starting a business can be very exciting. I've done it a couple of times now, but running it, that's where things get complicated. You're juggling payments, inventory, staff, payroll, scheduling, online order, in-person orders, reports, taxes. And somehow you're still supposed to serve your customer, sometimes even take a day off here and there. But Square brings all that stuff into one place. Whether you're selling lattes, cutting hair, running a website, detailing cars, parking cars or reviewing cars, doing anything very specifically and only with cars. I'm just kidding. You can use Square for almost anything. It helps you run your business without running yourself into the ground.

• 17:29Matt Farah?

  And right now, TST listeners can get 200 bucks off Square Hardware when you sign up at square.com/go/tire. That's square.com/go/tire. Visit Square to get started because the right tools make all the difference. The Smoking Tire, not the Smoking Tire, because we don't process payments. Westside Collector Car Storage, my business that does actually process payments, runs on Square. Right? And it makes the experience very easy. It's the quick and easy point of sale with the credit card. It's the recurring transactions that I need for my subscription services. The quarterly financial reports that it outputs and I can talk about with my CFO.

• 18:11Matt Farah?

  The customization, because my business isn't like other businesses, so I have to customize various fields and SKUs and stuff for what I need. And, and when I'm on another city and I'm, I swipe my credit card at a business that uses Square, it all, it feels a little more put together. It's a slick and easy system with quick checkout, easy receipts, et cetera. I use Square in my own business and I love it. And you can use it too. So if you're starting a business or running one that deserves better tools, Square helps you sell, manage and grow without slowing down. Right now you can get 200 bucks off Square Hardware. That's the credit card readers and terminals

• 18:51Matt Farah?

  at square.com/go/tire. That's square, S-Q-U-A-R-E.com/go/tire. Run your business smarter with Square. Get started today. My money. Real world is getting like a two and a lease return Bentley GT. Like a lease return Bentley GT does the GT thing better than this. Doesn't have the big screen and everything is.

• 19:19Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 19:19Matt Farah?

  Kind of, here's a funny story. When we went to Christian's show the, the other night in, in.

• 19:28Matt Farah?

  Which was in Pasadena. We had to get to Pasadena on a Saturday at like four o'clock. Now, that's shitty. That's pretty much the, pretty much the worst traffic of the week in Los Angeles is Saturday between about one and five o'clock.

• 19:43Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 19:44Matt Farah?

  Because even if you work from home, even if you, everyone's going somewhere Saturday afternoon, everyone, and no one's going to the same place, it's all a fucking shit show. So we had to get to Pasadena Saturday afternoon. It sucked. We're driving this and I'm like, let's use the Mercedes onboard nav rather than a CarPlay based system. It starts off okay, but as we get to the area where USC is, it tells me to take a left. It starts off, it's pretty aggressive. Like it tells you to turn down little side streets that Waze has stopped letting you do.

• 20:23Speaker 01

  Okay.

• 20:24Matt Farah?

  Like people got, it's like people getting mad at flock and every, the city's like, ban flock, Axon, what's up buddy? It's like, you know, ban Waze, they're all bitching to Waze for sending people through their neighborhoods, but no one's like, hey, Mercedes, you know, so Mercedes' algorithm is down to send you through the neighborhoods. And there's like a million turns getting to Pasadena. We're, we're going side streets the whole way, baby.

• 20:50Speaker 01

  It's pretty far, it's like forty miles too.

• 20:52Matt Farah?

  Yeah, side streets all the way. But it was bad on the highway, so it was doing it. But it sent us down a dead end road. I haven't had a nav system do this in year, it literally said, you know, turn left on Third Street and we turned left on Third Street and as soon as you turn the corner, the, um, you're at the metro line. It's like three houses and then train tracks.

• 21:16Speaker 01

  Did there used to be a road?

• 21:17Matt Farah?

  I mean, it's, I, maybe at some point.

• 21:19Speaker 01

  Like in the 40s?

• 21:20Matt Farah?

  Before the, the metro was there, I don't know what year that was, like the exposition line was there.

• 21:25Speaker 01

  Dude, that's terribly outdated mapping data.

• 21:27Matt Farah?

  I was like, what the fuck?

• 21:29Speaker 01

  What did it say to do after that? Was like, go straight?

• 21:32Matt Farah?

  It, well, it then, it then tried to, uh, well, once I just, yeah, it literally said to like drive across the train tracks, but not only could you not drive across train tracks, like there's a wall there. Like it's a, it's a wall. So I was like, well, I'm U-turn and then I just went back on the other road and continued the direction I was going. Uh, well, as it turns out, that, that road was closed for some kind of major police activity, blocked both sides, helicopter hovering, you know, looked like a hostage situation, who knows what it was. But I got directed down some other side streets and it kept trying to get me to turn back to where the road was closed.

• 22:16Matt Farah?

  So I had to have Hannah pull up Waze and we started going, you know, the right way eventually, once we got around the blocked off road. And Waze was saying arrive at 5:30, but the Mercedes system kept saying like 5:10. And so Hannah was like, well, one of these, you know, is gonna be wrong. And, uh, so we kept Waze up on her phone, but then we started following Mercedes again. Waze kept trying to get us to get on the highway, get on the highway. Mercedes kept having us off the highway and, and actually despite the fucking turn down

• 22:55Matt Farah?

  the dead end, we were only about two minutes behind Mercedes' projection time and about 14 minutes ahead of Waze's.

• 23:04Speaker 01

  Yeah, cause we took, we used Google CarPlay, separate car, and you guys got there probably 15 minutes before us and we took the highway.

• 23:12Matt Farah?

  Yeah.

• 23:13Speaker 01

  Interesting.

• 23:14Matt Farah?

  So interesting bit of navigational algorithms there with Mercedes onboard. It's more aggressive in the side streets, but a little sloppier.

• 23:23Speaker 01

  Plus the AMG programming, you get aggressive. Yeah, but it doesn't have updated data on how the city looks.

• 23:29Matt Farah?

  They're probably buying maps from Tesla.

• 23:31Speaker 01

  That's so wild, they're just like a wall and it's like, continue straight, continue. Now, the question would be, like, if this was, well, who knows, speculation, if it was like autonomous Mercedes vehicle and it's following its own map and it turns left on that street and it continues straight and all of a sudden you, it has an argument between radar that's detecting a wall and the map saying, no, no, no, keep going. Like it's road trip the movie. It's like, the map says that this is a road.

• 23:55Matt Farah?

  Yeah. I gotta, speaking of that, last, last show, we talked about my, my crazy Waymo ride to your house and that terrible Chinese van they've got now. And a listener of the show hit me up, was like, yo, I work at Hyundai and we are building a bunch of IONIQ 5s for Waymo to replace a lot of the Jags. And I was like, wow, well, what's up with the van? And they're like, I don't know, it might be like a previous supplier agreement that they had to fulfill, but them things are coming out of China and have huge tariffs on them and we're building the IONIQ 5s in Georgia. And so he was like, he was like, I don't know like what's going on, but you know, he's

• 24:39Matt Farah?

  like, you're probably gonna start seeing IONIQ 5s replacing the Jags as well. So hold out for a possible better Waymo experience than the fucking vans. Not that you have a choice of which type of car show.

• 24:50Speaker 01

  Sure. I wonder how many vans, they're called the Ohi, right? I think, I think, I wonder how many.

• 24:54Matt Farah?

  That's what they're calling them, but the company that builds them is called Zeeker, which is a real, you know, that's, that's the, that's the giveaway.

• 25:00Speaker 01

  I mean, it is funny that, uh, well, that's gonna be too political, but like, there's, the mining of California's regions for naming products is very funny. You know, it's like Apple, everything is the Tahoe, the Sierra, the Sonoma, and this is like the Ohi. And eventually.

• 25:18Matt Farah?

  Let's call it something that sounds like beautiful California instead of it's made in Shenzhen.

• 25:23Speaker 01

  Yeah, but they're gonna run out of city names at some point and it's gonna be like the Baker.

• 25:28Matt Farah?

  The Baker's Field.

• 25:29Speaker 01

  It's gonna be the Baker's Field, it's gonna be the Koalinga. That's when you know they're, they're out of ideas and it's gonna be the, you know, Chevy Koalinga or the, uh, yeah, the Zhao Ming Koalinga. Yeah.

• 25:41Matt Farah?

  The Zhao Ming Koalinga. It's got a nice ring to it, doesn't it?

• 25:46Speaker 01

  It's got a great ring to it, named after a coling stop A.

• 25:49Matt Farah?

  Yeah. Uh, but you know, in general, I, I, I think Mercedes has done a really good job evolving the platform. It, it gets better and better.

• 25:59Speaker 01

  Does it sound good? Like, does it make the?

• 26:03Matt Farah?

  It makes the, it makes the glove gloves. It does, it does have a very effective glove glove. I mean, the real points against are the, the, the screen for everything and the haptics and all that, which I have to say, it's annoying that it's screen and it's annoying that it's haptics and it's annoying that it's all that. But at least it like works like you think it's gonna work, unlike the fucking Golf R, which.

• 26:29Speaker 01

  Right.

• 26:30Matt Farah?

  Which makes me want to drive it into a wall. I wish the GPS would direct me into a wall. I would accelerate at full speed.

• 26:37Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 26:38Matt Farah?

  Do you wanna talk about that or do you wanna?

• 26:41Speaker 01

  Let's say, let's do Golf R next show.

• 26:43Matt Farah?

  Yeah, we'll talk about the Golf R next week, which is, I, is it, is it absolutely infuriating vehicle. It makes me so angry, so.

• 26:53Speaker 01

  Which sucks because so much of it is so good.

• 26:55Matt Farah?

  Yes, well, that's why it makes me angry. If it, anyway, we'll talk about that.

• 26:59Speaker 01

  It's just like, I want you to see your potential, son.

• 27:02Matt Farah?

  Yeah, yeah, yeah. Um, but, uh, yeah, Mercedes, uh, thank you for letting me have a few, a few days in the, uh, in the GT Pro. In, in, in this green color, it is, it is a very nice thing. I really, I did like it and, uh, it, it makes a nice, uh, grand tour, a sporty grand tour.

• 27:23Speaker 01

  It's a good looking car.

• 27:24Matt Farah?

  Yeah, as long as you keep it below nine tenths and don't start to move it around a whole bunch where it starts shutting down the power and everything, then it's, then it's a good time.

• 27:35Speaker 01

  It makes me think of when you were describing how it performs, like, you know, when you're on a press event and you ride with a professional and they're always driving a car that's usually like a tier below the, the subject car you're driving, because they're basically saying, I'm so good, you're not gonna catch me. You know, they're, they're gonna be in an S, you're in a turbo, whatever. And it's like, when you ride with them and they're driving this more gentle car, super smoothly and they're very fast as long as everything is smooth and perfect, but if it started to get upset a little bit, that's when the electronics start freaking out and it would kind of ruin the drive. I feel like that's the way this thing works.

• 28:07Matt Farah?

  Yeah, a lot of cars are like that unfortunately and, and the really good ones, if you turn everything off, then it doesn't do that. It lets you actually have the fun. It's not truly possible in my experience to fully turn everything off where it will legitimately just let you have full, full reign over whatever. So that's where it takes it down from it, the, from being the absolute best that it could be, but it's, but still like, I understand that very few people are doing that and so within the realm of like what the customers are actually doing this car, it's very nice.

• 28:41Speaker 01

  Cool.

• 28:42Matt Farah?

  So I'm not gonna dock it too much for what happens once you turn off all the systems.

• 28:46Speaker 01

  Well, speaking of cars that are the absolute best that they could be.

• 28:49Matt Farah?

  The Volvo, is it EX30? That was what you were driving?

• 28:54Speaker 01

  The Volvo EX30.

• 28:56Matt Farah?

  A car you liked so much, you made sure to not have your shadow in the photos. Folks, taking one more break because support is coming in cold from Mudflap. Look, once in a while, a trusted brand, even something you love, absolutely burns you and you go, wait a minute, whose side are these guys actually on? In fact, in this episode of the podcast, I tell a Waymo story about that. But that's the question Mudflap was built to answer. As a truck driver or small fleet operator, you might run thousands of dollars through your fuel card every month. So it's worth, we're asking, is that actually working for you or is your fuel card just out here charging fees that claw back every dollar they just saved you?

• 29:40Matt Farah?

  Mudflap built their card so that that never happens. There's real savings, zero fees and someone that answers the phone at any hour round the clock. That's what it looks like when a fuel card has your back. Mudflap is the only card built to help you keep more of what you earn with real savings and no hidden costs snuck back in somewhere else. There's no games and no gotchas. Mudflap is the only fuel card that's truly on your side. And you understand what having your back means at 2:00 AM when there's an issue and you just need someone to answer the phone. Mudflap's got real people, US-based and available 24/7 to help get you moving again. So ask yourself again, who is your fuel savings card really working for?

• 30:25Matt Farah?

  With Mudflap, the answer's easy. Keep more of every dollar you earn because Mudflap's got your back. Sign up at muddy.com/tire and get a hundred dollars in fuel, fuel credit after approval. That's M U D D Y dot com slash tire for a hundred dollars in free fuel credit. Terms and conditions apply. See mudflapinc.com. The Mudflap Fleet Card is issued by Celtic Bank or Community Federal Savings Bank pursuant to a license from Visa USA Incorporated. And lastly, support is coming in from Casper. You know when you've had that long day and you can't wait to get into bed? I'm reading this ad at 7:00 PM after a 12-hour day, so I can feel you.

• 31:09Matt Farah?

  You give the presentation, the internet cuts out, you go on a date, it's awful, you've got meeting after meeting after meeting after meeting, and you can't even feel your head or feet anymore. You can always go home to your Casper. It's got snow technology to keep you cool no matter what. And for me, the day always ends well with my Casper. Casper makes reliable, high-quality 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. So maybe you've been thinking about getting a new bed, because now is the time with Casper's September savings.

• 31:53Matt Farah?

  Head to casper.com and save up to 20% on the mattress you deserve. Casper's mattresses are built to be durable and long-lasting, so you're not replacing your mattress every few years. Their products are designed to withstand the test of time, maintaining support and comfort over the long haul. That's right, lots of sleeping and mucho boning, and this thing will be there for you. And Casper's got their 100-night risk-free trial, so you can give Casper's mattress a try for risk-free. Although with 110,000 5-star reviews, I'm sure you're gonna love it like I do. Casper's got a wide range of mattress types, so whether you like your mattress firm, soft, or somewhere in between,

• 32:38Matt Farah?

  there's something for you at casper.com. You guys know I'm only talking about products that are extremely legit. Casper's been around as long as I've been alive. I've slept on these things for many, many years. And you know what? When I talked about that snow technology, I'm talking about staying nice and cool in my mattress, even when it's like 1,000 degrees outside in Los Angeles. And 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 when you go to casper.com. One more time, C-A-S-P-E-R.com, and save up to 20% off the mattress you deserve.

• 33:24Speaker 01

  Watch this, just cropping a little bit. There you go. Fix it in post, eat my dick.

• 33:32Speaker 01

  Yeah, could you tell that I took those photos this morning?

• 33:36Speaker 01

  So this is the Volvo EX30 Twin Motor Performance.

• 33:40Matt Farah?

  Is it way faster than it has any business being?

• 33:43Speaker 01

  Dude, 0-60 in 3 and 1/2 seconds. When I turned left onto the street today, like I romped on it and the inside rear wheel was like This thing is quick.

• 33:52Matt Farah?

  Yeah.

• 33:52Speaker 01

  And so the regular car is like 40 grand. $6,000 more, you get the all-wheel-drive performance with more power and blah, blah, blah. It's like 422 horsepower equivalent.

• 34:03Matt Farah?

  That's a lot.

• 34:04Speaker 01

  It's a lot.

• 34:05Matt Farah?

  This thing will house the Golf R for $6,000 less.

• 34:09Speaker 01

  Yeah, and at least from 0 to probably 72.

• 34:13Matt Farah?

  Yeah.

• 34:13Speaker 01

  It will. And it's a very small car. It's a foot smaller than a Model Y. Feels spacious inside, though. Like, I can sit behind myself, and I am leaned back in the car right now because the seat is not comfortable. We'll get to that.

• 34:26Matt Farah?

  Is it because the, if you, is it because there's actually very little trunk with the seats folded up?

• 34:31Speaker 01

  I thought that, and then I took a picture, like, actually, not that. You could lay down, you know, carry on suitcases side by side. I think they'd fit no problem.

• 34:41Matt Farah?

  Is the, is it, is it because you're actually sitting further forward in the cabin?

• 34:46Speaker 01

  You sure are. Let me show you the frunk, Matt Farah.

• 34:49Matt Farah?

  Oh, yeah.

• 34:49Speaker 01

  So you could

• 34:50Matt Farah?

  Ain't no frunk.

• 34:51Speaker 01

  You could, hey, you could put two VHS tapes in there, or for younger people, a book.

• 34:56Matt Farah?

  That's, no, you know what that's for? It's really for storing like the portable charge cable.

• 35:00Speaker 01

  Totally.

• 35:00Matt Farah?

  That's, yeah. And actually, like, you know, real world, I've now had two EVs that have had frunks. I've used them never. Like, literally, like, having a frunk is nice. Like, if there's space, like, put it. Like, there's, you might, you might use it one day, you know, whatever. But me, you know, full-time cars, never once needed it.

• 35:23Speaker 01

  Well, I think, in my experience, like, the loading in and out of the frunk is way more difficult than in the tailgate.

• 35:29Matt Farah?

  Sure.

• 35:29Speaker 01

  Because you have to lift it up, over, and drop it down in, so it kind of limits how heavy an item can be.

• 35:34Matt Farah?

  Yeah.

• 35:34Speaker 01

  And if it's like the lightning, you know, then you have to lift it like 5 feet in the air. Or, sorry, the lightning opens the front the same way a tailgate would. That's the benefit of it.

• 35:42Matt Farah?

  Yeah, because of the cutout, yeah. In my cars, the portable charge cable lives in the frunk, and I never have to think about it, and all other things go in the back.

• 35:50Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 35:51Matt Farah?

  Okay, moving on.

• 35:52Speaker 01

  And this isn't really meant for it because you have to pull the lever twice to open this back part of it, so that's why. So let's see, the Pro's, pretty cheap. It rides really well. It's really comfortable on the highway.

• 36:03Matt Farah?

  Does it have adaptive dampers?

• 36:04Speaker 01

  I don't think so. It has, the driving modes are like, you know, eco, sport, and eco-normal sport. And I didn't notice a difference in how it rides, just in throttle response. One-pedal driving, the programming was really good. Lift, like, lift off the throttle heading towards a red light, and it slows down the right amount, and then it does a little bit of a lift at the end. The same way you and I would off the brake. It smooths out that stop, which I thought was really good. Apparently, that was a problem in the early cars.

• 36:30Matt Farah?

  Will it come all the way to the stop by itself?

• 36:32Speaker 01

  Doesn't seem to. It seems like it relaxes, and then you have to do it.

• 36:35Matt Farah?

  Okay.

• 36:35Speaker 01

  Or it would take too long, and I just, I would want to be stopped.

• 36:39Matt Farah?

  Sure.

• 36:39Speaker 01

  Like, yeah.

• 36:40Matt Farah?

  The Mach-E, which I thought was really good in the one-pedal drive, would go all the way to a stop, and it was very easy to figure out what that distance was and plan for it.

• 36:52Speaker 01

  I don't know if, if we get used to the timing really easily, or are there sensors that are kind of reading where that line is ahead of you? Or a mix of both?

• 37:01Matt Farah?

  No, I don't think so.

• 37:02Speaker 01

  You figure out how to time that shot really easily.

• 37:05Matt Farah?

  I think the one-pedal drive decelerates at such a consistent rate and predictable rate, even better than your own foot on a brake pedal, that it's just really easy to judge the distance. I think our body just gets used to it fast.

• 37:21Speaker 01

  Gets used to it really quickly. This was very similar, but at the end, it just felt like a little too gentle. The Google Maps voice assistant was very good. It's so tiny, I actually, I parked it, I went and got a haircut, and I'm walking back, and there's like a new SUV, a 95 Ranger, and I don't see my car. And I go, oh, fuck, did I leave the keys in the car? Because I did that once at Whole Foods, because the key is a fob with no buttons, and it's easy to just get out and think the car's locked.

• 37:50Matt Farah?

  You're really, you're really supposed to use your phone with it, right?

• 37:53Speaker 01

  You are. You definitely are.

• 37:54Matt Farah?

  Yeah, everywhere, you know, they give you with the test cars a fob, obviously, but then they give you the disclaimer of like, hey, this like literally won't work as well as just using your phone, and you're like, well, I don't want a fucking app.

• 38:06Speaker 01

  I just don't want another app. And the fob worked well, like the distance is, like the proximity was good, but you have to do that thing where you trust it, and you watch for the mirror to turn in that it's locked. I think it's a pretty good-looking car. I think the interior is nicely done, like Volvo, you know, the materials are kind of cool. And that pretty much ends what I like about it, because, so my list of cons is pretty long. The biggest one, which you would absolutely hate, is the driver monitoring system is incredibly invasive and, like, overbearing. So everything is in a screen. Every single control is through the screen, so you have to use it.

• 38:49Speaker 01

  But if you use it while driving on the highway, and if you look at that screen for more than like 6 seconds, you get an alert that says

• 38:55Matt Farah?

  Timeout.

• 38:56Speaker 01

  It says, it doesn't timeout, but it says, hey, you know, we can't see your eyes through the driver monitor sensor. Please pay attention. You keep doing it, it's like, would you like to take a break? I mean, this is the most incessant driver monitoring scolding of any car I've driven, I think, in the last 5 years.

• 39:11Matt Farah?

  The Golf R did that to me.

• 39:13Speaker 01

  Really?

• 39:13Matt Farah?

  I don't, I don't, I want to talk about it tomorrow, but, but, but it, it has the most infuriating radio I've ever tried to use, and while trying to figure out how to find the fucking thing, it put me in timeout for 10 seconds.

• 39:27Speaker 01

  Oh, you wouldn't, it wouldn't let you use the screen?

• 39:29Matt Farah?

  One note came up, said, pay attention to the road.

• 39:33Speaker 01

  Wow.

• 39:33Matt Farah?

  Yeah, they fully timeout me, but go, but go

• 39:38Speaker 01

  So this doesn't timeout you, thankfully, but it does go bing and go, hey, and I'm, and I'm like, I'm using the thing you have.

• 39:44Matt Farah?

  Did you turn everything off that you could turn off?

• 39:46Speaker 01

  No, because this started happening when I was on the highway, and I was already spending all my bandwidth trying to reconnect CarPlay.

• 39:51Matt Farah?

  But did you turn it off later and have that problem?

• 39:54Speaker 01

  I didn't turn it off later, I just

• 39:56Matt Farah?

  You just dealt with, you dealt with that?

• 39:57Speaker 01

  Well, I, the seat was so uncomfortable that, remember, I dropped it off here on Sunday, and I was happy to not drive it anymore. And we can get to the ergonomics in a second.

• 40:04Matt Farah?

