Miata Ride & Drive / Jalopnik Film Festival 2015
Well, that was an interesting weekend. Two events were happening at the same time: the Jalopnik Film Festival, which featured a screening of Adam Carolla’s film, Winning: The Racing Life of Paul Newman as well as a Q & A with the man himself, but it was also the big Rennsport Reunion V at Laguna Seca–and I was determined to attend them both. Right now we’ll concentrate on the former, but don’t worry, I have plenty of Porsche content to come.
The adventure began when Art and I departed from my pad in San Jose. Behind that sexy thin A-pillar, you can see El Toro, the big hill located in Morgan Hill (fun fact: the town was actually named after a person–Morgan Hill).
This part of California has that high desert vibe going on. The scenery brings to mind Kyuss, but we were probably listening to Battles.
At one point we turned off at an interesting side road; its tarmac was relatively fresh and although straight, it was very, very wavy.
See what I mean?
Anyway, after these brief shenanigans we got back on the road.
A few short hours later we were in “Los Angeles”. Actually, I think our hotel was in Sherman Oaks and the film festival was in Santa Monica. As locals will know, that would probably involve a quick blast on The 101 to get to The 405 and down to The 10. However, not only is that paint-dryingly boring, but by 3:00 Google Maps was telling me the whole route was gridlocked anyway.
So we got to experience what, in my opinion, is the best part of LA: driving in the canyons. Although I have to say, anything involving a stoplight in southern California is eye-watering, and those are a necessary evil if you want to get to and from those brilliant canyons.
When we arrived, it appeared they had managed the attendance well. Although the (free) Ride & Drive was listed as “sold out”, the crowd was modest.
When I arrived, I got through the slowest part: signing in and getting a pass. I watched cars go back and forth and waited a few short minutes for my name to be called.
They had a bunch of different trim and color combinations there, although oddly enough they didn’t have the one color I’m most interested in: “Blue Reflex”.
Satisfyingly, I got to drive the exact model I’d want: a manual transmission Club trim with the BBS/Brembo package. I wish the premium audio, only available in the Grand Touring trim with leather and all that crap, was a standalone option like on European cars.
From the back, I’m digging the baby F-Type thing. The interior is actually quite good. But that front end? I dunno, man. It makes me want to wait for the refreshed model before I would even consider buying one.
As for the driving? Well, it was okay. There was a 25 mph “speed limit”, but worse than that, the course was EXTREMELY tight.
I mean, it was mostly hairpins that were like U-turning on a two lane road. So I guess the turning circle was impressive, but you couldn’t really carry any speed. Although some people did try, with hilariously understeer-y results.
If anything, the pillow-like suspension of the Miata was demonstrated to full effect. From it looking pretty sporty on one side…
…to looking like it’s going to take off on the other. Miata’s have always had a certain degree of body roll built in, but with the state of tire technology these days it’s kind of ridiculous in my opinion.
The OEM splitter/lip kit looks pretty good, right?
If you haven’t seen Patrick George of Jalopnik crashing a Camaro at a press event, please click this link and watch the video. At least look at the screenshot of the video after you click that link. Go ahead, I’ll wait.
Okay, now we’re on the same page. And so must have been that guy playing Forza Horizon 2. Car is understeering? Just add more steering angle!
What was the name of Mazda’s engine technology?
You know what? I love race cars. They’re just so purposeful. Yeah, things may have been better in “the good ol’ days”, but the modern stuff is still awesome.
Exhibit A: carbon fiber and downforce.
At this point, I went out and checked out some of the cars in the parking lot. As we all know, parking lots at gearhead events can be as entertaining as the events themselves. This E28 535i had the sexy Euro headlights, and the nasty US-spec bumpers were tucked for a slim look.
This is Matt Farah’s Fox Body Mustang. It’s an SSP model, which means it was a stripped out V8 powered car originally sold to the California Highway Patrol as an unmarked pursuit vehicle. It now has a Ford Racing 302 crate engine and Cobra IRS, and it rolls on a square 295/35/18 setup. Very cool.
As I was standing around shooting, a Morgan Three-Wheeler drove up, driven by none other than Alex Roy. Of course, all the cameras came out.
I’d never seen a Morgan, so this was a pretty cool opportunity.
A few minutes later, Alex Roy re-appeared and applied a Jalopnik sticker to the back of the car.
This was a pleasant surprise. Wait, what? A dirty Volkswagen VR6 with an aftermarket intake..?
Well, would you look at that. Isn’t that awesome? The “Emmkay Four” is a shockingly lame car in stock guise, and what most owners do it these days is dreadful. But this is one of the coolest examples I have ever seen.
It had a pretty cool gauge setup, and even a half-cage (not pictured). The owner uses it for track days, surprising much more exotic material with his nose-heavy little monster.
