CHEVY ASTRO VAN - Everything You Need to Know | Up to Speed
Donut Media:
(care engine roaring)
(metal scraping)
- Do you have a passion for
the ultimate family mobile?
Something that can handle
a trip to Home Depot
for plywood, Costco for groceries in bulk,
a road trip across America with grandma
to see Mount Rushmore,
and trips to hockey practice
with the entire team?
Well, mama and papa do
I have a car for you.
A car that's not a car.
It's a van.
This is everything you need to know
to get up to speed on
the Chevrolet Astro Van.
(lighting striking)
(upbeat electric music).
Big thanks to this weeks sponsor Audible.
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Now, back to the show.
Before we start talking about vans,
we should first mention the Station Wagon.
The once upon a time stereotypical
American family vehicle.
The Station Wagon dangerously carried
Many-a-restless kid
across the American roads
seat belts optional.
But, in the late 1970s the sale of big
gas guzzling Station
Wagons was on the decline.
The do it all wagons
future was looking grim,
partly due to the gas prices,
but more partly due because
of the new category of cars.
So, in 1984 the Chrysler
van program birthed,
the Plymouth Voyager mini-van.
The first of it's kind, the Voyager was
hugely popular for it's ability
to tote all the kids around,
get better gas mileage
then a Station Wagon,
and, yes, be able to fit
in a garage safely away
from those mean suburban streets,
It was a great all around
package for the modern family,
and GM quickly realized that
hey needed their own version
of the the mini-van.
- Should we make our own miniature van?
- Uh Yeah!
We already have one in the works.
Don't you know about it?
- Uh, 'course I do.
What's it called?
- The Astro
- Astro!
Yep, I said it first.
I knew it, totally knew it.
There's a reason I'm the boss.
Keeping with the space theme that Plymouth
started with the Voyager,
in 1985 Chevy released their all new
not so mini mini-van the Chevy Astro,
A van so sick, it cam time-warp,
and drive on the rings of Saturn.
The boxy middle van and
it's twin GMC brother
the Safari were only 1.5 inches shorter,
and 2 and a half narrower than Chevy's
smallest full-size van.
And, while it was seven inches shorter,
and claimed to be able to fit in a garage,
Chevy quickly acknowledged
their bulked up box on wheels,
and used the middle van
status in their advertising.
- [Man] The new Chevy Astro.
Built to do more than a mini-van can.
- Not a mini-van, not a full-size van,
but a middle van.
The real world giant box mobile
had multiple seating configurations,
allowing you to carry you,
and seven of your so-called friends.
Let's be honest,
they just wanted to sit In those
comfy, cozy, fluffy, cloth bench seats.
Or, you could take out all the seats,
and use it as a cargo van.
Unlike it's mini-van competition,
the Astro was built on a truck chassis,
with a bolt-on sub frame.
The front suspension shared many
of the same components directly from
the Caprice Station Wagon,
while the rear had composite
leaf springs like the S-10.
Engine options on the first year Astro,
were either the 98 Mini Shetland Pony
Horsepower 2.3 liter four cylinder,
or the optional 165
midi-horsepower 4.3 liter V6.
(engine roaring)
And the placement of said engines?
How bout' right under the
front dash cup holders.
You could swap out your battery,
and check the oil in
the mini-hood up front.
But, any serious work
would have to be done
inside the van.
A big bump in between
the two front seats got
covered with a hatch,
and gave way to an access panel,
that once removed exposed
the engine on the Astro.
Mechanics loved it.
The coolest part,
is that you could get it with a manual.
That's right, the base transmission
that the Astro came with,
was a four speed manual which is sick.
And, you could get it with an
optional five speed until 1989.
After that they went full auto.
But, I'm grateful that
it was manual at all.
(chiming music)
By the end of the eighties, the demand for
mini-vans as family vehicles had largley
superseded full size
Station Wagons in the US.
Rest in peace Station Wagon.
It wouldn't be until 1989 that Chevy
would release a more comparable
front wheel drive van
to take on the Chrysler mini-van.
The Lumina APV.
But, that didn't stop GM from also selling
the Astro and the Safari.
People loved it for it's ability
to not only haul kids around,
but also haul stuff around.
The Astro could pull five thousand pounds.
No other mini-van was
pullin' that kind of weight.
It could also carry 1700
pounds in the cargo area.
That's a lot of fat little boys.
- All right kids, let's
go to hockey practice.
- Can we all stop at McDonald's?
- Yeah, I want some nuggets.
- Yeah, I wanna get a Big Mac.
- Yeah, we can get the McDonald's.
- Yay, chunky butts on three.
One, two, three,
- [All] Chunky butts!
- Chunky butts.
- Side note, Chevy marketed
Astro van to fat people.
- [Man] Tired of watching your weight?
If you had a GMC Safari,
you wouldn't have to.
- With a strong commercial game like that,
how could you not want an
Astro if you're a chunky butt?
Towards the final stretch
of the first gen Astro,
GM really started to
turn up the technology.
In 1990, the Astro came
with all wheel drive,
as well as four wheel anti-lock brakes.
Their competitors over at Ford,
with the Aerostar.
Again, another space theme van.
What is the deal?
They didn't have ABS, all right?
And, that's pretty important when you're
carrying your fat little family around.
And you got a space car,
you don't want regular doors,
you want dutch doors.
Two rear doors with flip
up windows on top of 'em.
And Dutch people love 'em.
Also because parents were
complaining about their
fat little kids making a mess,
Scotch Guard Fabric Protection also
became a standard feature with
Astro vans with cloth seats.
The second gen Astro came out in 1995,
and Chevy was deep in the,
let's sell this thing as a tough dude
all family vehicle game.
Load the back up with dirt bikes, sure!
Total horse trailer? Yeah!
The Astro was tough like a rock!
♪ Oh, like a rock. ♪
- But not much really
changed from the first gen
to the second gen Astros.
They got updated headlights to match the
rectangular ones on the Silverado.
There was also only one engine option.
The 4.3 liter Vortec V6.
And, there was only one body option.
The shorter version was ditched,
They did improve that engine hatch in the
center of the two front seats
to increase front leg room,
and help cut down on interior noise.
You know, since the
motor was inside the car?
They improved dash installation too.
You know, 'cause the
motor's inside the car.
(engine roaring)
(tires screeching)
The second gen also got passenger airbags
which by the way, speaking of safety,
the Astro was not safe.
It eventually improved
from a one gold star
rating in 1991, to three gold star rating,
for the driver only in 2000.
If you were a kid in the
eighties or nineties,
and your friends had an Astro,
they were the bell of the ball.
But, if they had a conversion van Astro,
they were the king of the ball.
Companies like Glaval,
Mark III, and Star Craft,
took the bone stock Astro,
and turned them into
lush rich kids basements
on wheels.
The summer road trip van made visiting
your grandparents not all that bad because
you could watch freakin'
movies and play Super Nintendo
all while sitting in the most comfortable
captains chairs on the planet.
Yeah, that's right.
It's a chair for a freakin' captain.
He's the leader of the ship.
If your eyes got too tired from playing
video games or watching
Mrs. Doubtfire on VHS,
because of course it has a VHS player,
You could just crawl on
over to the back bench seat,
fold it down and take a big old nap.
Safe? No.
Comfortable?
You betcha' chunky little butt it is.
- [All] Chunky butts
- Chunky butts
- My friend Vince's dad had an Astro van,
and we played Earthworm Gym for hours.
And we were in the driveway.
The Astro helped put conversion vans
on the map for the masses.
In 1994 there was
roughly 200,000 shipments
of van conversions to dealers.
People all over the world
loved their conversion Astros.
Even this guy, AKA Russian James.
(speaking in Russian)
(retro video game sounds)
The Astro space van would eventually
end in 2005 as well as Chevy mini-vans.
The venture to consolidate
for a single mini-van,
the Uplander.
But, that didn't last long.
Four years later, Chevy left
the mini-van market completely,
and while the majority
of Astro's have found
their way into the hands
of construction workers,
van life hipsters, or
sadly even junk yards,
it still remains as the
not so mini mini-van
that warmed our fuzzy little
nostalgic chunky butts.