  Sorry, sorry, I didn't mean to.

• 40:05Speaker 01

  No, no, it's totally fine.

• 40:05Matt Farah?

  But like, I, you know, after drive number 1, I would go, how I turned that shit off? I would hope, I just want to know that there's a way. Before I tell people to never buy one of these, I want to make sure

• 40:17Speaker 01

  Fair.

• 40:17Matt Farah?

  You know what I mean? Because that seems like the thing you must be able to

• 40:21Speaker 01

  What I, what I'll add is that after driving it, I was reading Edmonds to like get some facts from, or get some numbers from them, and they had like 8 different journalists there that also all hated the ADAS thing and did not mention that you could turn it off. So it doesn't seem like it's totally user error. And it's just, it's a general complaint for car companies that if you're gonna put every single control in the screen,

• 40:42Matt Farah?

  Oh, yeah.

• 40:43Speaker 01

  you cannot get mad at us for looking at the screen. And it seemed, actually, it seemed to do it more aggressively when I was wearing sunglasses, because today I tried to replicate it on the drive here without sunglasses, didn't say anything. So it's almost like it could see my eyes and saw that I was looking at the screen, but with sunglasses, it goes, well, we don't know that you're not just looking out the window.

• 41:03Matt Farah?

  Sure.

• 41:04Speaker 01

  So

• 41:04Matt Farah?

  Dylan Optics.

• 41:06Speaker 01

  Right, Dylan Optics, yeah, with the, maybe the fuzzy lenses.

• 41:08Matt Farah?

  But, you know, sometime it possibly

• 41:10Speaker 01

  That's true, I was wearing those.

• 41:11Matt Farah?

  Crucial piece of equipment.

• 41:14Speaker 01

  So that was really annoying. Apple CarPlay disconnected all the time. And, and so what was really frustrating is that I'm driving along, and it lets you try to reconnect while driving, which some cars don't, because it's unsafe. This car does, because it has so many problems. But you go to the Bluetooth menu, and it shows my phone connected, and it says phone and mobile, or sorry, phone and radio. I go, all right, well, then, in theory, but then I have to go to a separate CarPlay submenu and hit launch. And I would tap that, and it would do nothing. And I would do this dosi, and I was disconnecting, I was hitting Forget Advice on both things, I was trying to reconnect. And what it, what it would do is there's a screen that you need to wait to pop up that has like the 3 different

• 41:59Speaker 01

  Permission confirmations.

• 42:02Matt Farah?

  Mm hmm.

• 42:02Speaker 01

  But that screen doesn't always pop up. So the car is waiting.

• 42:06Matt Farah?

  It always pop up if you stop?

• 42:08Speaker 01

  I don't know, but in theory, it might, it should pop up. If I disconnect phone and if I remove device on both sides and then it lets me add them again.

• 42:16Matt Farah?

  Yeah.

• 42:16Speaker 01

  Give me the screen.

• 42:17Matt Farah?

  Sure.

• 42:17Speaker 01

  So it was waiting for a letter that I needed it to send me, which essentially.

• 42:21Matt Farah?

  Yeah.

• 42:22Speaker 01

  Super frustrating. I drove for about an hour just listening to my speaker phone.

• 42:25Matt Farah?

  This is the, the Android system that doesn't like your Apple phone.

• 42:29Speaker 01

  That might be.

• 42:30Matt Farah?

  They have shitified the Volvo system to make your Apple experience worse. And they probably go, you know, it works better with an Android.

• 42:39Speaker 01

  Big Samsung.

• 42:40Matt Farah?

  You should get a Google Pixel.

• 42:41Speaker 01

  Wants us to use, yeah, more of that.

• 42:42Matt Farah?

  Yeah.

• 42:43Speaker 01

  And this is a problem people apparently had in 2025 and they updated the software, but it was the most frustrating system.

• 42:50Matt Farah?

  Okay. Not great, not great so far.

• 42:52Speaker 01

  Rear window switches, doesn't have any. It has the same system the ID.4 did. So you have to press, you know, one of those little haptic.

• 42:59Matt Farah?

  Yeah.

• 43:00Speaker 01

  Controls.

• 43:01Matt Farah?

  Alt window.

• 43:02Speaker 01

  And yeah, you have to hit alt window. Very inaccurate. Tap at the same pressure. It will vary how much, how often it responds. Also, you have this huge, where's the picture? Uh, so this armrest is like a foot deep. No storage in it. All you have is a cup holder and then you can slide the cup part away and then you have a rectangle. So the, and this is a very deep, thick armrest. I'm sure there's something in it, but it has no storage. The only storage in the, like in the car beside the door is this huge shelf. And the reason I'm reaching down here is like the distance from the, from the top of that cup holder to that is like literally from my elbow to my hand. So it's like a foot and a half away.

• 43:47Speaker 01

  So if you're driving, you have to suddenly like lean over. Eight ass will yell at you.

• 43:52Matt Farah?

  You know what that's probably good for? Purses. That's a purse tray.

• 43:55Speaker 01

  Sure.

• 43:56Matt Farah?

  Yeah.

• 43:56Speaker 01

  That's like, uh, the Cybertruck had that.

• 43:59Matt Farah?

  Yeah.

• 43:59Speaker 01

  It's like a purse holder.

• 44:00Matt Farah?

  Yeah.

• 44:00Speaker 01

  And when you turn, well, maybe the purse tips over, big deal. It has wireless charging down there also.

• 44:05Matt Farah?

  You need a purse hook above it.

• 44:06Speaker 01

  You need the purse above it.

• 44:08Matt Farah?

  Like a bar.

• 44:09Speaker 01

  Yeah. You need a purse bar attached to the panoramic roof.

• 44:12Matt Farah?

  Listen, I, as a man with a purse, I can tell you how nice it is.

• 44:17Speaker 01

  To have a purse bar?

• 44:18Matt Farah?

  When you, at the bar.

• 44:19Speaker 01

  Yeah, sure.

• 44:20Matt Farah?

  Oh, yeah.

• 44:20Speaker 01

  When I go to Home State and I have a backpack, they don't have the hooks.

• 44:23Matt Farah?

  Yeah.

• 44:23Speaker 01

  I go, oh, they have the hooks. And then last, like the biggest complaint was, was comfort. I mean, here's the screen, has everything, but as usual, the seat is very strange because the front seat.

• 44:35Matt Farah?

  You have a photo of the seat?

• 44:37Speaker 01

  I didn't take a photo of the seat. Front seat looks comfortable, has cool like texture on the top and is very adjustable, but the side bolsters are so far apart, they don't actually support my rib cage at all. And the back of it is very firm. So you're just like pressing on spine. The seat bottom was not long enough. I know that's a complaint I usually make, but what you would hate is that on the left side, the dead pedal, which is like really the bulkhead coming in, is so close that when you're sitting in the seat, your left leg either has to go behind the brake pedal or if it's on the dead pedal, your left thigh is then suddenly totally elevated off the seat bottom. So you're just sitting on one butt cheek.

• 45:17Matt Farah?

  That's so weird.

• 45:18Speaker 01

  It's really weird. And I had moved the seat really far back to try to minimize that, but then reaching the steering wheel was challenging. So they have this weird ratio they've set up where if you want your legs to be comfortable, and I'm a 30 inseam, I'm not a long-legged gentleman. I'm then sitting quite far away from the steering wheel. So just ergonomically, it didn't really make a lot of sense. Like I got in the Golf R on Sunday and the moment I sat down, I was like, thank God.

• 45:44Matt Farah?

  Yeah.

• 45:44Speaker 01

  Like that seat is really good.

• 45:46Matt Farah?

  The seat is great.

• 45:46Speaker 01

  And I was literally getting uncomfortable in this car. And this is the first car I've driven since surgery out of five cars that I had a problem sitting in after an hour.

• 45:57Matt Farah?

  I drove the version of this like a year ago or two years ago, maybe when it first came out. And it was really, really fast, but it had a lot of the same issues that you are describing.

• 46:09Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 46:10Matt Farah?

  It was fast, the packaging was good. I really liked the idea of it.

• 46:14Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 46:15Matt Farah?

  And I was very much disappointed by the execution of it.

• 46:19Speaker 01

  It seems like a, it's a Volvo Golf.

• 46:21Matt Farah?

  Yeah.

• 46:22Speaker 01

  But with less comfort. And then they pitch it as a luxury car because it's a Volvo car, but it's 40 grand to start. And I feel like there are so many pitfalls in this thing in terms of comfort, tank, uh, the functionality of the technology, uh, that it doesn't feel luxurious to me at all.

• 46:39Matt Farah?

  Yeah.

• 46:39Speaker 01

  There's plenty of cheaper brands that do a better job. So skip it.

• 46:43Matt Farah?

  Bummer. Um, yeah, I mean, if you, if you want a, a small footprint EV in the $40,000 range, the Ioniq 5 is your go-to.

• 46:57Speaker 01

  Much more comfortable.

• 46:58Matt Farah?

  Yeah.

• 46:59Speaker 01

  You get them, you get a Mach-E.

• 47:00Matt Farah?

  A Mach-E is slightly bigger. I mean, if you physically want something smaller, I think the Mach-E is a little longer than an Ioniq, but.

• 47:08Speaker 01

  Yeah, Ioniq's a big car too, bigger than this for sure, but I would much rather operate either of those two things.

• 47:14Matt Farah?

  Yeah.

• 47:14Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 47:15Matt Farah?

  Well, speaking of things that are $40,000.

• 47:18Speaker 01

  Buy a watch?

• 47:19Matt Farah?

  I had a nice, I had a nice conversation with Mike Keane of Keane's Auto Works in Bedford Hills, New York. Shout out to him. He's doing the majorist of services on my Aston Martin Vanquish. When we last spoke about it, was that on the pro show or was that on the, that was on the real show? I think it was on the real show. You know, it was, it was a, it was basically, you know, the car has lived in Connecticut for the last, oh man, many years, eight years probably. And my dad has been taking care of it, driving it once in a while. I think it's had maybe two oil changes in like eight years, but it's, I mean, I think

• 48:02Matt Farah?

  it's, but it's gone like, we did the, we did the, the transmission conversion in 2014 at like 8,500 miles on it.

• 48:12Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 48:12Matt Farah?

  It has like.

• 48:14Speaker 01

  87?

• 48:14Matt Farah?

  No, it has like 10,800 miles on it. It's a no miles on it now. It's like, it's under 11,000, but it's still, uh, he hasn't, he asked if he could post pictures of it. I, I said he has, but he, I said he could, but he hasn't yet. So, um, this guy was referred to me by, by Nat Monday, who I, who I trust and does a lot of exotics, a lot of Aston, um, you know, service. He services a lot of, a lot of high-end stuff.

• 48:43Speaker 01

  Yeah, no kidding.

• 48:44Matt Farah?

  Um, wow. So, you know, they're doing all this shit. It's few, it needs fuel pumps, needs injectors, it needs a bunch of seals. It needs, um, you know, it needed brake fluid. They're going to do brake pads. It needed tires. It needed a couple of sensors, TP, the TPMS sensors were shot, need a new battery. I mean, just, it was, it's a pretty long list, you know, all the things that come with a major plus a few things. And, and then he, he just let me know that he's pretty sure it needs a clutch too. And look, they did a clutch when they.

• 49:23Speaker 01

  This car transaxle?

• 49:24Matt Farah?

  Yeah.

• 49:25Speaker 01

  Okay.

• 49:25Matt Farah?

  They, uh, no, no, it's not a transaxle, but the way you have to, no, it is a transaxle. Excuse me, it is. The, the, the way you have to get the gearbox out, it's like, it's, it's not great. So, um, obviously my dad's not that good at rev match. So it's this, that, this one's going to hurt. Now fortunately, he doesn't have to do any double work, meaning like he's, he already did the engine service and everything. It's like, it runs like amazing, you know, right now.

