For the price of the new 2025 Taycan GTS (Gray), I could have purchased *three* of my 2022 Taycan 4. THREE. But nomnonomnom this active ride shit makes mine feel like driving a waterbed.
Should ALL cars have automatic headlights that can't be turned off?
From episode 1071 of The Smoking Tire Podcast
We Won!!!!!!!! @mateosiderman @tommykendall11 @jonnylieberman @pops710garage @openthrottletrackdays full recap on this week’s podcast.
Great times racing with @worldracingleague today! Still one more race to go but so much fun out there and my laps in the @openthrottletrackdays number 62 will not bring shame to my family name, even if I can’t quite catch the legend or the kid!
I’m feeling a little red with these two offerings on @bringatrailer from @westsidecollectorcarstorage ! First up: a gorgeous Carmine Red 992 GTS RWD with manual transmission and only 9k miles! Presents like a third of that. Then we have the best-kept Alfa Spider Veloce you’ve ever seen! One fastidious owner since 1995!!!! Bidding open get in the game!
Race weekend! My first @worldracingleague race! Driving this sweet little 235i-R from @openthrottletrackdays and we got a hell of a team! @tommykendall11 @mateosiderman @jonnylieberman should be a real solid weekend - Car feels great in practice. If you’re in Austin this weekend come say hi! 8 hour race tomorrow and 7 hour race Sunday!
This caught @dougdemuro off guard.
Full episode out now.
Auction site top tip from @dougdemuro
The best thing I ever bought....
Back in the custom plate game for my @meyersmanx Fully legal in California!
IG REVIEW: RIVIAN R1S QUAD MOTOR!
- THE GREAT: Every R1X I drive feels built a little tighter, rides a little better, has better body control around corners and over speed bumps. The new wheels look tough, and if I was in the market for a three-row SUV, I wouldn’t be looking anywhere else. The (relatively) short wheelbase, rear steer, and torque vectoring make it the most maneuverable Rivian ever. Laser headlights are a no-brainer in a busy environment, and the inclusion of SiriusXM (even if it isn’t actual satellite) is nice. Fabulous floor mats, interior fit and finish, and visibility
- THE GOOD: “Kick Turn” (aka axis spins) is a fun gimmick with an incredibly niche use case, but in a quad motor, why not have it? The RAD Tuner allows drivers to finely tune the drive experience in a fun and noticeable way - fortunately there is a “revert to stock” button for when you inevitably make the car drive worse than Rivian’s experts. Speaking of which, the R1S still has the fastest steering ratio I’ve ever used in any vehicle of this size - it feels sporty, but also twitchy, moving like an Audi Sport Quattro with the cut wheelbase, or a Lancia Stratos. The longer wheelbase R1T relaxes the handling a bit with the same rack, at the expense of the R1S’s tight turning radius.
- THE NOT-SO-GOOD: Rivian has solved a non-problem with a silly answer here: MORE POWER. Literally no one thought *any* previous Rivian was slow. And now here we are with 1,025 HP and just under 1,200 lb/ft. I assure you the truck does not need this, no drivers need this, and the brakes cannot effectively keep up with this. Can we please stop now? Good bragging points though, as it’s now the quickest three-row ever tested (0-60 in 2.6, the quarter in mid 10’s) and doesn’t seem to negatively affect range.
- THE BOTTOM LINE: The R1S was already the go-to leader in the space, with basically no competitors anywhere close. As the rest of us eagerly await the smaller R2 and R3, Rivian’s dangling one last absurd carrot for anyone returning their Gen1 lease who wants to upgrade to the quickest, most capable, and most refined R1 variant yet. Rivian provided the vehicle, insurance, and a tank of gas.
I put my @roadandtrack business card to work this month! Here's what I wrote: Why We need a term past "hypercar" for the @czinger_vehicles 21C; what it's like to live out of a Porsche 918 for a week; and finding out whether the GTD is really a Mustang GT3 race car for the street by spending a day at the track with both! All now online