(upbeat electronic music)
Project Chevelle: Phase 1 Complete
Speedway Motors:
Alright this is our wrap of what we're
gonna call version 1.0 of Project Chevelle.
From the first time we shot this car it
was 130 horsepower stock Chevelle and
we've tripled that basically now.
And you know it's kind of a hoot to
drive now. Yeah the 383 is great and I
think so far my favorite thing is the
Tremec transmission. It drives better
than any Muncie 4-speed muscle car ever
would.
It's got overdrive it's awesome. It's kind of
amazing that you can put an old car like
this together and even though a lot of
the parts are new I mean it's still an
old car and drive it what is 1200 miles. Well it was 700 to Louisville.
you know you can make it all the way there after having the whole thing apart and not have one hiccup the entire time.
So we did drive it 711 miles to the NSRA Street Rod Nationals and we had a bit
of a thrash leading up to it you know as
these things go there's never enough
time to do what you want to do so you
know a lot of this work was done at
midnight and you know fortunately it
all held together and the payoff of
course was driving it down the road you
know it's nothing better than crossing
the country in an old car. It gave us
no trouble at all you know we didn't add
any fluid or turn any wrenches and you
know had a blast. Driving wise
compared to the way it was what we
started with to what we've got now it's a
completely different car.
You know it still kinda looks the same
but it's sitting on a new suspension.
We actually ended up getting 17 and a half mile per gallon all the way to
Louisville just cruising along in
fifth gear idling along and listen of
those Flowmasters roar.
Wheels, tires I think it was a wise
choice definitely kept that early 70s
muscle car theme. You know the overall
package the sound of the exhaust hittin'
gears on the floor not on the column
this is a lot more fun. Right our goal
was to change the car without ruining
the car you know to make it better I
feel like we did that but it still feels
like we driving a 72 Chevelle. You know
you still have an AM radio and it you
know all those pieces are in the right
place just a little bit better now. The hardest
thing for me was to actually change some
of it because it was such a cool car
right at first but then right after we
change it and we go drive it and realize
the benefits of the new parts it's it's
a no-brainer. You want to put a
suspension like this on a car that's 45
years old you know you want to put a
modern overdrive transmission in it and
you know all the new stuff that we did
it just makes it ten times more fun to
drive. And you know we didn't cut any
giant holes in the car or blast a
rollcage into it or something you know
so it could it could always go back if it had to.
But I really don't know what you want to. Kind of the underlining spirit a lot of the changes I think that I
enjoyed is they were all things that
make it a better driver for daily use
you know. Some of these old cars are just
sitting in somebody's garage with the
car cover on them. Twice a year at the car show they get them out and
dust them off and do antique car things
with them and I don't see ever even hardly
pulling this thing in the garage because
you're gonna use it every day and this
thing just super comfortable to drive
rides really well corners real well. I
wouldn't mind driving it every day if I
had one around. Alright well thanks
everybody for watching this has been a
lot of fun and you know the fun's not
over we've got more projects we want to
do on this car. You know it's kind of a
rolling testbed at this point so you
know there's plenty more to come so
thanks for tuning in. Keep your
suggestions rolling in you know we're
happy to hear what you guys think and
what you want to see us do here. So until
next time thanks for watching.
Mechanic Builds 130mph Rat Rod | RIDICULOUS RIDES
Barcroft Cars:
LOTUS - Everything You Need to Know | Up To Speed
Donut Media:
(classical music)
(engine revving)
(classical music)
(engine revving)
(classical music)
(engine revving)
- It's the British car company
that changed F1 racing forever.
It shares its name with a beautiful flower
and its founder faked
his own death, allegedly.
You guys have been asking for this one
since we started this show.
Ladies and gents, this is everything
you need to know to get
up to speed on Lotus.
(playful music)
Okay guys, Lotus is a
massive story turns out
so bare with me because
I'm going to do my best.
Anthony Colin Bruce Chapman was born
on the outskirts of
London, England in 1929.
His dad ran a hotel and the weather
was always cloudy and damp.
So what was a pasty, British
boy with too many names to do?
Luckily he'd studied
structural engineering
and spent time in the
Royal Air Force Reserves
while in college at the
University of London.
Turns out aeronautical
engineering experience
comes in pretty handy for making
fast, fun, four-wheeled stuff.
It's probably what led to his famous
philosophy about pretty much everything.
Simplify then add lightness.
Colin Chapman's first
project was modifying
a 20-year-old Austin 7 for
local trials racing in 1948.
Trials were basically long endurance races
over a variety of roads and terrain.
The Austin had 15
screamin' shetland ponies
and Colin made enough money with it
to build out a Mark II version
which began the tradition of
numbering all of his cars.
There have been way more
than 100 Lotus models,
so there's only time to
hit a few of the bangers.
But, if you like a lot more
detail and listen to podcasts,
Donut has a new one called Past Gas
that covers some of the rad
automotive history in depth.
Each episode is over an hour
long and no one is there.
It's literally my favorite thing to do.
Check it out wherever
you get your podcasts.
Also,
(burps)
After trials races, Colin tried his hand
at 750cc formula racing.
Working nights in his garage
after his day job at British Aluminum,
Chapman took a third Austin 7 and modified
everything the rules didn't forbid.
He boxed the frame rails.
Added tubular cross members for stiffness.
Beefed up the engine and
replaced the stock tub
with a lighter, more
aerodynamic aluminum body.
He called this the Lotus Mark III.
The first of his creations to sport
the name of a revered flower.
If you want to know why
he picked the name Lotus,
you're gonna have to take your DeLorean
up to 88 mph and go
back in time and ask him
because the dude never
officially told anybody.
But sit tight, the DeLorean is
going to come up again later.
That's called foreshadowing.
(laughing)
It was soon clear that the Lotus
was the fastest 750
formula car in the country.
And other races wanted in on it.
So in 1952, Colin Chapman
and his friend Colin Dare,
two Colins don't make a right,
officially turned his race
car hobby into a business.
The Lotus Engineering Company.
They set up a factory in the empty stables
behind the hotel that
Chapman's dear old dad managed
and got to work moving
horsepower back into the build.
You get it?
It was a stable and now they do car stuff.
Horsepower.
(horse neighing)
Success came quickly with the new
Mark IV model and within two years,
team Lotus was split off
from the engineering company
to be dedicated entirely to racing.
In 1957, Lotus launched the Mark VII.
An open air, street legal track car.
Due to a loophole in the law,
people could buy it as a kit,
pay for it on two separate invoices,
and avoid paying sales tax.
Freaking genius.
One of the purest and simplest
sports cars ever made.
It was Lotus' first big seller
and came to be known simply as the Seven.
Low to the ground and without doors,
some said it was like driving
a motorcycle with four wheels
and since they could be street registered,
you could race them on Sunday
then drive them to work on Monday.
They're very practical.
Lotus sourced engines from
a variety of manufacturers
so their specs almost
always varied over time.
But the general idea was
that even a small motor
could make a 1,200 horse power...
Was that even a small motor
could make a 1,200 pound car go fast
and small motors were easy to get.
The overall concept was
so ridiculously good
that Caterham took over the
rights to build it in 1973.
And they still make
basically the same car today.
Over sixty years later.
(engine revving)
But Lotus was just starting to bloom.
Flush with cash from sales,
the Seven Lotus developed the Elite.
Their first car with a roof.
Kind of a nice feature if you
live in the rainy, rainy UK.
Taking it a step beyond the Corvette,
which had a fiberglass
body on a steel frame,
the Elite had a fiberglass monocoque,
independent suspension and
a .29 coefficient of drag.
That's low even by today's standards.
And it's extra impressive because
it was designed without a
wind tunnel or computers.
Computers didn't even
freaking exist back then.
It was sleek and gorgeous from every angle
and powered by a 1.2
liter Coventry Climax.
(laughing)
Four-cylinder engine that
made it around 95 horsepowers.
Lotus has never really been about
trying to have more power, baby.
It's always been about
power to ratios, baby.
The Elite 1700 pound curb weight,
aerodynamic body and good fuel economy
helped it win its class six times
at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
The Lotus race team
officially entered Formula One
at the 1958 Monaco Grand Prix
with a pair of front
engine cars and did okay.