• 50:00Speaker 01

  He doesn't have to go back into a place he was before.

• 50:02Matt Farah?

  Correct. Like, it's not like he already had it out, put it back in and then found this out. So this, it's a separate bit of work and he's already got the car.

• 50:10Speaker 01

  Right.

• 50:11Matt Farah?

  And if we do it now.

• 50:12Speaker 01

  Sure.

• 50:13Matt Farah?

  It's going to be the last time it ever needs it.

• 50:14Speaker 01

  Right.

• 50:15Matt Farah?

  Cause it's the, who's going to drive it from here on out for the rest of its life? Me and you.

• 50:20Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 50:20Matt Farah?

  That's who's going to drive it. We're not going to blow the clutch.

• 50:22Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 50:23Matt Farah?

  So, so.

• 50:25Speaker 01

  But how much?

• 50:26Matt Farah?

  How much is it?

• 50:27Speaker 01

  Cause we replaced a C6 clutch on our, on one of our giveaway cars and both of us were shocked to learn how expensive that was.

• 50:33Matt Farah?

  I forget how much it was. How much?

• 50:34Speaker 01

  That was like four or $5,000.

• 50:36Matt Farah?

  Okay.

• 50:36Speaker 01

  And everyone's like, yeah, that's the C6 because it's transaxle, drive shaft comes out, it's very complicated.

• 50:41Matt Farah?

  Yeah.

• 50:41Speaker 01

  Now is.

• 50:43Matt Farah?

  15. The answer's 15. You have, you have to, you have to take like the entire back half of the car apart. Yeah, it's not great. It's not great. Yeah.

• 50:56Speaker 01

  I mean, it's also Aston, Aston Martin pricing, I wonder, but wow.

• 51:00Matt Farah?

  Yeah, no, I mean, it's not, uh, I don't know. Most of it is not Aston Martin price. I mean, most of it is, it's specialist pricing.

• 51:08Speaker 01

  Right.

• 51:08Matt Farah?

  Not Aston Martin specifically pricing. It's way cheaper that, uh, if you took it to an Aston Martin dealer, it's 25. Yeah. And by the way, do we talk about those little speaker housing things?

• 51:23Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 51:23Matt Farah?

  We did, right?

• 51:23Speaker 01

  And the doors are hard to find, the covers.

• 51:25Matt Farah?

  Hard to find. So Mike went and, you know, he went looking and I, we, I actually got ahold of Aston Martin Works. And they sent a thing, I put in a request for them and it said, not, it had the part number. First off, they were $2,500 each. Okay? But that's, but then it says backordered, underneath the part number, here's the price, backordered dash may never produce.

• 51:59Speaker 01

  So wait, so if you order it, would you pay upfront? And they go, "By the way, it may never exist."

• 52:04Matt Farah?

  I've ordered it, definitely.

• 52:06Speaker 01

  When are you getting them? Possibly never.

• 52:08Matt Farah?

  So, yeah, so Mike goes, you know, here's a, here's a homie in the UK that has, you know, 3D-printed ones for 300 pounds. So, we're getting 3D-printed ones.

• 52:20Speaker 01

  Are they metal or are they plastic?

• 52:21Matt Farah?

  They're plastic.

• 52:21Speaker 01

  Cool.

• 52:22Matt Farah?

  Which is why they broke in the first place, because it's 20-year-old shit, brittle plastic.

• 52:26Speaker 01

  Sure.

• 52:27Matt Farah?

  So hopefully this is, looks like the original ones and are made better. I mean, for 300 pounds, I would hope so. That's not nothing for a 3D-printed housing. So, you know, that's the option. That's what we've got now.

• 52:42Speaker 01

  Even if these break in a year?

• 52:43Matt Farah?

  Yeah.

• 52:44Speaker 01

  You could break them every year and for what, 12 years? And then it would finally equal the other ones?

• 52:49Matt Farah?

  Yeah.

• 52:50Speaker 01

  Wow.

• 52:50Matt Farah?

  And so that, and then we also, you know, I hypothesized that if you remove the rear seat, that it would look like the car with a rear seat delete. And, and I could maybe have a little shelf made so that I could have a little extra legroom in the car, because my car has a rear seat. And I found, I drove one without a rear seat, and I was like, "Holy shit." The, the seat just goes back further without the rear seat there. So, um, so that's, I don't have the weird, that armrest thing. I don't know what that's about. That's weird. My, this, that's the rear seat delete.

• 53:29Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 53:30Matt Farah?

  Where it's just covered in leather. So I, I wanted to see if you could do it like, if I could do my car like that. And it turns out, it would actually be super expensive.

• 53:41Speaker 01

  Oh, it's the wrong one.

• 53:42Matt Farah?

  And, and really just dealing with it the way it is, is probably the best option. So we're not gonna do that.

• 53:46Speaker 01

  Oh, okay.

• 53:47Matt Farah?

  I'm not gonna do a rear seat delete. We're just gonna leave it. It would be so, so expensive.

• 53:51Speaker 01

  And once you got, once you got this clutch thing, you're like, "Oh, maybe the optional stuff we're gonna order will delete."

• 53:57Matt Farah?

  For sure, for sure. But, uh, so we're on the way. It's, I'm not exactly sure how long it will take, but Mike is gonna send me some photos of the, of the work in progress. I'm actually kind of excited to have it fully serviced and sorted and have it out here. I wanna like go on a little road trip with it. Isn't DWA doing a 2000's rally?

• 54:17Speaker 01

  Yes, but it's when we are in Miami.

• 54:19Matt Farah?

  Oh, damn it.

• 54:20Speaker 01

  Yep.

• 54:21Matt Farah?

  Okay, well, wah-wah.

• 54:22Speaker 01

  Yeah, but it's nice they have a rally now that our cars can go on.

• 54:25Matt Farah?

  Yeah.

• 54:26Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 54:26Matt Farah?

  Um, I think Curated said they were gonna do a 2000's one as well. So maybe we could get in on that. That could be a good time, too.

• 54:33Speaker 01

  Sure.

• 54:34Matt Farah?

  Um, so that's, you know, if, if this wasn't a family heirloom car, if it wasn't Ralph Lauren's car originally, you know, and if it wasn't the kind of car that I would, I'm gonna keep forever, none of this would be remotely. I mean, this, this car on the open market's worth like $65,000. This service is like 30. I mean legitimately, the service is gonna be like 30. Um, I was thinking when it gets out here, though, that I would have Derek do like a crazy detail on it, and maybe PPF it.

• 55:11Speaker 01

  I mean, I would if you're gonna keep it forever. Yeah.

• 55:13Matt Farah?

  Because I, I think, I think, I think the paint is, it's really good paint. The quality of that paint's great. It's never been, it's never, ever been polished. Not since we've owned, not since 2005. It's never had a wheel on it. So there's gonna be a lot of clear on there. It's never lived outside.

• 55:30Speaker 01

  It's an indoor cat.

• 55:30Matt Farah?

  It's fucking, might have spent two nights outside its entire life.

• 55:34Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 55:34Matt Farah?

  And Derek could make that motherfucker sparkle.

• 55:39Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 55:39Matt Farah?

  And just get 405 to, to wrap it, then it'll be good to go.

• 55:43Speaker 01

  Well, so if you were doing the Facebook Marketplace math, the car is actually gonna be worth like 120 now, because you've put 30 into it with the service. You're gonna put the PPF crazy detail on it.

• 55:52Matt Farah?

  Every dollar comes right back.

• 55:54Speaker 01

  Exactly. Just add those numbers up. Wow. Yeah.

• 55:58Matt Farah?

  But it'll be sweet. I mean, there is, this car, when you fucking, when you put this car in third on the highway and rev it from 4 to 85, that is a transcendent experience.

• 56:14Speaker 01

  Yes. Yeah. Front-engine V12 GT car.

• 56:18Matt Farah?

  Yeah.

• 56:18Speaker 01

  Doing that, I mean, that makes it worth it. And look, what are your other options if you wanna kind of have that experience? At, at that price point, I don't think it really exists, or the car's gonna be broken.

• 56:28Matt Farah?

  Yeah. No, you can have Ferrari, or you can have Jaguar, or you can have Aston.

• 56:32Speaker 01

  I mean, the 550s are now way more expensive. Those are like, a good one's like 200.

• 56:36Matt Farah?

  Yeah.

• 56:37Speaker 01

  So you're not really getting into it for that.

• 56:39Matt Farah?

  And honestly, I've driven a lot of 550s. I think my car sounds better. It may not have from the factory, but when you take a Vanquish and you wire the exhaust baffles open, so they're just open all the time, it sounds nasty as hell. My car has an aggro-ass cold start to it that a 550 does not have. Um, they're lovely. I mean, even money, if I'm shopping, I'm gonna buy a 550. But like, sound and third gear, 4000 to redline, that's Team Vanquish all fucking day.

• 57:15Speaker 01

  Yeah, and I do love the reverse gauges on those cars. I love it.

• 57:20Matt Farah?

  Yeah.

• 57:20Speaker 01

  Yeah, it's cool.

• 57:20Matt Farah?

  Nothing like a reverse gauge in a Ford Contour radio.

• 57:24Speaker 01

  That's true.

• 57:24Matt Farah?

  Jag. It's all Jag on. I got the Jag radio. And I still got that, I got disc one in the changer, has been there since 06, Habibi.

• 57:32Speaker 01

  What is it?

• 57:33Matt Farah?

  My mix, we've talked about my mix CD.

• 57:35Speaker 01

  It's a mix tape?

• 57:36Matt Farah?

  I made a mix CD that I put in disc one of the Aston CD changer in 2006. And it is still there, and I still listen to it every time I drive the car. Opens with Salisbury Hill by Peter Gabriel. It's a good choice.

• 57:49Speaker 01

  Nice.

• 57:49Matt Farah?

  Track two is "Damn It Feels Good to Be a Gangster" by Ghetto Boys.

• 57:53Speaker 01

  That's a good song. Yeah.

• 57:54Matt Farah?

  It was 06. All this space, I just come out.

• 57:57Speaker 01

  There's a bat in the back, you got a printer?

• 58:01Matt Farah?

  It was fucking great. Can't wait to have that car out here again.

• 58:04Speaker 01

  That's gonna be awesome.

• 58:05Matt Farah?

  Another car I have to drive barefoot.

• 58:07Speaker 01

  Oh, right. Pedal box very small.

• 58:08Matt Farah?

  Pedal box, very small.

• 58:09Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 58:10Matt Farah?

  Yeah.

• 58:10Speaker 01

  Okay.

• 58:11Matt Farah?

  Is what it is.

• 58:12Speaker 01

  You need driving slippers. Climbing shoes. Bingo.

• 58:16Matt Farah?

  It's not, that doesn't actually solve the problem entirely. It solves half the problem, and that solves the narrowness problem. But actually, what I do when I drive barefoot is when I'm not shifting, I tuck my left foot behind the clutch pedal entirely. And I can't do that with any shoes on. It's a barefoot activity.

• 58:36Speaker 01

  Well, if we start binding your feet a couple of years, get it under control, you can drive anything.

• 58:42Matt Farah?

  Isn't that just podiatry?

• 58:47Matt Farah?

  I have to get new, uh, I'm getting new orthotics. Found out, this is not, we had an advertiser at one point that was orthotics, right? And they, and they would mail you the little memory foam box thing, and you step in it to make the mold, and you send it back and you get orthotic. That seemed like a pretty good thing. I mean, it was, it didn't, it seemed, you know, ethical and a good service, and I got orthotics, and I've been using them for many years. Just reordering, yeah, like the same ones. I've been getting like foot pains, so I went to a podiatrist, and, and, and he was like, "Where did these come from?" And I was like, "Oh, it's one of those, you know, services where you step in the box." And he was like, "Look, you know, better than nothing, but the problem is,

• 59:29Matt Farah?

  there's no real control of like the exact angle that your foot goes down in the box. You know, it says to step down straight, but is it perfectly straight?" He's like, "And you really, when they're making a mold like that, you need to have a professional that like guides your foot." Now, he had an incentive, he's a podiatrist, but he's like, "Here's why you're having foot pain, because this orthotic isn't actually supporting you in the, in the way that you really need." So I'm getting new ones made, but in addition to having these like arch supports, they have like outside fins, like the wings of a fucking Airbus now.

• 1:00:04Speaker 01

  Wow, like on a Ducati race bike?

• 1:00:06Matt Farah?

  Yeah, they're on like the outside like canards. So they're like weird looking.

• 1:00:11Speaker 01

  Interesting.

• 1:00:11Matt Farah?

  Yeah.

• 1:00:12Speaker 01

  I don't know, I ordered some off of like, whatever, a running website, because I have high arches.

• 1:00:17Matt Farah?

  Yeah.

• 1:00:18Speaker 01

  But those are good, because they're made level, because it's from a reputable company. But I can see if you like make your own mold and you mess it up a little bit.

• 1:00:24Matt Farah?

  Yeah, it's not that the company is not reputable. He said like, "It's, it is better than nothing." He said, "But the, but the problem with that type of thing is, there's a lot of variance in how you step on this thing, which results in how they shape the mold."

• 1:00:37Speaker 01

  Years ago, I had snored boots and I was having a lot of foot pain. And the boots were new, and they were, like, I bought them at a store, they were sized right. And this friend of ours in Steamboat goes, "You gotta go to this guy in town." He's like, "The boot guy." He will, he'll mold your thing, it will fit you perfectly. Like, he'll take your, your existing boot, and he'll heat it up and do all, and he'll give you custom insulation. I'm like, "Okay." So we go to this guy, guy's like 50, I don't know, just whatever, 50-year-old guy, doesn't, not, doesn't look like a doctor or scientist, whatever. Just looks like a 50-year-old dude who would, uh, work construction. But he's the boot guy. So we go in there, and I'm sitting there, and he's heating this thing up around my foot. And he's like chatting with people, but the whole time, he's touching my foot. And he's just, and he's not really pressing the thing around my foot.

• 1:01:22Speaker 01

  He's just, he's just touching it. And he's looking at people, and he's having a conversation. And I'm sitting there going, "I'm pretty sure, he loves feet." If I'm gonna go to somebody for this, I guess he knows his trade, because he loves his job.

• 1:01:35Matt Farah?

  Yeah.

• 1:01:36Speaker 01

  But if anyone else leaves this room, I'm leaving one.

• 1:01:41Speaker 01

  And he did fix my boots. I'm like, alright.

• 1:01:43Matt Farah?

  Yeah.

• 1:01:44Speaker 01

  You know, if he has a happy evening after this, I have happy snowboarding. Let's call it even.

• 1:01:50Matt Farah?

  That's fucking awesome. I got the, I got the injection molded things for my ski boots.

• 1:01:55Speaker 01

  Ski boots are better, yeah.

• 1:01:56Matt Farah?

  The sure foot ones, you gotta.

• 1:01:57Speaker 01

  You do.

• 1:01:58Matt Farah?

  You gotta get that. They did not pay me to say that, but that shit, that makes my day a lot better.

• 1:02:04Speaker 01

  And ski boots last like fifteen years or something like that, yeah.

• 1:02:07Matt Farah?

  And I just like, don't have foot pain when I go skiing.

• 1:02:10Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:02:10Matt Farah?

  That is amazing. For someone who skis five days a year, I should be in pain the whole time probably.

• 1:02:16Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:02:17Matt Farah?

  Let's go to the people. What the fuck is going on? And in between going to the people, let me just say, there are a couple of spaces left in October. If you'd like to come drive with me in New York. Experiences dot road and track dot com, the Hudson Quattro Cento. We got two racetracks, including one that the public is never allowed on to. Willzig Racing Manor and Lime Rock Park. We got some amazing hotels and some really good, uh, special guests on that one. And we've got the, what do they call it? What are they calling it? Desert to something? Palm Springs to Mecula. Our first ever Southern California event is going to be next spring. I believe it's in February.

• 1:02:57Matt Farah?

  So, uh, if you want to come drive with me, uh, these are all-inclusive luxury road trips with a racetrack element and access to stuff you don't get the, to see as a member of the public. Experiences dot road and track dot com. Do we have anything else to promote, Zach? Live shows, uh, we're gonna be at Willow Springs Reimagined, October seventeenth. Uh, your festival ticket gets you entrance into the show as well. And we're gonna be at the Time to Drive Festival in Miami. That's a watches and cars thing, uh, November sixth, seventh and eighth. Uh, live podcast on Saturday and I'm moderating a panel chat with, uh, racing driver Felipe Nasser on Sunday.

• 1:03:39Matt Farah?

  Uh, your festival ticket gets you into that show as well. And the people of the Patreon. We love you over there at patreon.com slash the smoking tire podcast. You guys keep us in business over here and I am not fucking bullshitting about that. If you want to get access to the live stream, get the show before everybody else, get the show without ads, get extra show every month. Um, get, uh, what else do they get, Zach? Questions? They gonna ask questions for the show?

• 1:04:09Speaker 01

  Before the show?

• 1:04:10Matt Farah?

  The whole list.

• 1:04:11Speaker 01

  Um, yeah, ad-free stuff, early stuff.

• 1:04:13Matt Farah?

  You get it.

• 1:04:14Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:04:14Matt Farah?

  All these things, different price points over at patreon.com slash the smoking tire podcast. Uh, Liam Nissan, uh, how big is the list of people that can more or less just drop in to do a show if they're in town? Are you saying like, how many friends do we have? How many friends do we have?

• 1:04:36Speaker 01

  I don't know.

• 1:04:37Matt Farah?

  I would say the list of people that can drop in and, so there's, there's a lot of people that have open invites and then don't make the time. Uh, I'd say it's probably like twenty to twenty-five people globally have open invites, but, but a lot of them aren't in LA very often.

• 1:04:54Speaker 01

  Yeah, I mean, a lot of our colleagues live outside of the state, so they have the open invites. And then there's people like Vaughn or, I don't know, other pros or people of note that we know. And if they show up for a trade event or like a drift event or something, it's like, oh, you're here? Great.

• 1:05:08Matt Farah?

  Yeah. Uh, let's compare cars. I'll tell you whose is worse. Very good, uh, rise against reference there. Uh, thoughts on the new synthetic manuals that Ferrari and Koenigsegg are using?

• 1:05:23Matt Farah?

  I think synthetic manuals are better than no manuals, I think, right? If that's the alternative.

• 1:05:30Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:05:31Matt Farah?

  It's, a synthetic manual is like the sticker license plate on the nose of my Taycan. It's, uh, you know what I mean? It's better than, uh, having an actual license plate up there, but it's not as good as having no plate at all. So, uh, the, a synthetic manual, I haven't actually tried one, so tough to comment without actually trying it.

• 1:05:53Speaker 01

  It's all in the execution and, and like, I think for them to make this shifting action feel good is easy. It's just like springs and does it feel like the way you'd want a shifter to feel? But I think then they will be, what's that interaction with the pedal feel like with the revving? And if that all feels as accurate and natural as a, a quote, real car.

• 1:06:12Matt Farah?

  Yeah.

• 1:06:12Speaker 01

  Then it's fine. I mean, if you're getting the sensations and the car's doing the thing, then okay.

• 1:06:18Matt Farah?

  Yeah. I don't hate it as a concept. I, I would obviously prefer a, a genuine manual transmission.

• 1:06:27Speaker 01

  I think Porsche just, there was a story yesterday that Porsche filed a patent for a manual shifted automatic, like stick shifted thing.

• 1:06:35Matt Farah?

  Yeah, like a shift, stick shifted DCT.

• 1:06:37Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:06:37Matt Farah?

  Which is what, that's what for the twelve C has.

• 1:06:39Speaker 01

  Right. But I think they're all, they're going there because they can get the MPG's that are required by, you know, various governing bodies. And then we get to say we have a, a manual and then.

• 1:06:48Matt Farah?

  Well, and now there's these, these aftermarket solutions that can hack the clutch packs even of automatic gearboxes. So if you can have a fully synthetic clutch, you know, and a synthetic gated, you know, lever. I think a lot of people would probably be okay with that, um, especially if you can also just fucking throw in a D.

• 1:07:08Speaker 01

  Pretty awesome.

• 1:07:09Matt Farah?

  I would enjoy that, I think, um, for a daily driver type of car. I'm not.

• 1:07:13Speaker 01

  If you could do that and then also if, you know, the shifter just lands between three and four and you can make it like a sequential box and just push and pull, like that's pretty cool.

• 1:07:20Matt Farah?

  Yeah, I'm sure you could. Um, deactivate cylinder firing in the West Bank.

• 1:07:26Speaker 01

  So good.

• 1:07:26Matt Farah?

  Shout out to them. Uh, not the ones doing the firing, by the way. Not shout out to them. Shout out to the other people.

• 1:07:35Speaker 01

  Settle down, Matt.

• 1:07:36Matt Farah?

  Settle, shut, settle down. So you're telling, telling me to settle in the West Bank? Is that what you're saying? Right, Zach.

• 1:07:44Speaker 01

  Oh, those, those jerks.

• 1:07:49Matt Farah?

  What does the job market and industry landscape look like for automotive journalists? Yikes. I'm considering a career pivot into the industry since I'm passionate about cars. Double yikes.

• 1:08:00Speaker 01

  You picked the right time.

• 1:08:01Matt Farah?

  I love testing cars and don't mind being on camera, but don't want to be an influencer. Well, that makes you smart. Um, oh man, I just had this brutal interaction on Instagram with a guy who was a car spotter. Wanted to come on the podcast and talk about what it was like to be a car spotter. And I had to be like, look, I, I hope you enjoy doing that. Like as an activity or a hobby or, you know, you know, and I, and if you find a, an audience on Instagram that want to see photos of cars you've spotted, like, that's cool, but like, there's nothing to that. Like, what, what do you talk about? Like, that's not interesting.

• 1:08:41Matt Farah?

  And he was kind of insulted that I, that I demeaned his thing. I wasn't trying to demean his thing. I was just like, it's not, that's not interesting for radio to, to come talk about. But like, okay, what is it for automotive journalists? Automotive journalists have never like made much money being automotive journalists. A lot of them don't do it full-time and have, have real jobs of some kind. Others come from money and, and, and don't necessarily need the money.

• 1:09:11Speaker 01

  Some people make money, made money elsewhere first, like in tech or at a creative agency or whatever. And now they're kind of, they can coast a bit.

• 1:09:19Matt Farah?

  Yeah.

• 1:09:19Speaker 01

  So, or there's the revolving door. Less, it's, it's usually people go like, journalists, maybe do PR for fifteen years, come back to journalists for a long time, but that happens.

• 1:09:31Matt Farah?

  I mean, but like, are, are, is road and track like hiring, like just people? No, you know?

• 1:09:41Speaker 01

  The writing industry is shrinking and it's quite bad.

• 1:09:44Matt Farah?

  Yeah.

• 1:09:45Speaker 01

  So.

• 1:09:45Matt Farah?

  Um, and, and, and YouTube, I mean, look, fortunately YouTube is in a place where it is, it rewards new creators. So if you start a new YouTube channel or you start, you know, and it, and it, you're doing things that are on trend. Things I wouldn't enjoy watching, but you know, whatever, whatever feeds the algorithm, you know, you may find some success. But you, you have to create your own career. I mean, that's the, the thing about automotive journalism is you've, since the year, I don't know, two thousand five, six, whatever. When, when really YouTube and self-publishing really, really started rolling, you have had to create your own career in automotive journalism.

• 1:10:30Matt Farah?

  There was, there was not really a way to go from zero to I work for car and driver, the way there was in the eighties or the nineties. Where you could write in a letter or send a resume or knock on their door, like, so, you know, if you, if you want, so think of the medium that you want to do every day, like until your head bleeds. And like what, what will you excel at? But more importantly, what will you enjoy doing? Cause you have to do so much of it.

• 1:10:59Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:11:00Matt Farah?

  And then you have to start doing it, like, like you just have, you're not, no one's gonna see it. You're not gonna make any money. You just have to like, do it anyway. Uh, kind of for yourself and hope you, hope you find your audience.

• 1:11:13Speaker 01

  And if you find your audience and you kind of get noticed or you have basically like a visual resume. You know, there are outlets that will probably continue to exist. I mean, I brought them up before, like Edmunds does a lot of video content and they have a big company behind them. So does like KBB. There's just fewer of those out there. So you can make your way if you want to get, basically I'm saying if you want to get into like testing vehicles, that's one way. Or build your audience large enough where car companies will give you press vehicles. And that's one, a way to the hard thing I think now is that so many influencers see that if they say the nice thing, they get all the access as frequently as possible and then they can live that dream.

• 1:11:51Matt Farah?

  Manufacturers see that too. Manufacturers would rather give an influencer a car for a week than me or Zach. We're gonna criticize it. They're not.

• 1:12:00Speaker 01

  Yep.

• 1:12:00Matt Farah?

  If you're just an influencer on TikTok or whatever, and you're trying to cover, you're covering this car in sixty seconds. You're going down the, the five boilerplate list of things. Maybe you have one small criticism, but like, you probably don't.

• 1:12:14Speaker 01

  Yeah. Most of it is, it has this and it has that and it also has this. And that's pretty cool.

• 1:12:19Matt Farah?

  Yeah.

• 1:12:19Speaker 01

  Hate it.

• 1:12:20Matt Farah?

  As opposed to me and Zach, like crapping all over, you know, your ADAS or, or whatever.

• 1:12:24Speaker 01

  The Volvo quote review from other people, like influencers would be very different from what we did. Yeah.

• 1:12:30Matt Farah?

  So, uh, you know, there's a lot of ways to work in cars. Work for manufacturers, work for tire companies, work for PR firms, work for a bunch of stuff. And you can be in the industry, be around the cars and be at the events and meet the people and, you know, be friends with folks like us, if that's what you want to do. But if, if you want to actually have it as like a, as a job job, it's tough to go from zero to I'm working consistently.

• 1:12:59Speaker 01

  It'll be a side job for a long time.

• 1:13:01Matt Farah?

  Yeah. British smoking green. I like that. Seeing the proximity that happens in drifting, I wonder how damage compensation gets settled between drivers or teams. Does everyone just suck it up and fix their own cars? Or do they pay to fix each other's? Is there any insurance policy? I think that's just racing.

• 1:13:19Speaker 01

  I think it is.

• 1:13:20Matt Farah?

  Everyone fixes their own car. Unless I, unless the race stewards, you know, say that something so egregious happened that one, one, I mean,

• 1:13:29Speaker 01

  Maybe, because I think-

• 1:13:30Matt Farah?

  In professional motorsport, no one's paying each other to fix cars.

• 1:13:33Speaker 01

  In the, uh, I read the rulebook when we did WRL and it was like, if someone hits you, they have no responsibility to pay for your repair. Like if they do it, amazing, great, but they probably don't. I mean, there was a huge crash a few months ago where Matt Field punted, in my opinion, Adam LZ like into a wall. And it was a really controversial moment. And I do not think Matt Field wrote Adam a check. And Adam had to rebuild their whole car and Matt, they had to refix stuff like, they just accept that it's part of it. Same with wheel to wheel racing or anything else. Like shit happens, everyone just chalks it up to like the sunk cost of the, of the sport.

• 1:14:10Matt Farah?

  Yeah.

• 1:14:10Speaker 01

  But it's a bummer, especially I can imagine if you are, if you're doing grassroots events, you know, and you build your stuff and someone else has like way more money and if they hit you or something goes wrong, like, that's really gonna sting. It's probably just part of it.

• 1:14:23Matt Farah?

  Yeah, I mean, maybe if you're doing a grassroots event where people are driving, you know, their own home-built cars, there maybe is some kind of agreement, but in general, you know, not really. Uh, long dipstick, short pan. Recently started a new job and gave up my company car.

• 1:14:41Matt Farah?

  Looking for a non-EV commuter. Sacramento to South San Francisco. Forty thousand bucks. I prefer a coupe, no V8. Current cars are a 2000 Accord V6 and an Acura TLX. Okay, I have two options for you. BMW 230i M Sport.

• 1:14:59Speaker 01

  Mm-hmm.

• 1:15:01Matt Farah?

  Beautiful to drive.

• 1:15:02Speaker 01

  Yep.

• 1:15:03Matt Farah?

  Good fuel economy.

• 1:15:04Speaker 01

  Yeah, it's the four cylinder, right?

• 1:15:05Matt Farah?

  Yeah.

• 1:15:05Speaker 01

  Yeah. And actually really fun in twisties. Feel super light. Yep, good steering.

• 1:15:10Matt Farah?

  You could definitely get one with low miles for under forty thousand dollars.

• 1:15:17Matt Farah?

  I mean coupe and non-V8, forty thousand, how about?

• 1:15:21Speaker 01

  Can you get like a used C53?

• 1:15:25Matt Farah?

  Oh, maybe.

• 1:15:26Speaker 01

  Like inline-six Mercedes, super smooth.

• 1:15:28Matt Farah?

  That is an interesting choice. That's an interesting choice for sure. How about like a really nice Audi TTS?

• 1:15:36Speaker 01

  Also a nice car.

• 1:15:38Matt Farah?

  End-run Audi TTS. Could be very fun.

• 1:15:41Speaker 01

  Yeah, those are cool.

• 1:15:42Matt Farah?

  Right?

• 1:15:44Matt Farah?

  You know, MQB, you can get a lot of, a lot of parts for it later if you want. I mean, forty K will get you a Cayman. Pretty nice one.

• 1:15:52Speaker 01

  Yeah, get a Cayman S.

• 1:15:54Matt Farah?

  It'll get you one with PDK probably. You know, you can get a pretty good one there.

• 1:16:02Matt Farah?

  It's a little too far for a, yeah, 500. Let's see, what other like coupes?

• 1:16:10Speaker 01

  I mean, well, you, if you wanted, you could get like a Mustang with the EcoBoost. I just wouldn't.

• 1:16:15Matt Farah?

  How about, do they still make the Veloster N?

• 1:16:19Speaker 01

  I don't, mm.

• 1:16:20Matt Farah?

  Not sure if, that's, I'm not sure they do, right?

• 1:16:25Speaker 01

  No, they stopped in 2022.

• 1:16:27Matt Farah?

  Okay.

• 1:16:27Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:16:33Matt Farah?

  There's not, there's so few coupes left.

• 1:16:37Matt Farah?

  C53 is a pretty good call.

• 1:16:39Speaker 01

  What's a new Charger cost with the inline-six?

• 1:16:42Matt Farah?

  That's a huge car. Imagine commuting in that thing.

• 1:16:45Speaker 01

  Well, actually like, I mean, long wheelbase is probably pretty comfortable.

• 1:16:49Matt Farah?

  You could probably get one of those for forty.

• 1:16:51Speaker 01

  Parking it in South San Fran would be a pain in the ass.

• 1:16:54Matt Farah?

  Yeah.

• 1:16:54Speaker 01

  But that's an option too.

• 1:16:55Matt Farah?

  Hmm. That's a tougher question than I would have thought.

• 1:17:01Matt Farah?

  I mean, dude, forty K gets you like a pretty sweet, not, no V8s, no Vets.

• 1:17:06Speaker 01

  Go super, uh, F-Type, supercharged V6. That is definitely forty K.

• 1:17:11Matt Farah?

  Jaguar F-Type V6. That's a cool commuter. Very good choices, Clapton. Yeah, that's a good one.

• 1:17:19Speaker 01

  I use my brain cell today.

• 1:17:20Matt Farah?

  Very nice. How about? I mean, maybe rolling the dice for a commuter, but E92M3?

• 1:17:30Speaker 01

  You're rolling the dice.

• 1:17:30Matt Farah?

  You're rolling the dice. How about one of those, one of those like,

• 1:17:38Matt Farah?

  no, nevermind. Eyes up Farah, good username.

• 1:17:43Matt Farah?

  While my mountain biking and snowboarding, I yell at myself Eyes Up Farah out loud. That's funny. I'm glad someone's doing that. Is your name also Farah? It's usually less effective if you substitute.

• 1:17:53Speaker 01

  No, but you say it in a bunch of your track videos, yeah.

• 1:17:55Matt Farah?

  If you use it, if you use your own name, it usually works.

• 1:17:59Matt Farah?

  Uh, second Jay-Z has hit the Supra. Spending the month of November in Europe and the 10-day Italy portion of our trip is planned out. That's fire. Planning on winging the remaining 20 days. What should we do in Spain? Oh dude, I mean, 20 days, are you, well, 20 days I would, if you can, drive across the mountains like to Spain. But like you have to go to San Sebastian and eat food, for sure. I would maybe go up hiking at Montserrat, which is really beautiful mountain. That's absolutely incredible if you like to hike. I would eat some food in France as well. Barcelona's great. I mean, I'd wander. I would just wander.

• 1:18:44Matt Farah?

  I might actually do a day in, day or two in Porto, Portugal as well. You do 20 days, you do the full lap of Spain.

• 1:18:51Speaker 01

  It's a long time. You could do a lot.

• 1:18:54Matt Farah?

  That'd be great. I'd do so much walking. Twenty thousand steps a day is what I would do. Do the Lancer Evolution. In high school, my European history teacher drove a 90s Saab 900 and that feels like the perfect car for a Euro history teacher.

• 1:19:09Speaker 01

  Totally does. Yeah. Turtleneck all day.

• 1:19:12Matt Farah?

  That was, that was a trope for a long time. What other cars go well with other subjects? English teachers give me Subaru Outback vibes and computer science programming teacher gives me Civic SI vibes.

• 1:19:25Speaker 01

  I would agree with those things, yeah. Engineers, they go, the Honda's gonna be reliable, it's gonna last, they like that.

• 1:19:31Matt Farah?

  The librarian's in a Camry.

• 1:19:32Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:19:33Matt Farah?

  For sure. Spanish teacher is fully in a RAV4. RAV4 is a teacher, is a teacher car for sure.

• 1:19:41Speaker 01

  Yeah, uh, I, my third, no, fourth grade teacher had a 3000 GT and a red, uh, Targa, like 964 Targa. Yeah.

• 1:19:52Matt Farah?

  Fire.

• 1:19:52Speaker 01

  I remember Ms. Cardano was like-

• 1:19:54Matt Farah?

  They were probably cheap at the time you were-

• 1:19:56Speaker 01

  I think they were.

• 1:19:56Matt Farah?

  Yeah.

• 1:19:57Speaker 01

  And I was just, I remember going to the parking lot going, who's driving this cool shit? And seeing her get in and out of it.