As it got darker, I synced up with Art as we anticipated the start of the film. Just hanging out near the Mazda prototype race car were the Car Cast team, Adam Carolla and Matt D’Andria. I can’t remember how it started, but as usual Art, the master of blab with the gift of gab, struck up a conversation and we chatted with them for quite a while–in fact, right up until we had to go inside the hanger because the film was finally about to begin.
So how was the film? In a word, excellent. Although the acoustics in the hangar were awful, the plastic folding chairs were very uncomfortable and too close together, and the A/C was blasting, I was captivated. Of course the subject matter was already going to be interesting; Paul Newman had a fascinating life and the people he knew were very interesting to listen to. It was well directed and edited, and overall I really enjoyed the film.
The Q & A afterwards was equally entertaining, with Matt Farah interviewing Adam Carolla, who was quite obviously pretty drunk. However, after about two questions he was sharp as a tack and then only got better until ‘they’ just cut the whole thing off. I thought that was a bit odd, but before that he had some great moments railing on Tom Cruise, condescending an audience member who was “disappointed not to have seen more clips from the original Winning film” (WTF? haha), and explaining why he didn’t buy the last car Paul Newman raced (a C5 Corvette; Carolla thought it was “too new” at the time, but he regrets the decision now).
Afterwards, there was a party with Justin Bieber’s DJ or something. The literal translation would be “loud music and alcohol”, although I have to say that this event definitely attracted its share of eye candy as well, so it wasn’t a total letdown. Through a set of completely coincidental circumstances, when we finally walked outside there were just a few people standing around and a few cars left in the parking lot. Among them was the owner of this BAC Mono.
Another dude had a Spa Yellow Honda S2000, and another with a WRX was showing pics from his recent trip driving at the Dunsfold Aerodrome (aka Top Gear Test Track). Even Patrick George, the Undersecretary of Understeer, was there inquiring about Art’s 993. Truly a gathering of real petrolheads.
At some point, after all the crew had gone home and it was pretty dark, we saw a lady come through to clean up the parking lot. At this point, we decided it was probably a good idea to call it a night, and headed out.
The next morning was the Rennsport Reunion…coming next.
Dad Car
Some people are immune to compromises. If I were about to bring a child into the world and needed to adjust my vehicular stable to accommodate, I would set aside my need for speed and sportiness.
Yeah, I would probably roll with my family in something like that: safe and new. Not even a badass all-wheel-drive version packing well over 300hp, either–I’d go with the FWD fuel miser. At least Volvo offers a “Sport Package” sort of option that gets you a stiffer and lower suspension, bigger wheels, and sexy seats. But that is practically the definition of a compromise—“okay, it might be an automatic Volvo wagon, but at least it has the Sport seats!”
If you’ve been following this site, you’ve seen his E30 M3, E82 135i, i3, and Porsche 993. What you’re looking at is Art’s newest car. This is a man truly not given to compromise. When life called and a suitable family car was needed, the only answer was Unicorn.
The requirements were deceivingly simple: it must be a sporty four-door sedan or wagon. Always keeping money on his mind, it should also be something that would either depreciate very little or even appreciate. That crossed almost every new car off the list, so the search extended to modern classics.
That’s where this E36 M3/4/5 fits the bill perfectly. Perhaps riding the E30 M3 wave, or perhaps because they’re cool cars in their own right, the E36 M3 has essentially stopped depreciating and begun its upward appreciation curve.
And as a tool for the job? It’s ideal. E36’s are in the “Goldilocks zone” of cars; you can cruise with four adults in comfort, yet narrow roads and city parking spots are no problem.
What about compromises? There are none. It does everything it needs to do and its only deficiencies relate to its age (like the condition of certain wear items, or the presence of a 5-speed–as opposed to 6-speed–gearbox).
One thing you should know about Art is that he is not fond of sunroofs. Not only are they unnecessary weight strapped to the worst part imaginable (the very top), there’s one other huge consideration with this car in particular: E36 sunroofs are terrible. Twenty years later, most E36 sunroofs are either rattly, non-functional, or both.
Look at the roof on this car. Right, there’s nothing there: this is a sunroof-delete car, aka slicktop. By default, all US-spec M3’s until the E92 were equipped with sunroofs; if you wanted a slicktop, you had to special order the car with a sunroof delete. Since Americans tend to buy their cars straight off the lot instead of waiting three months for a special order to arrive, US-spec slicktop M3’s are very rare.
And again the refusal to compromise comes back. Because believe it or not, even though the E36 M3/4/5 is the perfect car for Art’s situation, he would not have bought it unless it was a unicorn-spec sunroof-delete car. Somewhat hard to fathom–unless you refuse to accept a compromise.
As far as we can gather from internet research, there were 75 total Dakar Yellow E36 M3/4/5’s made, but no one knows how many are slicktops. In addition to that, there’s no data concerning interior colors. Given how few slicktop sedans were made in general, this is a very rare car in North America. So far I’ve found three other cars that meet the “DYE36M345” criteria, but none had a black interior like Art’s. Do you have a Dakar Yellow slicktop E36 M3/4/5? If so, we’d love to see it!