Once they switched the mid-engine
monocoque Type 25 in 1960,
the Lotus way of looking at things
paid off and the wins started coming.
By the end of 1963, the company
was a force to be reckoned with.
Driver Jim Clark won
seven races that season
and the first of seven
Constructors' Championships
for Lotus over the next 15 years.
Just a couple of years later,
they were also the first to win
the Indy 500 with a mid-engine car.
Back home at the factory,
production of the delicate Elite
gave way to the Elan.
They kept the whole fiberglass body
and added a steel backbone
for extra stiffness.
A basic platform they're
still using today.
It was the first car Lotus
made only for the street.
But with sweet handling,
four wheel disc brakes,
a double overhead cam Ford engine
and the company's new
F1 winning reputation,
people raced them anyways.
So, Lotus eventually built
out Elans for competition
and bumped the 1,500
pound car's horsepower
from 100 all the way up
to 160 sportier ponies.
Around the same time,
Lotus teamed up with Ford
to put the Elan's hot motor
into one of Ford's own cars.
Lotus took the two door Cortina.
It's a beautiful car.
Redesigned the rear suspension
and added lightness, lightness,
lightness, lightness.
Ford homologated it for a
group two touring car racing
and the boxy little 1.6
liter Ford banger sedans
beat everything but the Ford
Galaxies with seven liter V8s.
(engine revving)
Lotus proved again.
They could punch above their weight class.
The 1966 Europa was Lotus' first stab
at a mid-engine street car.
It also looked like it
was designer Ron Hickman's
first stab at designing a
car even though it wasn't.
It's like he spent the entire class
just making the front half beautiful
and then the teacher's like,
"All right, pencils down."
And Colin's like,
"Oh, crap."
Colin wanted to branch
out beyond Ford engine
so they tuned up a 1.5
liter Renault inline-4
and mounted it longitudinally
in the back behind the cockpit.
It was as fun to drive as previous Lotuses
but with no trunk or rear visibility.
It wasn't all that practical.
Meanwhile,
(engine revving)
the new type 49 F1 car was
running a new Cosworth V8
and kickin' some serious,
serious tush all over the world.
It was the first car to use the engine
as a structural part of the chassis.
Lotus was also the first to introduce
big money sponsorships into
racing by painting their cars
with another company's colors and logos.
That is such a huge part of racing today.
They're the first guys to do it.
Sadly, this super town to Jim Clark
crashed in a Formula Two race
and didn't make it out alive.
It was a serious,
serious blow to the team.
But Graham Hill carried the Lotus torch
and won that world championship that year.
Around the same time, Lotus
also developed a gas turbine
powered car with all-wheel
drive for Indy racing.
And the first all-wheel drive F1 car.
I don't think these guys ever slept.
Chapman experimented with
small front and rear wings
on the Type 49 but made a
revolutionary breakthrough
with overall design and aerodynamics
with the next car in 1970.
The Type 72 was wedged shaped,
had inboard front brakes,
side mounted radiators,
torsion bar suspension,
and larger front and rear wings.
The changes were so significant
that it ran 12 mile per hour faster
than its predecessor, the Type 49.
(engine revving)
Once the suspension was sorted,
driver Jochen Rindt
won four races in a row
before dying in a qualifying crash.
Racing for Lotus kinda seemed
like a death wish at this point
but it was just accepted
that racing cars were risky business.
Emerson Fittipaldi jumped in
to the empty driver's seat
for the rest of the season
and held off Ferrari to win
the championship for rent.
That same year, the car
started wearing the colors
of their soon to be longtime
commercial sponsors,
the black and gold John
Player Special Livery,
that is now forever tied to Lotus.
You still need more proof
that Lotus were race car geniuses?
They were the first
constructor to win 50 F1 races.
They even beat Ferrari to punch
who've been racing for seven years longer.
Your last major F1 success came in 1978
after doin' a little extra
aeronautical research himself,
Colin passed his findings to the race team
who went and and shaped the undersides
of the new side pods like
upside down airfoils.
And holy burnoly principal Batman,
the airfoil shaped side
pods sped up the air
traveling underneath the
car creating a vacuum.
(engine revving)
Colin took things a step further
by mounting radiators so that
the hot air they expelled
flowed over the top of the car
and created even more down force.
The design was literally based on a World
War II fighter plane just with
everything flipped upside down.
After ironing out a few kinks,
the new aerodynamically optimized Type 79s
regularly annihilated the competition.
They came in first and
second more often than not
and Mario Andretti won both the Drivers'
and Constructors' Championships in one.
Around the same time,
the first Lotus Esprit
did a slow lot charter to seem.
Reaching 60 miles per hour
in eight to 10 seconds.
That might sound weird.
I know guys.
The mid to late '70s were bad years
for speed on four wheels but hey,
the Esprit was designed
by Giorgetto Giugiaro.
(engine revving)
This time Lotus used a mid-mounted
two liter inline-4 of their own design
that made 140 horsepowers.
In typical Lotus style, the whole car
only weighed 2,200 pounds
so it handled like a champ even though
it could've used...
Where is he?
They wanted to compete with Ferrari though
so in 1980 they bumped
up interior quality.
Gave it a spinny whoosh
engine making 210 horsepowers
and proper exotic car price tag.
In America, we didn't get these
for three more years because you know,
(beep) us, right?
Like almost all specialty sport
car companies of the time,
Lotus struggled to stay in business.
By the '80s, they were selling
fewer than 400 cars a year.
We make more than 400 videos a year.
No, we don't.
We probably do.
They turned to partnering
with other manufacturers
to make extra money and reduce
the prices of their own car.
They helped Toyota develop
the Mark II Supra Celica.
Yeah, I said Supra.
And Toyota gave Lotus engines
for their new Excel model.
But their more infamous connection
was with another U.K. based car maker.
- [Announcer] Live the dream today.
- As the DeLorean Motor Company
struggled to find someone to help them
make their new rear engine
stainless steel sports cars,
Lotus stepped up and said
that they could do it.
If you ever get to see a
naked DMC 12, lucky you.
It's obvious how closely it's
related to the Lotus Esprit.
Now shortly after Lotus
finished the project,
the DMCs went into production in Ireland.
Founder John Z. DeLorean
was busted in an FBI sting
for trafficking cocaine
and his company collapsed.
It was soon found that a
lot of tax payers money
had disappeared in the process
of developing those failed sports cars.
If you wanna learn more about that,
check out this link.
In the mean time, Lotus'
amazing new carbon fiber
twin chassis F1 car has
just been banned by the FIA.
Street car sales were way down
and the entire business was lookin' bleak.
The weight of all that must've
been really hard on Colin Chapman.
And on December 16th, 1982,
he died of a sudden heart attack.
But the conspiracy theorists
and I'm not sayin' that I'm one of them
but know it might be.
They wanna believe that
John DeLorean poisoned him
or that Colin faked his own
death and fled to Argentina.
If he'd been around for DeLorean's trial,
the judge said he would've thrown Colin
in jail for at least 10 years.
Whatever you believe, Colin's philosophy
of simplify then add lightness lived on.
The F1 team did pioneering work
with active suspensions which admittedly
are neither simple or light.
They did pretty well with drivers.
Nigel Mansell and Ayrton Senna
before those guys went on to greatness.
But the Lotus team itself
never reached the heights
it had when Chapman was alive.
The last Lotus F1 car to win a race
was Senna in the active suspension 99T
at the 1987 Detroit Grand Prix.
There's not much worth mentioning
about the F1 team after that so,
you know, we're not gonna.
The production side of
Lotus was also in trouble.
They didn't have any money.
The founder of British car
auctions, David Wickins,
routed up some investors in 1983
and saved the company
for a few more years.
General Motors took control in 1986
then offloaded it in
'93 to Romano Artioli,
a rich ass businessman who
also owned Bugatti at the time.
He bailed quickly and he sold Lotus
to Malaysian car maker, Proton, in 1996,
when Post Malone was only a year old.
While Lotus owners bounced around,
they made a few cool
cars but not much money.