• 1:20:02Matt Farah?

  My friend, when we were in high school, my friend's older brother who was in college had a 964. And like had Larry, who was 18, Casilla at the time, like help, try to help sell it. And he was trying to get like 27 grand for this thing. And it was like a Guards red 964 Carrera 2 with like 40,000 miles on it.

• 1:20:21Speaker 01

  Whoa.

• 1:20:22Matt Farah?

  And a college kid owned it.

• 1:20:23Speaker 01

  Wow.

• 1:20:24Matt Farah?

  Yeah. Weird. My earth sciences teacher in high school, and this would have been in the late 90s, like 99, drove like a 1987 Audi 4000S with Vermont tags on it and would go up to his house in Vermont like every weekend.

• 1:20:46Speaker 01

  Oh, so that's why, I was gonna say, how do they afford to repair that thing?

• 1:20:48Matt Farah?

  Oh, right, yeah.

• 1:20:50Speaker 01

  Brake.

• 1:20:50Matt Farah?

  Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.

• 1:20:52Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:20:52Matt Farah?

  Gym teacher, Mr. C. Huh?

• 1:20:55Speaker 01

  It's gotta be a truck.

• 1:20:57Matt Farah?

  It drove, this again, and this was all through the 90s. He drove, I went to this school from 1990 to 2000 for 10 years and he had the same car the entire time. It was a 1986 blue Jeep Wrangler.

• 1:21:11Matt Farah?

  Four-liter, stick shift, square headlights. Mr. C had that motherfucker top-down all the time. Shout out to Mr. C. Hope he's still alive.

• 1:21:20Speaker 01

  Top-down in the where?

• 1:21:21Matt Farah?

  He would do top-down. He went, he went for it. Yeah, I don't think he lived very far away.

• 1:21:25Speaker 01

  All right.

• 1:21:25Matt Farah?

  Yeah.

• 1:21:28Matt Farah?

  She put her Volvo on my pole like a star. Let's see. BMW's new lineup of EVs seems to be very successful. I don't, that's a hypothesis, the, the, the truth of which I do not know. The question is, should other brands have doubled down instead of abandoning their EV strategy?

• 1:21:52Matt Farah?

  I mean, look, if people's leases are up when gas is $6.50 a gallon, they're more likely to consider an EV. So, but I don't, I don't know. I haven't been that enthralled by any of BMW's EVs.

• 1:22:05Speaker 01

  Well, so Inside EV says that this year, this year, their overall sales are up 13% in the US second quarter, but their combined EV and PH EV deliveries fell 18%.

• 1:22:17Matt Farah?

  Okay.

• 1:22:18Speaker 01

  So it might actually be going the other way.

• 1:22:20Matt Farah?

  So the hypothesis is may not actually have merit.

• 1:22:23Speaker 01

  Uh, yeah, we'll see. But the global orders on the IX, IX3 are very high.

• 1:22:27Matt Farah?

  Okay, well, we'll see.

• 1:22:28Speaker 01

  It might just be the area you live in, patrons.

• 1:22:31Matt Farah?

  Seeing a lot of them. Fast Back to the Future, good one. I'm thinking of getting, I'm having a kid soon and thinking of getting out of my 92 Miata and into another coupe with a backseat. I'm looking at options for under 20K. I'm looking at G35s and 7s, 128Is, E46s.

• 1:22:51Speaker 01

  You are missing the FRS.

• 1:22:54Matt Farah?

  Yeah.

• 1:22:55Speaker 01

  Right?

• 1:22:56Matt Farah?

  And all Mustangs and Camaros.

• 1:22:58Speaker 01

  Also that.

• 1:22:59Matt Farah?

  And Chargers.

• 1:23:00Speaker 01

  Under 20, like you could get, you could get so much Mustang for under 20.

• 1:23:06Matt Farah?

  So much.

• 1:23:07Speaker 01

  Like, starting with a 2006 and up.

• 1:23:09Matt Farah?

  You could also get a great 330i.

• 1:23:11Speaker 01

  Very true.

• 1:23:12Matt Farah?

  Um.

• 1:23:13Speaker 01

  Basically, you can choose how loud do you want your driving to be? If you want it to be loud, you go either FRS or Mustang GT.

• 1:23:20Matt Farah?

  Yeah.

• 1:23:20Speaker 01

  And then if you want it to be quiet, you go 330. And then anything in the middle, G35 is kind of in the middle. Yeah.

• 1:23:27Matt Farah?

  Man, 20 probably gets you the nicest G35 in the world, which would be cool, actually.

• 1:23:33Speaker 01

  It's a really nice car.

• 1:23:34Matt Farah?

  That would be.

• 1:23:35Speaker 01

  For a cruising highway car, they're really good.

• 1:23:37Matt Farah?

  Are you willing to go JDM? You could get like some base ass, like, you know, you get with some weird Nissan Primeras or, or, um, you know, what was that? What's the other Nissan?

• 1:23:49Speaker 01

  The GTT? Where's that one?

• 1:23:52Matt Farah?

  No, and it's like their Maxima. It's not, it's, it's like a.

• 1:23:55Speaker 01

  Like a JZX?

• 1:23:57Matt Farah?

  It's, yeah, it's the Nissan version of a Chaser, of a Toyota Chaser. Or you get a Toyota Chaser. Um, you know what I'm talking about? No?

• 1:24:09Speaker 01

  I'm sorry, I'm looking to see what Top Rank had anything under 20, and they don't.

• 1:24:13Matt Farah?

  Okay, never mind. Less Carpool, very good. Uh, hot take, high-performance SUVs are overrated. I've been driving an X5 4.0 for two years and I don't ever think it wished it, think I've wished it had more power.

• 1:24:27Speaker 01

  I agree.

• 1:24:28Matt Farah?

  Well, yeah, yeah. People don't buy those things because they need them. They buy them just to say that they just, they just want, whatever the best one is, they'll sell you. That's it. Like, there's no advantage at all. Um, but, but people just want the, want it, just to have it.

• 1:24:46Speaker 01

  They want a better thing than someone else who maybe has less money.

• 1:24:50Matt Farah?

  Yeah.

• 1:24:51Speaker 01

  Has than, than they do, right?

• 1:24:52Matt Farah?

  Even people that like, aren't flashy are subject, like, are, my father, who is like, not flashy at all, dresses like garbage, like, just anti-flash, generally. It took him three Cayenne turbos for me to explain to him, you never use more than 20% throttle. What do you need the turbo for?

• 1:25:14Speaker 01

  Now, is that because when he would go to the dealership, they would show him a turbo that has like a nicer interior and say, oh, well, if you get the turbo, you get this stuff?

• 1:25:22Matt Farah?

  He, when, when I finally got him in the hybrid instead of the turbo, he, when he, when he had arrived, even though we got the nicest seats, massage seats you could get in the hybrid, he was like, these aren't as good as the turbo seats.

• 1:25:36Speaker 01

  But is that true? Like, can you not get?

• 1:25:39Matt Farah?

  Yeah, these are like 14 ways and the turbo has like.

• 1:25:43Speaker 01

  18.

• 1:25:44Matt Farah?

  No, it's, no, no, it's not that. These are, they're both 18 ways, but the turbo has like a more like shoulder bolstering and shit. It's like a slightly different shape.

• 1:25:52Speaker 01

  Oh, okay.

• 1:25:53Matt Farah?

  More aggressive bolstering across the board, whereas the Cayenne has the regular, the Cayenne hybrid has the regular seat, the turbo has the super bolstered seat. Yeah, I don't think it's actually possible to get turbo seats unless you have like sunder bush and like, even then, like.

• 1:26:11Speaker 01

  So that's how they get them?

• 1:26:13Matt Farah?

  Yeah. So, I think, I mean, it was, you know, it's for stuff like that. Eric too. Eric, Eric, my Eric here, he's got a G63. I said, what the fuck you need that for? You sit in traffic. You go two miles an hour every morning. What, you know, he goes, I love the glob glob, you know, it's gotta have that glob glob, you know, it's gotta be the, it's got, he's like, I'm Armenian, it's gotta be the full AMG. Like, that's it. It wasn't even a question.

• 1:26:38Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:26:39Matt Farah?

  The idea that he would have not gotten the, the full AMG was absurd to him.

• 1:26:44Speaker 01

  Because he wanted the experience. He wants, he's like, if I'm getting a G-Wagon, I'm getting the G-Wagon.

• 1:26:48Matt Farah?

  The full shit.

• 1:26:49Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:26:50Matt Farah?

  Yeah. Um, but I'm with you, particularly, you know, in, with, if it's a fast electric car, you know? Um, but I also understand the temptation.

• 1:26:59Speaker 01

  You're like, I want the fastest one for a moment. And then you'll, you'll get on the highway once, floor at once, especially most owners. Like, your dad probably wasn't, you know, dipping in too fast, too hard.

• 1:27:08Matt Farah?

  Yeah. Uh, Christian in Chicago, if you order a new Porsche, can you do European delivery and vlog it? You lost me at vlog it, Habibi. That's, that is a, I, I truly wish that word was never, the word makes me throw up in my mouth a little bit. Vlog. Not just like, like the sound of it, how it feels to say it, um, but also, um, what it means, which is to walk around, uh, having an experience while pointing a camera at yourself, which is something I am very much against.

• 1:27:43Speaker 01

  It is the video version of, it's like a weird sort of documentary, but it's aimed too much at the, the person, not the subject, I guess.

• 1:27:52Matt Farah?

  Extremely self-important. Yeah. That's why the car review happens and then the camera, off. You know, you know.

• 1:28:01Speaker 01

  Right. And I think that's like, because the camera is aimed at us during a car review, but it's about the car, but then it's not like, and now we're gonna go get a sandwich and you're gonna watch us eat the sandwich.

• 1:28:10Matt Farah?

  Yeah, yeah. It's, yeah. The idea of European delivery is nice. It sounds like a.

• 1:28:17Speaker 01

  Heard it's fun.

• 1:28:18Matt Farah?

  Sounds like a good time.

• 1:28:19Speaker 01

  Sure.

• 1:28:20Matt Farah?

  Yeah. You know, but, uh, I could also go to Europe, get a press car.

• 1:28:22Speaker 01

  Oh, man, you could pick, well, the problem with the European delivery for you is like, you've been to the factory before, you've been to the places, so that's not that novel.

• 1:28:31Matt Farah?

  Yeah.

• 1:28:32Speaker 01

  Now, do you want to drive your car on the Nürburgring, is the question?

• 1:28:34Matt Farah?

  I don't give a shit.

• 1:28:35Speaker 01

  Then, okay, it's probably not.

• 1:28:36Matt Farah?

  I don't care.

• 1:28:37Speaker 01

  Doesn't save you anything then.

• 1:28:38Matt Farah?

  Yeah. Um, and if I went on a European road trip with Hannah, I would be disappointed with how I would have to drive in GT3. On a road trip with Hannah, who, if you don't know, does not like going fast in cars. Uh, I miss what AI meant to shop in Westchester.

• 1:28:55Speaker 01

  Good name.

• 1:28:56Matt Farah?

  Uh, why do you feel European market enthusiast cars like Escort, Cosworths, Lotus Carlton's, hot hatches like Cleos and Peugeot 205s and various others never developed the same rabid following in the USA as Japanese market cars did? Uh, video games. I think, I mean, video, you know, video games and, and, and. Every, every Japanese market car is downstream of the Skyline. And except, except for ones that appeared in Fast and the Furious. Like, you have the Skyline and it's trickle-down enthusiasm, which covers, you know, if you can't get a Skyline, or once you've had a

• 1:29:40Matt Farah?

