Venting

Okay, had to vent a little bit. Yesterday I was listening to Matt Farah's Smoking Tire podcast and he had Betim Berisha of BBI Autosport on. Now BBI being a Porsche tuner shop I was excited to listen. Until Matt just started craping all over 996s, ugly headlights, ugly interior, crap engine, etc. Now I do like Farah for the most part. Some of the things he says I don't agree with, but overall I like his podcast and some of his youtube videos. But why does he have to **** all over my beloved 996? I mean I get it, you could make the case that our engines are essentially made from blown glass and have a habit of self destructing with no warning. That I get. But I also believe the 996 to be a spectacular performance bargain. A beautiful car with some not too shabby performance can be had for less than the price of a Camry. Of course I sing the praises of the 996 now, I might not if suddenly my engine decides it has had enough of life and wants to go on to the great Stuttgart in the sky. On the other hand, maybe I want people like Farah crapping on our cars. It may keep the prices down so that if my car decided to die I could buy an affordable one, open heart surgery the engine into my black beauty and sell the other one off for parts. Okay. End rant. Time to go drive and enjoy the beautiful flat 6 sounds on this gorgeous saturday.

Yeah, this from a guy that owned a C5 Corvette for years. C5's aren't known to have great interiors either but for the money, they are great cars (and their stock flip up headlights are woefully inadequate). I find him to be a bit arrogant and condescending. I watch a lot of his One Takes but usually get bored with them after a few minutes in. I think the DriveTribe guys are the best car reviewers on YouTube now. I think the headlight thing is subjective as they don't bother me at all and the interior is just fine. As you said, bang for the buck with a 996 is pretty hard to beat. Now, the engine issues are another story but that is why you can get these cars so cheap. I'm sure if they didn't have the inherent issues they would be easily twice the price. If you go in knowing what they are and just drive the car I think most would say they really like them. I think a lot of guys like Matt feel that as a motorsports "journalist" they need to say these things for their image, kind of like bagging on Miata's as a chick car.

I find his position a little hypocritical since he did one of his smoking tire videos in a 996 and did nothing but praise how it handled etc. As soon as I hear someone mention the headlights or the interior (yeah if you get the cheap-sh*t plastic/soft touch paint it's pretty lame, but the leather is beautiful) as a way to diminish the car (especially at the $15 - 25k price-point) I know that a) they actually know very little about the car and/or (b) they're just parroting something they heard someone else say... Take it with a grain of salt and move on.

If our entertainers (and I include him in this group - he's not a journalist) are good at anything nowadays it is making everything extreme. There is no fence sitting anymore. You don't like one a little more than the other. You hate one and love one. Get used to it.

Matt Farah is like a bald Guy Fieri. Who gives a **** what he says.

He owns a fox body, a C5 and recently had a Ford Focus. Sure seems like he loves ****ty interiors & mediocre designs. That said, Matt has nothing but love for the m96/97 soundtrack. He's also stalking the GT3 market at all times based on his commentary. It appears he's part of the Water-Cooled Weenies Club (WCWC). Air-cooled cars are simply too rough, 996s lack sport-chrono & a full leather 997 or higher is all that can satisfy a guy that's perfectly fine with the crappiest interior to ever grace a supercar (C5 vette). He's probably just frustrated that m96s don't have the drivetrain reliability of a C5 vette, so he has to wait until he can afford his membership to join the WCWC.

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Water-cooled weenies club! I love it

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I saw that video as well, and I thought it was odd that on his podcast he specifically said he thought the 996 rode badly and didn't handle well. So yeah, you're definitely right he is being a bit hypocritial. I don't know why it bugged me, I know how awesome our cars are, and why I love them.

My 996 is my favorite car and I have a pretty broad collection including an exotic...I am always amazed why people are so against it. I'm with you guys.

Matt's take on the 996 reminds me of how Clarkson hated 911s and BMW owners. I wasn't happy when my E46 M3 buddy told me to check out this 2-hr long podcast that craps all over the 996. But I see his point about the wonky handling. I have a suspension issue that's been diagnosed as "needs new shocks/springs" even though 2 other shops took a look and see everything perfectly intact and working flawlessly. The IMSB point that Matt was making has more to do with how a professional (expert) might make a recommendation. McDonalds has a very low NPS (Net Promoter Score), yet many many people eat the food, but far fewer people actually recommend McDonalds food to their friends. You cannot in good faith tell a friend that a 996 is a smart purchase knowing the IMSB issue. You basically have to warn them about the risks, and therfore, unless you really know what you are doing with these cars, they are not good cars to recommend.

I've seen a few videos where people say the 996 is ugly. I don't get that. You can dislike the headlights but the overall look of the car is pretty much the same as 911's from other generations.

Who is the editor? Probably none, right? If it is one guy creating his own material without an editor first reviewing the material, then it is always suspect. You never know the difference between providing honest facts vs. using alternative facts and spin for the purpose of self promotion. Just one guy forming opinions on what he read on the Internet without providing any backup data or quotes. This doesn't sound like quality journalism.

Matt is like Chris harris from when chris was doing his own YouTube video and was pupular but not a star. He's arguably now a star. So yeah, he's trusted, but again, he also has opinions.

Enough with these opinionated entertainers who never work on the cars they review, never bought them and know less about them than a Rennlist noob. Instead, recommend a site where practical gearheads review interesting cars. Such guys are never stars but they do speak a language closer to ours. Here is an example: Zentrose - You Tube He has lots of other videos with wrenching included + junk. https://www.youtube.com/user/ZentRose/videos