The only front wheel-drive
Lotus ever made,
the Elan M100 Roadster, was launched
as a sports car for the masses.
Under GM's ownership, they poured
tons of money into development
but they never got it back.
This is a shame because a lot of people
called it the best handling
front-wheel drive car ever
but it cost $40,000 back then
and was powered by 130 horsepower
or 162 horsepower Isuzu four-cylinder.
(engine revving)
Sales were cannibalized by much cheaper
and more powerful Corvette and
the brand new rear-wheel drive Miata.
They sold fewer than 5,000
of them over six years
and only 559 of those were in the U.S.
Not exactly the mass market sales figures
that they were looking for.
Then there was the Lotus Carlton
named after the Fresh
Prince's cousin, Carlton,
which was a reworked boxed all sedan
powered by a turbocharged inline-6.
Making 377 horsepower and
419 pound feet of twerks.
Sick.
But,
thing caused 92 grand in 1990.
Desperate to make money, Lotus finally
went back to their roots in 1996.
The new mid-engine
convertible Elise arrived
with a fiber glass body shell
on a bonded aluminum chassis.
The series one had a
Rover 1.8 four-cylinder.
Makin' 118 ponies.
But it has super low center of gravity
and a 1,600 pound curb weight.
A whole slew of special editions followed.
With...
More power, baby.
(engine revving)
Then, Lotus decided to move
all traces of rear visibility
by giving the Elise a roof
and renaming it the Exige.
A revised series two
Elise came out in 2000
with more refined styling.
And by more refined, I mean looked
like a freakin' alien built it.
They ditched the Rover
engines for Toyota 1ZZ-FE
and 2ZZ-FE four-bangers and threw
a supercharged model into the mix.
The naturally aspirated 190 horsepower 2ZZ
pulled a mind bending
1.06 Gs on the skid pad.
Did not to 60 in four and a half seconds.
There were also a million and a half
versions of the series two
so I cannot possibly cover them all.
(engine revving)
The company honestly didn't expect
the Elise to be that big of a hit.
And it ended up saving Lotus' whole ass.
GM used the Elise to
make the Opel Speedster.
Hennessey used it as a
basis for the Venom GT
and Tesla built the
first gen roadster on it.
(engine revving)
In 2009, Lotus debuted their first
all new car since the Elise.
The slightly more practical Evora
with a tiny back seat that you might
fit your Springer Spaniel.
And a mid-mounted 3.5 liter Toyota V6.
They're still in production and now,
they're all supercharged.
They make 400 plus sleek yet buff horses.
(engine revving)
Today, Lotus is owned by Geely.
And the current talk is of
the upcoming fully electric
Evee-ga, E-viga, Eve-ja?
- [Producer] It's Evija.
- Evija.
The new Evija hypercar.
They're only gonna make about 130 of them
but this thing is supposed
to have 1,970 horsepowers
going into all four wheels.
It looks wild.
It's gonna have insane down force.
I don't thinK I'm gonna be able
to afford that one quite yet.
I only make a million dollars
for each of these episodes.
Lotus might be one one of, if not,
the spunkiest car companies
in the history of cars.
Did you know their powertrain department
designed and developed
GM's Ecotec four-cylinder.
They did the LT5 V8 for
the C4 Corvette ZR1 too.
They also designed the cylinder head
on the turbo charged
1991 Dodge Spirit R/T.
They held Aston Martin
with the DB9 chassis.
Helped Nissan tune the suspension
and handling of the new GTR.
And that's only a few examples.
Lotus has touched way more than you think
or way more than I thought
when we started researching this episode.
Through it all,
they made indelible
mark on both motor sport
and the entire automotive market.
- I always like to succeed
in everything I try to do
and I always say, I
always feel that I'm...
Yes, I suppose I am, I
always like to try to do
anything better than I
see it being done before.
- Hi, baby.
(smooching)
Can you hear her chewing? (laughing)
I love you.
And I love you.
(smooching)
Her cue is so cute.
GM Key Fob Programming
DormanProducts:
welcome to dorman products GM key fob
installation video before you begin this
installation is considered simple no car
knowledge is needed
the estimated amount of time to complete
this installation is five minutes please
note once the programmer has been
plugged in
you will have two minutes to program all
new and existing remotes
after two minutes your session will time
out in the vehicle will no longer be in
programming mode programmer will work
for no more than three programming
cycles we recommend reading all
instructions prior to attempting
programming to begin the installation
close and lock all doors next insert the
key into the ignition and turn to IGN on
without starting the engine
insert the programmer into your vehicles
obd2 port located below the steering
wheel
the port may be covered by a faceplate
that will easily pop off once inserted
wait for the programmer to chime
indicating that it is ready to program
the remote press and hold the lock and
unlock buttons on the remote
simultaneously until you hear a chime
buzzer or the door lock cycle
this should take 10 to 15 seconds to
program additional remotes repeat the
previous step after all remotes have
been programmed wait 60 seconds for a
buzzer to sound and remove the
programmer from the obd2 port
yeah
Mini Cooper - Everything You Need to Know | Up To Speed
Donut Media:
- Great Britain, land
of the Beatles, Big Ben,
the Queen, Queen.
It's also home to some of
the most influential cars
ever made.
Jaguar. Land Rover. Lotus.
But one car stands out above the rest.
Or should I say below.
The most British car of all time.
One so iconic that they
didn't change it for 40 years.
It's the best selling
icon of British motoring
that changed car design forever.
It's also really cute.
It is the most British thing
since the queen herself.
Ello govner. This is
everything you need to know.
Ello govner. This is
everything you need to know.
To get up to speed.
Oh my God.
This is everything you need
to know to get up to speed
on the mini.
Mhm.
The mini was built to answer a question.
Yo. How do we fit the most stuff
in the smallest space possible?
The Morris company wanted a car
that was efficient, roomy,
small enough to conquer London traffic,
and still be fun to blast
down in English B roads.
The job was given to Morris
engineer Alec Issigonis.
Who had previously worked
on the Morris Minor,
another icon of British post war design.
In 1952, Morris and Austin had merged
to create the British motor company.
Issigonis and his team
struggled to strike a balance
between a small exterior
and a roomy interior
until they had a major breakthrough
that would influence
economy cars for decades.
They turned the engine sideways
and made it power the front wheels.
This little tweak changed everything.
The transverse engine mounting
saved room in the engine compartment
which made the cabin bigger.
Front wheel drive
eliminated the drive shaft
to the back wheels,
allowing for a flat floor,
making more rear leg room.
Four fully grown adults could fit inside
the impossibly small prototype.
Even more impressive that the capacity was
the cars maneuverability.
The wheels were very close
to each corner of the car,
which blessed it with
incredibly nimble handling.
Issigonis was so committed
to nailing the driving feel,
that Morris converted an air field
into a test track just
so they could fine tune
the handling.
Basically they had the top damn test track
a couple of years before
James May was born.
Once they had perfected the ride
the prototype was ready
for mass production.
While other manufacturers built their cars
on an assembly line,
Morris built their new car on a jig.
Welding every piece of body work together
piece by piece.
The process was slow and meticulous,
but it insured quality
fitment all the time.
This commitment to precision in minis
would soon become one of the
brand's defining factors.
The mini debuted as the Morris Mini-Minor
and Austin Seven in 1959.
And people went batshit over it.
- Whoa! That sounds so familiar.
- Bat droppings.
- The small stature made it
perfect for city driving.
And driving it was fun.
BMC was satisfied with the
public's perception of the mini
as the practical family four seater.
But they wanted the little
rascal to be something more.
Like when my dad told me
I could be so much more
if I just applied myself
instead of just doing the
bare minimum like I always do.
Well guess who's on the internet now, dad.
So Morris did what any parent would do
and signed the mini up for some sports.
BMC prepared cars to be entered
in the Monte Carlo rally
in 1961.
The race took place in January,
meaning the scrappy
little mini has to deal
with icy roads and snow.
All while racing with Ferrari and Lotuses.
The car did okay.
Leading it's class until
suffering an accident
that ended the run.
It was never gonna win with 34 horsepower
but while other cars were
spinning out on the ice,
the mini's front wheel
drive gave it awesome grip
in the crappy conditions.
BMC and Issigonis knew they
were onto something with this
cool little front wheel drive racer car.
Good job you little guy.
Good job you little mini.
You did so good in Monte Carlo.
You did so good in Monte Carlo.
I'm very proud of you.
I think he's a natural.
No one saw the potential better
than English racing legend
John Cooper.
Why is Cooper such a legend?
Oh well nothing huge,
he and his dad only
changed formula one forever
when their mid engine
race car won back to back
championships in the late 50's.
Convincing everyone else to go mid engine.
Influencing race and road
cars for decades to come.
That's it.
No big deal.
Cooper saw the minis racing in Monte Carlo
and was like,
do you guys really want to win?
I can help you do that.
And Issigonis was like.
Okay chap.
Cooper tuned up the tiny
engine to make 70 horsepower
and upgraded the brakes.
The result was the Mini Cooper S.
Ever heard of it?
John Cooper and the
gang took the mini back
to Monico 1964
and kicked everyone's (beep)!
Then they went back the next year
and kicked everyone's (beep) again!
The next year they won again!
But they were disqualified
because they had
the wrong light bulbs in their headlights.
Seriously?
But mini didn't get discouraged.
They came back the next
year and won again.
The repeated success of
the Mini Cooper proved
that you didn't need to
have hundreds of horsepower
and an Italian name to win races.
You just needed heart.
So many people were inspired
by the minis rally outings
that they began to race
minis on their own.
Both the mini class leagues
and against other sports cars.
The go kart like handling
made it a force to be
reckoned with on road courses.
Here's the crazy thing about minis.
They were made for over 40 years with like
a million engine options
and little changes here and there
to make them safer.
But the look hardly changed at all.
To the untrained eye,
the classic mini that
rolled off the assembly line
in 2000 would be nearly indistinguishable
from one made in the early 60s.
That's how much people love the mini.
If it isn't broken don't fix it.
Make little changes,
you don't need to reinvent the wheel.
But this doesn't mean there
wasn't some experimentation
with the mini formula.
God knows we've all experimented.
Hey Chris.
1960 saw the introduction of the mini van.
Not the mini van, but the mini van.
Which was like any other
panel van of the era
but mini.
That same year there was
an estate which is British
for station wagon.
The estate even had wood trim
giving it the nickname Woody.
The next year a mini pickup was introduced
with a bed big enough for like a box.
Perhaps the strangest mini ever
was the mini moke.
And I'm not kidding,
this is actually real.
It's an off road version
developed for military use.
The British army and Royal
Marines took one look
at puny Jeep wannabe and they were like
you know what, mate? We're good.
Lack of military interest
not withstanding,
BMC produced the moke anyway
and it became a cult classic.
But by far the coolest mini variant
was the ERA Mini Turbo released in 1989.
This wide bodied performance hatchback
made 100 horsepower and
was the only classic mini
to come from the factory with a turbo.
It had a top speed of 115 miles per hour
which actually sounds terrifying.
Have you ever driven a mini?
It's scary.
The car was built by
English Racing Automobiles
a company that specialized
in building grand pre cars
in the 1930s.
Minis parent company at the time, Rover,
wanted ERA to build a
performance based mini
in the spirit of the cooper.
Only 436 ERA Turbos were ever sold
and most of them went to Japan.
So they're super dupes rare.
In 1994, BMW bought the Rover group
and development of a new
car started right away.
Rover kept building the classic mini
until BMW sold them to Ford in 2000.
The last classic mini to roll of the line
was built the same way it
had been built for decades.
By hand.
In late 2000, BMW rolled
out the new mini cooper.
The old king was dead,
but his son had taken the throne.
The mini cooper was unmistakably mini.
With round headlights and
a signature white roof.
Yeah it was a little
bigger than the old one,
but compared to other cars on the road,
it was still pretty mini.
Many minis - Heh.
Many mini purists weren't
completely convinced
it was a proper replacement.
But that didn't matter
because the new mini
was an immediate commercial success.
As a tribute to John Cooper
BMW revived the Cooper S
name for the sport version.
The Cooper S was powered by
super charged 1.6 liter engine
making 160 horsepower.
Giving it a better power to rate ratio
than the original.
These things are rad.
The block is cast iron,
so you can tune the hell out of it
without worrying about blowing it up.
And it handles twisty roads
just as well as the old one.
The mini's like yo, dad,
I'm bigger than you.
And I'm faster than you.
Which is the opposite of me.
I am smaller and slower than my dad.
Like the mini of old, the
brand started introducing
fresh models to expand the brand.
You've the mini convertible of 2005
which is great for California
but not ideal for rainy
Britain where it was born.
In 2007, mini introduced a diesel version
which we never got in the
states because we never
get diesel cars.
It's like, hey where's the diesel pump?
And the guys like, uh ...
Across town.
And you're like what.
Yeah we don't really import
that many diesel cars over here.
So ...
2008 gave us the mini club man,
which was a little
longer for more leg room
and had a weird little baby door
on the right side and
barn doors in the back.
In 2011, mini unveiled
their very first crossover.
The country man.
It had all wheel drive.
More ground clearance,
and was all beefed up like
that kid in junior high
who went through puberty over summer break
and beat everyone's (beep) now.
Darrel I know I used to
take your lunch money
but can we work this out?
I'm sorry I'm not a bully anymore.
The country man also marked minis return
to the rally scene.
Both in the backwoods
and rally cross events
all over the world.
The roided out mini won
the brutal the car rally
four fricking times.
Making it one of the
toughest rally cars ever.
The variation in the mini line up
established the brand not
only as quirky, novelty
but a legitimate family to choose from.
The crown jewel in line up being
the John Cooper works model.
These are the fastest minis you can buy.
With turbo charge engines
making 220 horsepower.
They've got functional
break ducts in the front
to keep your breaks cool
while you're tearing up the track.
If you thought mini forgot
about it's heritage,
you're dead wrong.
These things are real sports cars.
I mean it's British racing
green with red stripes.
Those colors don't even match.
It's like Christmas race car.
That's race car as (beep) man.
The mini is truly an icon.
The British love this car.
In 2015, they voted it the
most British car of all time.
Beating out the Land
Rover, the Jaguar E type,
and the horse and carriage.
No car better encapsulates
British sensibility
than this quirky economy car.
All right we obviously missed some things
so feel free to tell us what.
If you have a mini,
let us see them.
Is the new mini really a true mini?
If you're a British girl, hit me up.
Why don't any girls ever message us?
It's all guys.
If you're British, how
often do you say pip pip?
Say what's up to the queen for me.
We got some more shows going on.
We're gonna have a science show,
my buddy's Barts hosting it.
It's gonna be really funny.
And really educational.
And as always, like, comment, subscribe,
and share. Cheerio.
FORD FOCUS - Everything You Need to Know | Up to Speed
Donut Media:
(car engine)
- It's the once upon a time
world's best selling car,
the Escort's modest step brother,
and the vehicle Ford built
to connect with the youth.
(car tires screeching)
A humble four door sedan, a
forgettable coup cabriolet,
and a bunch of sporty models,
that the American brand
didn't want us to have.
(engine sputtering)
It's time to Focus you nerds,
because this is everything
you need to know
to get up to speed on the Ford Focus.
(imitating guitar sounds)
- No, you can't dude
- Yes I can Nolan, you don't
know what you're talking about.
- It's literally impossible.
- No, It's not because I can do it.
- Nuh uh.
- Yeah, huh.
- Nuh uh.
- Yeah huh.
- Nuh uh.
- Yeah huh.
- Nuh uh
- Yeah huh.
- Nuh uh.
- Yeah huh, watch this.
(tires screeching)
(engine revving)
See told you, did it look cool?
(laughs)
(rock music)
In the late 90s, Ford
was looking to replace
their long standing and outdated
compact car, the Escort.
The once beloved everyday driver
and World Rally Championship winning racer
had evolved into a sixth
generation basic in the UK
and a third generation
pile of jelly in the US.
Now Ford had learned
from previous experience
that it wasn't wise to
completely dump a model
from their lineup, to make
way for its replacement.
They did that with the
Cortina when they released
their new and improved Sierra
and that upset all those
sensitive Cortina snowflakes,
aka British people in 70.
So, Ford kept the Escort in the lineup
and released the all new Focus in 1998
to the European market,
and in 1999, to America.
The new little sporty compact was met
with mixed reception at first.
Up front had sharp lines
and distinctive headlights,
while oout back, it was kind of boring.
People either loved it, or hated it.
It's like the pineapple pizza of cars.
- I love pineapple pizza.
I'm from Hawaii, so I
like pineapple everything.
Polarizing as it was, the look stood out
and got the attention of younger buyers,
which was exactly what
Ford was hoping for.
Maybe it was the aesthetics, or maybe
it was because the Focus
sponsored Ricky Martin's
"Livin' La Vida Loca" tour,
and partnered with Dawson's
Creek to be featured
in various episodes of the
groundbreaking teen drama.
♪ I don't wanna wait ♪
♪ For our lived to be over ♪
If you have no clue what Dawson's Creek is
'cause you're not old like
me, leave a comment below.
The Focus was affordable,
got great gas mileage,
and came in all sorts of configurations
to appeal to just about anyone.
Also, it was a great handling
car and fun to drive.
(tires screeching)
(engine revving)
It took a bit for the
Focus to catch some heat
in the sales department, but
once those loyal Escort fans
began to dig the new cool kid in town,
(Spanish music)
Sales of the Foucs reach
close to 500,000 cars
in its second year.
And then as the new car
from the land of Hot Cheetos
started to take off, it
was plagued with recalls.
(car crashing)
Left rear wheels were falling off,
roof pillars were folding
in during crashes,
and the ignition cylinder failed,
making it impossible to turn the car on.
The first two years of the
Foucs got banged over the head
with 12 safety recalls, and
seven defect investigations.
It was one of the worst cases
of vehicle recalls in history,
second only to the X-Platform
cars GM released in the 80s.
But Ford pressed on, fixing the problems
that plagued the Focus
during its first few years.
Improving upon their build quality
and trying to get the public to forget
about the Focus' tarnished reputation.
And one way Ford went about giving amnesia
was by building a more sporty model.
The 2002 Focus RS.
(tires screeching)
Only 4,501 of the MK 1 Rally Sport Focuses
rolled out for public sale.
Using a turbocharged
version of the two liter
Ford Zeta engine, the RS got 212 horsies,
and 229 pound thicks of tuerwerks.
(engine sputtering)
That might not sound all that impressive
compared to current day hot hatches,
but in the early 2000s,
this made the RS a great buy
for the performance.
It didn't get all wheel
drive like the Cosworth,
it got front wheel drive with
a torque bias differential
designed to compensate for torque steer,
which occurs in high power
front wheel drive cars.
A tightened up suspension, Brembo brakes,
18 inch Oz racing wheels
and upgraded bodywork
completed the package.
Timeout.
Is it Oz, or is it O-Z.
I think it O-Z.
What do you think?
By the way we're going to
start doing a thing now,
anytime we talk about a
car that we didn't get here
in the States, I'm going
to go on our subreddit,
and do a post called James List.
So go to R/Donutmedia to see my list.
And while you're there,
let me know other cars
that we didn't in the US.
So, we didn't get the RS, but we did get
the next best thing.
We got the SVT.
The special vehicle team took
the 2 liter Zetec four banger,
and massageed the lactic
acid out of that pony,
to get an extra 40 buff
horses for a total of 170.
(engine revving)
The SVT got variable intake cam timing,
a dual stage intake
manifold, and high flow,
high compression cylinder head.
This thing was a blast to drive.
I'm guessing, because
I've never driven one.
During the same time Ford also decided
to make statement cars.
Special Edition Focuses
built from 2000 to 2003.
You got the Sony edition that
came with a high performance
Sony Xplod audio system.
A Centennial edition, and a Kona edition
that came with a bicycle,
specifically, the Kona Blast.
And they sold them to their
young and hip Focus buyers.
Ironically, a crank bolt
problem on the bicycle
led to the first ever automaker
issued bicycle recall.
(groans)
You can't catch a break.
So aside from the
statement cars they built,
they offered specialized
packages marketed as,
tailored for you kits.
Pet lover?
You can get the pet package
that included a custom pet bed,
a lint roller and a pet safety belt.
The friends package, which
came with a ice cooler
and a candy dispenser, and
the complete first season
of Friends on VHS.
Well if you're a business person,
maybe you'd offer the professional package
which got a mobile
workstation that had a tray
to hold your laptop and other supplies
needed to run a business out of your car.
I can't imagine anything more depressing
than working out of your car while parked
in the parking lot of a Carl's Jr.
If you are working in your
car you need to get a new job,
unless you're a private detective, or cop,
or an Uber driver or a race car driver.
Sometimes I'm at work when I'm in a car,
being the host of Top Gear would be cool,
I guess you work in cars there.
Turns out working in cars
is actually pretty tight.
Saleen even got in on the
Focus fever with the S121.
Although it was more of a looks package.
Using the Duratec 2 liter Inline four,
the cars got a 10% performance bump
by replacing the factory paper air filter
with a more freely flowing air filter.
And a cat back exhaust
system, but the cool thing is,
you can get an N20 addition.
nitrous oxide anyone.
- Yes, please.
(breathes in)
Wow, wow.
- You got a factory
installed 75 horsepower
shot of nitrous with the
bottle mounted in the boot.
(air hissing)
But if you hooked up the bottle,
it would void your warranty.
So, whatever, in 2004,
Ford took away the SVT.
And England, got the ST.
This was also the first
year, where a Focus model
split up into various markets.
The MK2 makes its debut in the UK,
while here in the States,
we have to wait until 2008.
Gone was the two liter Zetec,
now the Focus was powered
by 2.3 liter 155 horsepower Duratec motor
developed by Mazda.
The Ford Focus ST got the restyle as well
as a 2.5 liter five
cylinder turbo Volvo motor
that pumped out 225 horsepower.
Getting the car from zero
to 60 in 6.4 seconds.
With all these different
models and packages,
it's funny that Ford left out
one particular group of car goers.
- Oh yeah who?
- Someone who likes to
take a spin on the coast,
with the wind blowing through your hair.
- You mean a convertible Focus?
- Yeah
- Well actually they did make one,
it's called the Coupe Cabriolet.
- Huh, yikes, that does not look good.
The RS made a UK come back in 2009,
this time getting 300 horsepower
out of a turbocharged five cylinder.
Ford used the ST motor and
beefed up the internals
gave it a new intake and exhaust,
and threw on a larger
Borkwarner K16 turbo.
The hot hatch could get it.
(tires screeching)
With a top speed of 163 miles per hour,
and a zero to 60 in 5.8 seconds.
Of the second gen Focus, the
one that tops the food chain
is the RS500, the swan
song for the second gen RS.
And an homage to the Sierra
RS500 racer of the 80s,
only 500 of these matte
black mobiles were made.
Sporting 345 horsepower, the
RS500 got a larger intercooler
airbox, and downpipe.
(engine sputtering)
All helping it scoot to 60,
faster than his little RS bro bro
by four tenths of a second.
(engine revving)
And if you're a Focus fan
that lives in the US of A,
And have never seen this version
it's because yes,
(record scratch)
we didn't get it.
You're an American car
company, and you're not even
giving America any of
the cool frickin' cars.
It's going on the list.
Yeah, we haven't talked
much about WRC cars because
they share literally zero
parts from the street model.
From 99 on, manufacturers were
no longer required to build
homologation specials in order
to meet requirements to race.
But similar to how it is in NASCAR,
the brands would tag their cars
with a model in their lineup
in order to get people to buy
one off the showroom floor.
Even if it's nothing like
the race car you see on TV.
Good old Frankie boy might
mosey into a Ford dealership
thinking he's gonna get that WRC edition.
Sorry Frankie, you got duped.
The Focus RS WRC did win 44 rallies
and two manufacturer titles
during its run from 99 to 2010.
So, very successful.
Ford reignited the international
and North American Focus
with the MK3 in 2011.
Design of the MK3 was developed
using the Third Age Suit.
