The Carmudgeon Show

Jason and Derek open up their review archives once again and share stories about the cars they've driven over the years.  === Click here to join the Hagerty Driver's Club: https://bit.ly/Join-HDC-Cammisa-Rev The Carmudgeon Show Sponsor, Vredestein Tires: https://www.vredestein.com/ === In this episode, the boys ponder the meaning of a Jaguar “175 Edition”, give praise to the best rear wiper integration ever, debate if a Juke can be cute, and wonder how many cylinders power the illustrious Dodge Nitro. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Is there such a thing as a car so perfect that it doesn't need any modifications? === Click here to join the Hagerty Driver's Club: https://bit.ly/Join-HDC-Cammisa-Rev The Carmudgeon Show Sponsor, Vredestein Tires: https://www.vredestein.com/ === Jason and Derek have modified many of the cars in their personal collections, which makes Jason wonder: is any of those cars so good that any modification would make it worse? The discussion begins with a look at both Jason’s and Derek’s personal fleets and the modifications (if any) they did to them: Jason’s daily driver Mk7 Volkswagen e-Golf, his beloved but heavily modified Mk2 Scirocco 16V, the bat-shit bitch basket Mk1 Cabriolet, and even his OEM+ E30 wagon. Derek divulges his vast 964-chassis Porsche 911 mod list, and talks W124 wagon mods before they both look back at some of the cars they’ve sold: MKIII Golf, Elise, Isuzu Pup, E39 BMWs, and more!    But were the modifications they installed necessary fixes for factory deficiencies, or simply a matter of personal preference? Then they get down to business – what car(s) left the factory perfect? Candidates up for debate range from: Cadillac’s CT4 and CT5 Blackwing Alpha-chassis Chevrolet Camaros Chevy SS sedan Aston Martin V12 Vantage S 7-speed Honda S2000 Nissan 240Z Ferrari 308 GT4 Mercedes W201 (190E) Mercedes W202 C43 Mercedes R129 500SL / SL500 E39-chassis BMW 5-series Various Porsche 911 models And more! What do you think? What car(s) were perfect from the moment they left the factory floor? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Derek and Jason own many cars and once in a while, many of them break. Or receive really cool upgrades. It's time for a car-nerd fleet update! === Click here to join the Hagerty Driver's Club: https://bit.ly/Join-HDC-Cammisa-Rev See: https://www.vredestein.com/ And: https://www.radwood.com/socal-2024 === The boys start with discussing "de-advanced" ignition timing on the Rover SD1 — and Jason did his first-ever brake master cylinder rebuild. But the big issue is that Jason wants to downsize his fleet (he still has 10 cars) but loves the different experience that each car offers. The Rover has a big (ish) lazy V8 and is unlike anything else Jason has. Derek wants to be done with his Citroën CX because it sprung a hydraulic leak, but then found the Citroën community — and, hopefully, someone to work on it. And so maybe it'll stay.  Thanks to Derek's guilt, 9 of Jason's cars have fresh brake fluid — which doesn't seem like a big deal, but doing 9 brake-fluid bleeds is time consuming. And worse, Jason discovered that his E30 Touring still had ATE Super Blue in his car. Which confirms that it was at least a decade old. Derek's Porsche 944 no longer has a 14-year-old timing belt, which means it can be driven to Radwood SoCal (hopefully on new Vredestein tires, no less!) Jason and Derek talk about today's ridiculous trend of people changing timing belts at 3, 4, or 5 years, with no mileage on them. This is an epidemic in the Ferrari community — when mechanics happily double the recommended replacement interval.  Jason has been suspecting that his VW Cabriolet is suffering from SMS: the dreaded transmission self-machining syndrome that kills many 020 transmissions. But after some exploratory surgery, it really now seems like a bad wheel bearing. That would figure, since Beatrice the E30 (the 1989 325i) also needs a wheel bearing after completing a track day (with Randy Pobst as an instructor on Sonoma Raceway.) These tend to come in pairs. Just not on different cars! Derek suspects his S124 E320 wagon (with the dogleg 5-speed and 3.6-liter swap) has bad wheel bearings, too. More urgently, Derek is having a Motronic Month: he's finally troubleshooted some strange running on his Porsche 964, which has gotten progressively worse over the last decade. He also found that one ignition module had failed, so it was running on half of its spark plugs. A new idle control valve didn't fix it, but swapping a DME (engine computer, or ECU in non-Porsche speak) from his dad's 964 fixed everything. Jason's buddy's 993 is doing the same thing — so Derek might have just inadvertently found that car's problem. Jason had never heard of rebuilding an ECU (except on Honda Beats) but thats' it. Jason's cars mostly don't have DMEs, and he's been fighting with ignition timing on both of his 16-valve Volkswagens (the Scirocco and Cabriolet) and wonders if he just should upgrade all the old cars to a Holley EFI or Megasquirt. Derek found a hard top for his R129 Mercedes SL, in Florida, but shipping was too expensive. So he found a local one in the wrong color . Jason has once done that, with the wrong color hardtop on his 996 for track use, and Derek also bought a very expensive new softtop for that SL. RIP by the way to Bruno Sacco, to Mike Valentine, and almost to Jeremy Clarkson.  The R129 SL500 / 500SL is the best deal in the collector-car world, period.  Jason did another (for a total of three) Power Acoustic CP-71W Single-DIN wireless Apple CarPlay head unit. He loves them. And that's before the $140 (+ tax) pricing. Except that he won't put one in the Mercedes 190E 2.3-16 because the Becker is too iconic. Or the Beat, because of the Gathers (Honda) head unit in there. Or the e31 850CSi. Continental and Blaupunkt make retro-looking radios, but Becker's original units can be retrofitted with Bluetooth or Aux In. Porsche Classic PCM unit is amazing, but it's far too expensive for non-Porsches. Says Jason. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If you put someone from 1985 in a modern car, what would they be most surprised by? Hint: Why is it so much easier to get a speeding ticket today? === Click here to join the Hagerty Driver's Club: https://bit.ly/Join-HDC-Cammisa-Rev === The Carmudgeons chat briefly about Jake's Honda CR-Z — a manual, hybrid, very good-looking car — and why it doesn't have a K20 or K24 instead. The main point of discussion, though, was started by Jason's drive in his Scirocco looking at how high 1980s cars rev on the highway. And he explains why '80s cars are geared so short (it's to achieve their relatively low top speeds at their relatively high-rpm power peaks.) In discussing this, Jason explains how German car companies chose their top-gear ratio. (Hint: it's to maximize top speed.) But there are, of course, other major changes since the 1980s — and not just things like keyless-start and infotainment. Or just power.  NVH, mostly as a function of torsional rigidity, has changed dramatically. And with it, safety. Including things like ABS, ESC, AEB, FCW, and then of course all the other driver aids we take for granted today.  Including the ones like BAS — brake assist — which several times accidentally almost caused Jason to have a crash. (Or make someone else crash.) But... Jason does describe a few times he experienced modern automatic braking systems have actually avoided an accident that WOULD have happened. One in a VW and one in a Mercedes, that could have caused him to hit pedestrians. It was a triumph of modern safety technology. Also, cars have grown tremendously in size and weight. And the total area of the glass has shrunk considerably, so visibility has changed for the worse.  So has ride quality — today's cars have far stiffer suspension, coupled with large wheels and small sidewalls. 1980s cars often rode more smoothly than today's cars. And much more! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices