Welcome to The Smoking Tire. Kick ass automotive videos and more.

TST Podcast Ep. 2 Available for Download (iTunes and MP3)

Saturday, January 28th, 2012

 

Hey everyone, here’s episode 2 of the podcast. I apologize for the delay. We had 6 microphones this time, and some had volume issues. So Chris had to go through the entire thing adjusting each moment Thad talked. It took a while but next week we’ll have new gear so this shouldn’t happen again.

 

Last we checked, over 5,000 people had downloaded the first episode and the response online was pretty damn good. This week, we had a guest stop in; our friend and touring comic, Micah “Bam Bam” White. He’s hilarious,  fresh off a tour in Hawaii and he’ll be at the Hollywood Improv tonight. We want to thank you guys for tuning in, we all have a great time doing it and plan to continue each week. If you like it and want to help us out, just spread the word. Share our podcast, and videos or articles you like. Help spread the gospel of TST.

 

Download it on iTunes: Here
Download the raw MP3: Here
Subsrcibe to the RSS feed: Here

Video: Bullrun – Cops, Cars, and Superstars Premieres January 26th!

Tuesday, January 24th, 2012

Back in July, Matt participated in the Bullrun Rally for the fifth time, and the first as a co-driver. He ran with Rob Ferretti of Super Speeders in a 2000 Mustang Cobra R, and made a series of videos which can be found here.

But the Bullrun was also filmed for a TV show, which premieres on MTV2 This Thursday, January 26th, 2012 at 11:30 PM PST. We personally can’t wait to see more of Matt’s exploits on TV, especially since the promo video uses the word “race” several times (we thought we weren’t supposed to do that?). Hit the jump for the trailer, and leave your thoughts in the comments.

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Video: Matt Races Bucky Lasek in Rally Cars on TUNED!

Monday, January 23rd, 2012

If you haven’t been following our new series Tuned on the /DRIVE Network, you’ve been missing out. We started by romping on BBi Autosport’s Porsche Turbo S, then moved on to crusing Grant’s Pass, Oregon in the amazing Decoliner RV by Blastolene. This week, we made it to the Dirtfish Rally School in Snoqualmie, WA, where we learned about rally car building and preparation, while Matt got to race six-time X-Games Gold Medalist Bucky Lasek.

Bucky, much more well known for skateboarding than for cars, isn’t exactly an easy takedown. He spends his weekends at the track club racing his modified Porsche 996 Turbo. He has raced Porsche cup cars at Sebring, Daytona, and all over southern California. And his skateboarding background means he’s used to pushing the limit. But when it comes to rally cars, he has the same 2 days of experience that Matt does. The race is closer than you’d think, but who will win? Hit the jump to find out.

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TST Podcast Raw MP3 Now Available! (Update: Now with RSS Feed)

Sunday, January 22nd, 2012

When we posted the first-ever The Smoking Tire podcast, the response was overwhelmingly positive and it seems like something we’re going to make a weekly thing over here. As of the first 2 days, the podcast has been downloaded over 3,000 times, which is pretty damn good for a first try, especially considering it was only available on iTunes, much to the chagrin of some commenters. Well here at The Smoking Tire, we believe in giving the audience what they want, and we have uploaded the raw MP3 file for those listeners who do not want to use iTunes.

Full transparency: It’s better for us if people do use iTunes, but we do want to let everyone listen to the podcast, so here’s what we’re going to do. Going forward, the podcast will be uploaded to iTunes on Thursdays and the raw MP3 will be posted two days later. If you do use iTunes, please remember to subscribe to the podcast so you don’t miss a thing!

Download the Podcast on iTunes here.

Download the Podcast on MP3 here.

Subscribe to the MP3 RSS Feed here

Image Source: Chronicles of the Nerds

The First-Ever Smoking Tire Podcast is Live!

Friday, January 20th, 2012

(this picture of Matt drifting an R8 on ice has to do with absolutely nothing)

Back in New York, I had the coolest gig. Once a week, myself, Mike Spinelli, and Mike Musto would head down to the Sirius studios and do an hour of live radio for Maxim 108. The show was called “RPM,” and I loved it. So we’ve decided to get back into the live radio spirit and try a podcast, like Adam Carolla’s ridiculously successful one.

So we did what any normal person would do: get a friend to get some awesome audio gear, a whole bunch of micro-brew beers, and talk cars and life for an hour.

Gentlemen and lady (if there are more than one of you leave a comment), welcome to the first-ever podcast from The Smoking Tire. Have a listen, hopefully subscribe, and leave your feedback in the comments. If you like it, we’ll do it again.

The Smoking Tire Podcast

We don’t have full size, but a larger version of the above image here by request.

Video: The Smoking Tire Judges the 24 Hours of Lemons…And Brings a C63 AMG Coupe

Wednesday, January 18th, 2012

The 24 Hours of Lemons is the fastest growing racing series in America, and for good reason: It’s cheap, at least by normal racing standards. Cars must not be worth more than $500, and poor driving is punished with hilarious penalties, dished out by Matt and the Lemons Supreme Court, comprised of Motor Trend’s Jonny Lieberman and The Truth About Cars’s Phil Greden (aka Murilee Martin). As a bonus, Matt is invited to pilot the safety car before the race, so we built our own replica of Formula One’s Safety Cars out of a brand-new C63 AMG coupe. Hit the jump for the video.

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New Episode of TUNED: The Blastolene Story

Monday, January 16th, 2012

Last week, on the season premiere of Tuned, Matt visited BBi Autosport in Huntington Beach to drive a very impressive Porsche. This week, we turn it up a notch. Matt and the crew heads 800 miles north to Grant’s Pass, Oregon to visit the world’s greatest living hot rodder, Randy Grubb and his one-man company, Blastolene (greatest name ever ,BTW). Randy’s story is so good, and his passion for his craft so strong, that we simply had to share it with you. While he is best known for his first-ever creation, Jay Leno’s “Tank Car,” each of Randy’s projects seem to be better than the last. We awarded his semi truck, “Piss’d Off Pete” our highly coveted Best of SEMA award in 2009, and now we’re visiting him to drive the vehicle he’s been building since then. Introducing, the DecoLiner. Look at the picture above and consider this: Randy designed and built this functional flybridge motorhome from scratch, by himself, in his garage, in just over 5,000 hours. If you’re anything like us, your first thought is “Please let me drive that.” Fortunately, when you’re Matt, the answer is almost always “Sure.”

Hit the jump for the video review of this amazing custom vehicle.

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Matt Reviews the C63 Coupe, Lexus CT200H, and BMW R1200R in the January Issue of Road Lanes

Friday, January 13th, 2012

We know it’s been a little quiet around here the past few days, and that’s because Matt and the crew are on a 3,000 mile road trip to film 4 episodes for our new show Tuned on the DRIVE Network. We’ll be back to regular posting on Monday, but for now, check out the January issue of the free online magazine Road Lanes, where Matt reviews the new Mercedes C63 Coupe, Lexus’s new “sporty” hybrid, the CT200H, and the BMW R1200R motorcycle!

Check it out at www.roadlanes.com

Season Premiere of TUNED, Our New Show on the DRIVE Network!

Monday, January 9th, 2012

Some of you may not have heard of Tuned, our new show on the DRIVE Network. Whereas here on The Smoking Tire we tend to focus on factory stock car reviews, Tuned is all about the best custom projects around, from street cars to trucks, offroad to land yachts. In our season premiere, we hit up our old friends at BBi Autosport, who said we absolutely must try their 650 horsepower Porsche 997 Turbo S PDK. The car isn’t just about horsepower, either; it’s got the chassis, suspension, and brake upgrades to match. And as you can imagine, I take it out, drive it hard, and put it away wet. Hit the jump for the video and see what Tuned is all about.

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What the Hell is That?

Friday, January 6th, 2012

by Zack K

Matt and Tom are in Florida right now, getting ready to film the 24 Hours of Daytona. On the road, they saw this odd-looking van with a badge we don’t recognize. An hour of Google later and I still can’t figure out what it is. This is the second time in 3 weeks we’ve seen a car and not known what it is. (Tom brought home a Daewoo rental car disguised as a Chevy Captiva. It wasn’t that Captivating…). If you know what it is, post below. I’m going with Sesto Elemento test mule.

 

EDIT: Thanks to the fans, we found out it’s the VPG MV-1, a car specifically built for handicapped people. Jay Leno had one in his garage. It’s the only car built from the ground-up for people disabilities, solving problems that come with converting a car to accommodate a wheelchair. It can even be fitted to run on Natural Gas, which is ironic since it’s built in the old Hummer H2 factory.