A wearable device that simulates
the physical limitations
of being old, weird.
Ford pushed to make the
Focus a global phenomenon,
and it worked.
The third generation Focus
was the best selling car
in the world in 2012, with
over a million cars sold.
That same year, Ford
brought the ST package back,
built as part of the One Ford program.
Which was Ford's way of
combining all the various design
and engineering teams around the globe
to produce a single car worldwide.
Which sounds great, because
now I get to cut down the list
of fun cars we don't
get here in the States.
- Well, unless you want
to get the Focus ST Wagon,
we didn't get that, only Europe got that.
(groans)
- The ST uses a tuned two
liter Ecoboost four banger
that makes 250 horsepower
and 250 pound feet of torque.
When horsepower and torque
are the same number,
I call that Horsepork.
Half buff horse, half
buff pig, 100% delicious.
They got all those 250 horseporks
by way of a high pressure
direct injection system,
a low inertia turbo and twin independent
variable cam timing.
It took them a few years but
the RS line returned in 2016
to outshine the ST.
Hey ST, I got more power baby.
And for the first time
in the Focuses history,
it got all wheel drive.
Making this car eat is
a 2.3 liter Ecoboost,
the same one that's in the Mustang.
We did an episode of The New
Car Show on the Focus RS,
so you can check it out here.
It's basically the tip top hot
boy hatch, that you can buy.
Sorry, could buy.
2018 was the last year of
the Focus here in the States,
as you might know, Ford has stopped making
a bunch of passenger cars,
Focusing (clicks tongue)
on building crossovers and trucks.
The last MK3 Focus for the NA market
rolled of the assembly line in May, 2018.
Ending an era that spanned two decades.
But the Focus name will still
live on in the Focus Active.
A Chinese made version
that will be imported
into the States.
While other countries across the world
still get to enjoy the
new ST and RS models,
we'll only get one model to choose from,
a five door hatchback from China
that looks like a crossover.
- Hey guys, huge announcement,
we're launching a podcast
finally, it's called "Past Gas"
about the cars you love them,
and the people behind them,
and we'll be telling the best
stories in automotive history.
And because it's longer,
you get to go deeper
into the juicy details, the fun stuff
that we sometimes have to
skip in our shorter show,
so you can watch it here on
our YouTube or Facebook page,
every Sunday, and then you
can listen to the next episode
Monday, wherever you get
your podcasts, iTunes,
Spotify, Stitcher, wherever
fine podcasts are delivered.
Go check it out, Past Gas, it's
about cars, not about farts.
It's a podcast.
Enzo, come on.
- No, I don't want to race anymore.
- Come on, Enzo, if you stop
racing, your brand is dead,
we all know that.
- You don't even care if
a Ferrari go to waste.
- Don't say that.
- It's how I feel all the time.
- Oh, what's the problem?
- I feel like everybody like
a Ford, nobody like a Ferrari.
EPAS Performance Application Specific Electric Power Steering Conversion Kits
JEGS Performance:
Jeff: Hello, I'm Jeff from EPAS Performance
and I'm here to present you our C1 Electric
Power Steering Kit.
The kit is composed of our electric motor,
our pre-wired control module with the wiring
harness, all the couplers required to do the
install, and the installation manual.
This is one of our more challenging kits to
install, it will require knowledge and some
tools.
Now Jim will show you how to install it.
Jim: Hi, my name is Jim.
I'm here to show you how to do this install.
First order of business, we've got to take
the steering wheel off, turn signal assembly
out.
Next we'll need to remove the steering column
strap underneath the steering column.
Moving on we're going to go underneath the
car remove the lower half of the steering
column and Pitman arm.
Just going to remove the last bolt here, let
the steering column lie and we're going to
move the topside of the car to remove the
column.
Next you'll need to remove the hood to make
clearance for the steering column to come
out.
With the steering column removed out of the
car you'll need to make your first cut from
this flange 23-1/4 inches up the shaft, cut
it all the way through cutting the inside
shaft.
You'll need to disassemble the whole steering
gear and you'll need to cut five eighths inches
off this lower shaft and then make a Double
D.
Before reassembly of the lower half steering
gear steering shaft a three-eighths hole needs
to be drilled one inch in from the cut in.
After assembling the lower half steering gear
we'll need to assemble the electric motor
with a steering column adapter and a spline
adapter to Double D and then we'll have to
do the upper half to accommodate the upper
half shaft which gets puts in the vehicle
later.
When you receive the electric motor these
two adapters, the spline and Double D adapter
and this input shaft will come with set screws,
they need to be removed to be replaced at
a later time.
First order of assembly, the lower Double
D Spline Shaft will need to be placed on and
tightened.
Next is the steering column adapter.
Then we move to the other side of the electric
steering motor and assemble the other adapter.
We're getting ready to reassemble the lower
half steering gear.
First we take our shaft that we just made
our Double D on, reinsert the bearing, insert
it into the steering column and the back half
bearing retainer, we'll have to set pre-load.
Next we'll need to install the Sector Shaft.
Now we're going to reinstall the steering
shaft and steering box.
Things are about to get real easy, we're getting
ready to install the EPAS Electric Steering
Motor into the lower half steering column.
Now we're going to install two set screws
inside the three-eighths hole that we drilled
on the bottom side of the steering column.
I've reinstalled the turn signal assembly,
left it loose, we're going to put the upper
half of the steering column into the electric
motor adapter and then tighten the set screws.
We're getting ready to install the band clamp
on the steering column.
Now we are going to install the upper steering
shaft into the steering column.
Now that we've installed the upper steering
shaft into the steering column there's two
set screws that are in this opening down here.
Before tightening completely a measurement
needs to be taken from the face here to the
end of the splines, and that is an inch and
a half.
Once we've achieved the inch and a half we
need to tighten up the two set screws.
Now that the turn signal assembly has been
reinstalled on the top of the steering column
we need to mount the steering wheel and then
move on to the pre-wired wiring harness.
Now that we've installed the steering column
and electric motor we need to install the
module.
The module has electric output which runs
to the electric motor.
We have Battery In which is going to end up
hooking to the terminals on the battery, signal
going to the top of the electric motor, Ignition
Hot and Feedback Control.
Our control module we mounted behind the center
console free of obstructions and that suited
us just fine.
This is a battery wiring harness coming out
of a five-eighths inch grommet, we're going
to go ahead and hook it up to our battery
terminals down here, we're going to go in
and turn Ignition Hot and we should hear a
click from the module.
Now that I've made it back to the driver's
seat we're going to give Ignition Hot and
listen for the click.
Now we can go cruising.
Thank you very much.
Jeff: Thank you for purchasing our Electric
Power Steering Kit from EPAS Performance.
We hope this video has been helpful for your
install and we hope you enjoy it for many
miles to come.
El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie | Date Announcement | Netflix
Netflix:
Satan's Rat-Rod: 1931 Ford - /BIG MUSCLE
THE DRIVE:
MIKE MUSTO: It's got over 1,600
pound-feet of torque.
It's made from a combination of
old tractor parts and light
poles and has the ability to
actually tow New York to Los
Angeles if you so choose.
And I have absolutely no idea
how I'm going to drive it.
Welcome to Big Muscle.
My name is Mike Musto.
Each week, I travel the country
with the goal of
showcasing the best and baddest
muscle cars and hot
cars around.
Every car has a past, and
every owner a story.
Welcome to the world
of "Big Muscle."
Here, at "Big Muscle,"
we love rat rods.
To some, there's just rolling
rod boxes cobbled together
from scrap metal and
baling wire.
But look closer, and many times
you'll find that the
workmanship, artistry and
overall uniqueness of these
vehicles far outshines many
big money builds.
The frame rails, for instance,
are made from old municipal
light poles.
The gas, clutch and brake pedals
are a mix of an old
spider gear with a few
nuts and bolts
thrown in for good measure.
And the little scoops
on the hood?
Yeah, they're from a pair
of old steel-toed boots.
This car is about as far out as
they come, which is exactly
why we needed to film it.
HENRY KESSLER: What we have here
is a 1931 Ford, with a
1952 Diamond Rio
tractor motor.