  Skyline, maybe you start looking at Starlets and other weird shit, and/or stemmed off of the Supra being a 10-second car. Um, whereas like, and, and for the most part, Japanese hot hatches, you know, really did not, are, were not that big a deal here, other than a couple of, you know, being a, no way to get an Integra Type R for less money if you're willing to go, go right-hand drive or something. But like, Escort Cosworths, first, no one's ever fucking heard of a Lotus Carlton. It's like, that is the ultimate non-anti-ego awesome car.

• 1:30:21Speaker 01

  Mm-hmm.

• 1:30:22Matt Farah?

  You know, like, that's, I've driven a couple of them. They are so insanely fast. I mean, they're as fast as most Skylines. They fucking rip. Um, they might even be faster than a Skyline stock for stock.

• 1:30:34Speaker 01

  Wow.

• 1:30:35Matt Farah?

  It's 385 horsepower, that fucking thing. I drove Dave's, that car was, I couldn't believe how fast it was. You could drive that thing for 100 years and three people will give you a thumbs up.

• 1:30:46Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:30:47Matt Farah?

  It is the dorkiest shit, you know, ever. And an Escort Cosworth, I, I've never actually driven one, but I've heard that like, the later ones that, that you're probably talking about, like, don't actually drive all that good.

• 1:31:00Speaker 01

  I mean, they're, they're famous for rally, right? The rally was never that big in the United States, not really till like, internet video became a thing, but at that time, to your point, Matt, internet video happened when video games were really taking off and driving games were taking off. And so what was showcased the most was the Japanese cars, because that's who made the games.

• 1:31:18Matt Farah?

  Yeah.

• 1:31:21Matt Farah?

  Yeah, Gran Turismo and the fact that some of those JDM cars were included in Gran Turismo made an enormous difference because people were driving them virtually before they'd ever seen one.

• 1:31:35Speaker 01

  Right.

• 1:31:36Matt Farah?

  You know, like, they were known as cheater cars in video games because they were so good and they were like mythical because people, because you could cheat, you know, they were so good in the video game, you were like, they couldn't possibly be like that in real life, but then you started driving like, wait a minute.

• 1:31:50Speaker 01

  Or you'd play it in the game and then you'd go, what is this thing? And then you'd look it up on the internet that was developing and you'd discover, you know, videos like-

• 1:31:57Matt Farah?

  Best motoring.

• 1:31:58Speaker 01

  Best motoring and whatever and that helped the fame.

• 1:32:00Matt Farah?

  Dre from Houston has a 992.1 Carrera S with an M Engineering tune. It's a good time at 600 horsepower. If I want to level up, I have to add bigger turbos, intercoolers, etc. Twenty to thirty thousand dollars more. Should I just chill on that and upgrade to a Turbo S in a couple of years or continue to mob this car?

• 1:32:23Speaker 01

  I mean, I would, I would go Turbo Turbo S. I mean, it depends on what you want to do with the car, Dre. Like, are you doing standing mile stuff or whatever? But like, you'll get bored of the power again, but you will have sunk in twenty, thirty grand that you will not get back when you go to sell the car. Whereas if you just get a Turbo Turbo S and then drive it and/or just get an M tune on it, you know, based on path performance at least, like, the Turbo market will probably be okay and you could get out of the car for maybe even or not as much of a loss. So I would do that.

• 1:32:55Matt Farah?

  Yeah, I mean, you know, I understand the temptation, for sure. And if you really love that particular car, I don't know the car, but if you love the color, if it's a, if it's a stick, oh, 992.1 S would not be a, uh, might be a seven, seven speed, could be a seven speed. If it's a, if it's a manual, if it's, you know, rear drive manual and you love the color and the spec, you know, and it would be tough to replicate what you like, you know, the car itself is a keeper, not just as an S, but this one, then sure, put more money into it and you won't see it again, but that's part of your fun budget.

• 1:33:40Matt Farah?

  If you're already thinking about-

• 1:33:42Speaker 01

  That.

• 1:33:43Matt Farah?

  -the next car, I would not put more money into this.

• 1:33:46Speaker 01

  Like, Ali, our friend, has this Targa, mint green, looks great. He's put money into like, the wheels and the tuning and whatever, but I think he loves that spec and he's keeping it for a long time. But it seems like you're already, you know, looking down the dealership there.

• 1:34:01Matt Farah?

  Two Ghiblis, one Cupra in Colorado. Are Porsche owners missing out on being, quote, enthusiast? I've only owned Porsche 911 Cayman Boxers, fun car. I've got a 4RS. I'm wondering, by only going with Porsches because it's relatively easy, do we need to find more, do we, do more of us need to find more interesting cars? Once you start driving Porsches, it's hard to drive other things because they're built well and like, they are easy, they usually just kind of work, they take a beating, you know, and, and they have good resale and, and they're nice things to use.

• 1:34:43Matt Farah?

  So you start getting used to that stuff and other things are maybe not made so well or don't operate so well.

• 1:34:49Speaker 01

  I just think it's, the definition of enthusiast can be narrow or broad. I think if you, if you like seeing other cars out in the world and you go to car shows and there's other stuff there that you appreciate, if you're into like JDM things, if you like Skylines, then yeah, eventually you should own, or at least like, I don't know, drive or rent like, something else so that you have the experience in your, in your brain. I think if you, if you're not into other cars and you really are just a Porsche person, fine, there are Chevy people, Ford people, whatever.

• 1:35:23Matt Farah?

  Yeah.

• 1:35:24Speaker 01

  Yes, you're being limited in your experience, but like, be enthusiastic about as narrow or broad a thing as you want. I don't care.

• 1:35:31Matt Farah?

  Yeah. I find that it's annoying, it's annoying on the internet, the chatter on the internet, they, a lot of times they talk about GT3 people and what else, about not, they're not real enthusiasts. They're just, they're just buying them and going to Cars and Co. Like, even if you just buy a car and drive it to Cars and Coffee, that, you're an enthusiast. You know what I mean? Like, you don't, you don't have to do everything that everyone else does with cars to be an enthusiast. Like, you don't have to wrench yourself to be an enthusiast.

• 1:36:01Speaker 01

  True.

• 1:36:02Matt Farah?

  You know, like, there, there are people who chase trends and there are people that are more, you know, capitalists than they are enthusiasts, but-

• 1:36:13Speaker 01

  Did you see the-

• 1:36:15Matt Farah?

  But they're still buying cars, not art or houses or stocks, right?

• 1:36:18Speaker 01

  Right. They're still drawn to the hobby.

• 1:36:20Matt Farah?

  They're still drawn to the hobby and they're still participating in it in some way. Yeah.

• 1:36:27Speaker 01

  Yeah. The new Angeles Death Highway making fun of GT3 RSs?

• 1:36:30Matt Farah?

  Mm-mm.

• 1:36:31Speaker 01

  It's very funny. There's just a guy who's like, they're like, he's in the dealership and he's like, can you soften the suspension up? And the text is, why didn't you buy a Carrera? And he says, have you ever seen anybody take a picture of a Carrera? Perfect. Perfect, perfect joke.

• 1:36:43Matt Farah?

  That is superb.

• 1:36:44Speaker 01

  And that is the person who, you know, there are some people who are buying the thing to try to be in the cool club.

• 1:36:49Matt Farah?

  Yeah.

• 1:36:50Speaker 01

  But if they're buying because they like the car, or if you like Porsches and you appreciate Porsches, fine, that's okay. It's okay to be that person.

• 1:36:57Matt Farah?

  To add to that, you know, having now tried it for myself, if you see somebody in an urban environment with a GG3 RS with a Manti kit on it.

• 1:37:08Speaker 01

  Which I did.

• 1:37:09Matt Farah?

  Which has 30% stiffer front springs and 15% stiffer rear springs to counter the 1,000 kilos of downforce that it makes. If you see someone driving that motherfucker around Beverly Hills, that person is miserable for your attention. Do not give it to them.

• 1:37:28Speaker 01

  It's hard, like, the cynic in me says that and then the other side, it's the same as like, a really lifted Jeep with a bunch of stuff on it and they, and they never have time to go off-roading or they're afraid to. And you go, well, this vehicle excites them and gets, you know, it, the five-year-old kid in you is amped about how this looks or how, like, what it could do, even if you're not doing that. So that's still a form of car enthusiast. This is the last one.

• 1:37:51Matt Farah?

  CPO Speed Avant, tell me why a H2 Hummer seems kind of sick right now as an alternative to a Land Cruiser for an off-road slash overland build. I feel like enough time has passed, the douche factor has worn off and we can appreciate them for the overbuilt machines they are. Twenty-five years, bro. It's been 25 years. I mean, when a car is 25 years old, it's, it's now cycled back to being ironically cool and five to seven years after that, it becomes truly cool again, like Volvo wagons or whatever, right? So we're, we're seeing that now.

• 1:38:30Matt Farah?

  And yeah, if you were to have like a minty mint H2 Hummer that wasn't like super broed out and/or was modified in like a sort of tasteful way, it could be ironically cool and now like moving towards a regular cool.

• 1:38:46Speaker 01

  Well, also, if you want to build an off-road overland vehicle, like, it's a Tahoe, but I think it has better approach and departure angles. Like, it's a very solid off-road vehicle and when they were new, you were trying to say, I'm really into Hummer. I'm into military vehicles, even though these aren't, but it's like the, the weak successor. But now you're like, I've made a smart choice on finding something that's probably pretty inexpensive. So I think in that regard, you know, if you're on the trail and the thing's doing well, you will actually get a lot of people saying, how is that?

• 1:39:15Matt Farah?

  Yeah.

• 1:39:16Speaker 01

  Are those pretty good? And you're like, yeah, it's actually doing a really good job. I think they did the Rubicon when they were stock.

• 1:39:20Matt Farah?

  No, they were good off-road and they are good off-road and their resale value is shockingly high. They're expensive to buy one of those things still.

• 1:39:28Speaker 01

  See, that's wild. If I'm gonna get it, I hope it's a bargain. I mean, Land Cruisers are very expensive, but, uh-

• 1:39:33Matt Farah?

  A shitty one is probably cheap, but a good one is a lot of money.

• 1:39:37Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:39:38Matt Farah?

  I mean, if you look at the auctions, fucking H2s are not cheap.

• 1:39:41Speaker 01

  That's crazy.

• 1:39:42Matt Farah?

  Yeah.

• 1:39:43Speaker 01

  Yeah. Get it? LS Power? Sure.

• 1:39:47Matt Farah?

  Right, folks. Thanks for joining us today. I appreciate y'all. We're back Friday afternoon with Jethro Bobbington, who is in town because he is gonna, he's doing some car shit here and then he's riding up with me. We're taking an eight-hour road trip from LA to Thunder Hill in a, in a Hyundai to go to Performance Car of the Year.

• 1:40:06Speaker 01

  Nice.

• 1:40:07Matt Farah?

  Yeah. Not exactly the Turbo S, but the Hyundai TCR. We're, remember all the bullshit we had to, to try to get this thing on the track and ultimately they wouldn't let us? Well, we're just taking one on the track for Performance Car of the Year, so-

• 1:40:21Speaker 01

  Well, Hearst has different insurance.

• 1:40:23Matt Farah?

  They do.

• 1:40:24Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:40:25Matt Farah?

  They do. So, but Jethro will be here on Friday, Zach will post the event. The Pen Collab with Tactile Turn is up now, available to the public to purchase by the time, not, not today, Wednesday, we're recording this tomorrow, Thursday, by the time you're hearing this, regular audience. So hit the link in the show notes to get one for yourself, last a lifetime, beautiful gel writer pen. And thanks to our patrons for supporting us, we appreciate y'alls. See you next time. Bye.