Another Flavor of Interesting
I’ve been going to car shows all my life; my dad used to take me to anything from huge car shows to small local meets. But these days, while the show car scene still interests me, I always find myself being way more attracted to the things I find in racing paddocks.
Now granted, I’ve been hanging out in ChumpCar paddocks lately. You’ll find a metric shitload of BMW E30’s.
All the usual suspects are present. This part, I admit, is usually not so exciting.
But there are always exceptions, like this pair of chopped RX-8’s.
Well, it’s definitely interesting.
ChumpCar recently added a class called “ChumpModel” which is basically late model V8 stock cars. There were only a handful of cars out there, but at least they sounded great.
I love checking out spectator cars. This SS was a treat; for some reason they are very rare back home in Northern California, and I don’t even think I’ve seen a white one.
Not only that, but the marshals are enthusiasts too. This Grand Wagoneer was absolutely immaculate.
Speaking of spectators, I was pretty excited to see two of my favorite BMW sedans: the E28 M5 and E90 M3.
There was no one around to talk to, but I did my best to capture the interior. If this NA-spec M5 is an original black interior car, then it’s incredibly rare! If it’s a conversion, they did a great job.
It’s not just cars, either. The first motorcycle I ever rode in my life when I was probably 8 years old was something that looked exactly like this: a Honda CT70. Note how there’s only one lever on the bars, and it goes to the brakes–yup, it’s got a semi-automatic transmission. Just lift the throttle and click the gear lever to shift. Easy enough for a child!
I’m a huge 993 fan so when I saw this Riviera Blue track special sitting in a garage, I just had to take a closer look. I came back a couple times over the weekend and finally got lucky–the owner came out and we chatted for a bit. Expect an article dedicated to this car in the near future.
As usual, shenanigans were had…
…and gearhead jokes were made.
But after a weekend of sprint racing, an epic event was to take place: the ChumpCar 24 hours of VIR! An actual twenty-four hour race from 2 PM on Saturday to 2 PM on Sunday–pretty wild. I watched the first few laps of that, and promptly packed up because I had to fly back to California. In closing…
Constant Refinement
When it comes to modifications, Porsche is an interesting brand because both ends of the originality spectrum are well-represented. On one hand, you have the purists–people who think each Porsche was a vision of Teutonic perfection the day it rolled off the line in Stuttgart. Unlike some marques, however, there also exists a strong contingent of people who exist solely to modify and enjoy modified Porsches.
Well, if it wasn’t obvious already, the content on this site leans toward the latter viewpoint. Sure, it’s always interesting how manufacturers prepare cars (especially sports cars) and there’s definitely something to be said about preservation, but virtually every single car ever created has some room for improvement.
The Porsche 993 is no different. Although it was a beautiful, great handling car already, there is definitely room for improving on its factory spec.
For example, the wheels. Aesthetically, I actually like the stock wheels, but they’re just way too narrow for the car. A set of Fikse FM10’s in 18×8.5 and 18×10 fill out those sumptuous “narrow” arches, and the Bridgestone RE-71R’s they’re wrapped in provide an incredible improvement in the level of mechanical grip.
On the inside, the boat-sized tiller and flimsy OEM leather shift knob have both been binned in favor of a brand new Momo Monte Carlo and a Rennline knob. Given that you’re in constant contact with these two items, it only makes sense to get something new and high quality.
Even the little things can be big. In 1968, Porsche moved the wipers on the 911/912 from the right to the left side. It seems counter-intuitive, because putting those wipers in front of the driver subtly blocks forward visibility, but they had a reason: apparently when driving very fast in the rain, water streaks up the windshield when using intermittent wiper settings, and parking the wipers on the driver’s side ensures a clear view. However, in California where it hardly ever rains, dry weather visibility is the paramount concern. So, he flipped the wipers.
Of course, there’s more to be done; Art’s not quite to the stage where the only thing he’ll want to change is the reading on the odometer, but at least the foundation has been laid.
After this photoshoot, he got a proper alignment (apparently 993’s are pretty complex in that area) and took it to a local autocross, where the local hard drivers gave their explicit approval.
In the meantime, it’s being driven constantly. Imagine that–driving a driver’s car!
Just like making modifications, there are some people who believe you shouldn’t drive these cars. Not many people will state outright, “You should not drive your 911,” but when 20-30 year old cars with 80,000 miles are considered High Mileage, I think an attitude adjustment is needed. It’s not a Honda Civic, but it’s not a temperamental exotic either.
While I do like a showroom-fresh example, that goes against the whole ethos of such a great driver’s car. 911’s belong in the wild, on a road or track.
Porsche produced one of the best driver’s cars of all time, and it really bothers me that the recent value explosion of 911’s has inspired people not to get behind the wheel, but to hide these cars away, not driving them as if they’re some sort of investment piece. Which, unfortunately, is exactly what they’ve become.
So if you have a Porsche…go and drive it! What are you waiting for?
Star Road 