The motor, the trans and the
rear tires are all from a 1951
whites water truck, which
is old farm equipment.
The motor has 275 horse,
with right around 1,640
foot-pounds of torque.
The frame rails are light poles
from the city of Hollywood.
They act as resonators
for the exhaust.
The wish bones are
fence posts.
The headlights are
from a '42 Buick.
It's a real Duvall windshield.
The motor's got over
a million miles.
The cases have never
been cracked open.
It smokes and pukes oil, but it
runs like a top, and it'll
do another million miles.
MIKE MUSTO: So Henry, I'll
be honest with you.
I'm a little bit nervous about
driving this thing.
Take me through the process of
what we've got, what the
switches do and so
on and so forth.
HENRY KESSLER: OK.
Well, you've got your standard
clutch, brake, throttle.
To start the power on the
car, there's one switch.
Lift it up.
That'll turn on the pump
for the airbags.
It'll turn on the
charging system.
Then make sure you're
in neutral.
It's one button.
[CAR STARTS]
HENRY KESSLER: It
starts right up.
MIKE MUSTO: It's
like a hybrid!
HENRY KESSLER: Yeah.
It's my Prius.
First button up is front bags.
Second button to the
side is rear bags.
MIKE MUSTO: OK.
And that's the whole deal?
HENRY KESSLER: You're
ready to go?
MIKE MUSTO: Today's going
to be a cool day, man.
It's going to be a
really cool day.
HENRY KESSLER: Should
be interesting.
MIKE MUSTO: Yeah, it should
be interesting.
HENRY KESSLER: We're rolling!
MIKE MUSTO: All right, so
here's something you
don't see every day.
My big ass driving a
1931 Ford tractor.
I'll be honest with you.
I've driven a lot of stuff.
This isn't one of them.
The body is a 1931 Ford.
Transmission--
it's a five-speed.
And believe it or not, it likes
to rev. We don't need
to, but it does.
The main job is to piss off
Prius owners, scare women,
scare children, and basically,
just have fun.
I mean, the thing
is unbelievable.
And it's a bitch to drive.
I'm not intimidated
by a lot of stuff.
But this thing?
This thing intimidates
the hell out of me.
I mean, some of the
things that--
you've got to take notice
over this thing, right?
I didn't know where
the gas tank was.
Then I learned, it's literally
right here.
It's a six-gallon.
It's an old settling tank.
And it was put in under
the dashboard.
You know, so this way, if you
crash in a head-on collision,
the motor comes straight back
in and you hit the gas tank.
And you just blow up.
The frame on this car, there are
stress parts of the body
that are welded to
the gas tank.
Not really sure how
I feel about it.
All I know is that it works.
We all know, obviously, this
is not a canyon carver, but
believe it or not, it does
actually go around a corner.
I don't know how he's going to
stay in his seat, because you
slide all over the place.
And you're wrenching
this wheel.
I mean, look at my hands!
This is nuts.
I'm going to come out
of this thing.
I'm going to be black
from top to bottom.
And you know what?
I'm going to love every
minute of it.
[LAUGHS]
HENRY KESSLER: The air bags are
off of a RTD bus which is
a old LA transit system.
There's one dead center
right here, and
there's two in the back.
It raises up right around
9 and 1/2 inches.
There's a shock on each side
of the bag and then one on
each side over here.
And then there's two
in the back.
And that's just to kind of
keep the car stable.
But it pretty much all rides
on the bags themselves.
And then the wishbones are
connected to a Heim joints,
which are off of a landing
gear off of a Lear jet.
So this thing's built
bulletproof.
It's made to run.
And you look at it, and you're
like this thing's not going to
go anywhere.
But aside from you sliding
around, this thing's on rails.
And it'll do a canyon
all day long.
I mean, granted, it'll do it at
45, but it'll do it at 45
pulling your house.
MIKE MUSTO: You know, this
thing, this grenade shifter,
let me tell you something.
It's a bomb for a reason.
Whoa!
[LAUGHS]
You go into these turns,
and part of you is
holding on for dear life.
Part of me was waiting to see
if there's something around
the next corner. 'Cause if you
hit it, you're finished.
There is literally a piece of
mesh leather on the bottom of
my ass and his ass, and as soon
we turn, we're sliding
all over the place.
As far as back support,
I have news.
I'll definitely be in the
chiropractor's office on Monday.
Because I mean, this
is ridiculous.
Oh, yeah!
See that short shifter
right in the car.
HENRY KESSLER: Keep rolling.
MIKE MUSTO: I'm like
a professional now.
[LAUGHS]
Holy [BEEP].
I want one of these.
I want one of these, and I want
to drive through downtown
Berkeley with black smoke
belching out of the six pipes.
We got to find a Prius owner
and just suck him in.
That's what I want to do.
And you got to picture
this, right?
We're up in the Hollywood
hills.
And this is some of the
most expensive real
estate on the planet.
And I feel like as we're driving
by, people are just
feeling like their property
values are going down, which I
really don't give a crap
about, because
I think it's hilarious.
I mean, never have I driven a
vehicle where I literally rest
my hands on my knees
to drive it.
And you want to talk
about fun.
Since we've only got a
six-gallon tank, we're going
to get some fuel because, like
we said, wow, this really
doesn't hold any.
And if we want to keep
shooting, we got to
fill this sucker up.
I mean, this is nuts.
I mean, we've got gas.
We're all over the place.
It's crazy when you think a
straight six-cylinder gas
engine could literally make
1,600 pound-feet of torque.
That's nuts!
That's simply nuts.
It's a mind-boggling thing.
The best is next to us, we've
got a Fisker hybrid.
You know, the company that
went out of business?
Those guys.
It's kind of funny, this thing's
been around for 100
years or whatever.
We're still going strong.
And that thing's been around
for six months.
It's not doing too well.
This car is a spectacle.
It's the fly in the ointment
and the black
sheep of the family.
Therefore, we could think of
no better place to take it
than down to the most
look-at-me strip
to the United States--
Rodeo Drive.
Not only do we get looks and
comments from everyone, but we
even got up close and
personal with one
of the local residents.
MIKE MUSTO: How do you
read this day?
We are rolling down Hollywood
Boulevard in something that
people just don't
know what to do.
Yeah, I mean, what you guys
can't see right now is that we
just stopped.
And the crowd of people--
what's up, guys--
that just crowded around
this thing.
It's insane.
I mean, how do you beat
Hollywood Boulevard in a rat
rod that looks like this?
You want a picture?
Absolutely take a picture.
Yeah.
One of the best details about
this car is not the car
itself, but it's owner.
Henry is a guy who loves
to see reactions.
He likes the people, young and
old, smile and scratch their
head at this thing.
And his philosophy about the
car couldn't be better.
HENRY KESSLER: If you've got a
hot rod that you put $150,000
into it and $20,000 paint job,
you don't want anybody
breathing on it.
You're not going
to take it out.
This thing, I could care less.
I enjoy it.
I love it.
It would kill me if something
ever happened to it.
But when I go to a car show,
I'm the only one that tells
people, oh yeah, you're taking
a picture next to my car.
Why don't you throw
your kid in there?
Are you serious?
Absolutely.
You know, that's how you get
the next generation into
wanting to get into
the car culture.
MIKE MUSTO: I honestly
don't know what to
say about this car.
You look at it.
You drive it.
And it beats you to death.
The clutch is like pushing in a
sledgehammer every time you
try to engage it.
It belches black smoke and soot
and dirt, like literally
the likes of which
I've never seen.
Like you see this is
like a white cloth?
And if I go like this, that's
no longer white.
Guys, thanks for tuning in to
another episode of "Big
Muscle." Obviously, email us at
DriveBigMuscle@gmail.com.
And I'm going to take a shower
in a little while, because I'm
just dirty.
And like I said, worth every
second of the day.
Thanks.
The best is everybody
that just looks.
People have no concept of what
to make in this thing.
How you doing?
What's going on?
Good to see you.
Hi, how you doing?
Good to see you.
Hi, how you doing?
How are you?
Good to see you.
How are you?
Good to see you.
Nice to see you.
Well, welcome to Hollywood.
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