Part of the Hagerty Podcast Network, the Carmudgeon Show is a comedic, information-filled conversation with Jason Cammisa and Derek Tam-Scott, two car enthusias...
6-speed Swapped CLK63 AMG Black Series! — Carmudgeon Show w Jason Cammisa & Derek Tam-Scott — Ep 173
The legendary, 500-hp Mercedes CLK63 AMG Black Series was never produced with a manual transmission. So, Derek had one built.
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https://www.vredestein.com/
Click here to join the Hagerty Driver's Club: https://bit.ly/Join-HDC-Cammisa-Rev
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Derek Tam-Scott's company, OTS & Co., purchased a C209-chassis 2008 Mercedes CLK63 AMG Black Series for science/tax reasons and immediately sent it to Matt Kwiek of @kwiekclassics for a new Mercedes-sourced manual transmission swap.
How does the legendary AMG M156 6.3-liter V-8 (which is actually 6.2 liters) work with a 6-speed manual?
For science, Derek hired SCCA Hall of Fame race car driver Randy Pobst to set a lap time in both a stock, automatic CLK63 BS and a 6-speed swapped one.
The Black Series is one of Jason Cammisa's favorite cars of all time. He attended its launch at Willow Springs raceway, where he struggled to keep up with an 80-year-old Denise McLuggage as she executed flawless and effortless laps in the exact same car. It's a fun story.
The ‘mudgeons then briefly cover all the Black Series models: the R171 SLK55, C209 CLK63, R230 SL65, W204 C63, and SLS AMG.
Is the CLK Black Series peak AMG?
Derek compares the 6-speed swapped CLK to the fifth-gen Pontiac GTO and E39 BMW M5 Dinan S2.
And the Carmudgeons discuss whether other collectible cars should also be manual-swapped, including the Lexus LFA, Alfa Romeo 4C and 8C, and the E60 M5.
The boys also ponder if tearing out the OE tranny on the Black Series is a crime akin to that of the Sacrilege Motors 964 911 EV conversion.
Which wasn't, actually, a crime.
We end with a brief discussion of twin-engine cars: a half-Leaf half-motorcycle, a Twini (dual-engine Mini Cooper), DuRocco (twin-engine Scirocco), a pre-war Alfa, and a Citroen 2CV Safari.
Plus, the van, Jynah, prepares for potentially slippery, wet and white conditions with a brand new set of Vredestein Wintrac Pros!
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1:04:18
NEW SPORT SEDAN BENCHMARK? — The Carmudgeon Show w Jason Cammisa & Derek Tam-Scott — Ep 172
Can the new Tesla Model 3 Performance dethrone the G80 BMW M3 as the sports sedan king?
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The Carmudgeon Show Sponsor, Vredestein Tires:
https://www.vredestein.com/
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On this episode of the Carmudgeon Podcast, the boys discuss proper AIM sign-off acronyms, size queens, and Jason’s 3/4” toe-in on his E31 BMW 850 CSI (and its broken shifter). Then, Jason shares tales from Radwood SoCal, including the winners of his “I’d Drive That Home” award — a Ford Escort Cosworth — and the Vredestein Tire award winner — a Z31 Nissan 300ZX with some mismatched and massively dry rotted 20-year-old tires.
Afterwards, we dive into Jason’s recent Ultimate Comparison Test between the 2024 Tesla Model 3 “Highland” Performance and 2024 G80 LCI BMW M3 Competition xDrive. We’ll cover everything from driving dynamics to powertrain, overheating brakes, interior ball rests, infotainment, price and more!
TTFN
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1:13:40
Random Number Generator Car Reviews — The Carmudgeon Show w Jason Cammisa & Derek Tam-Scott — Ep 171
Jason and Derek open up their review archives once again and share stories about the cars they've driven over the years.
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The Carmudgeon Show Sponsor, Vredestein Tires:
https://www.vredestein.com/
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In this episode, the boys ponder the meaning of a Jaguar “175 Edition”, give praise to the best rear wiper integration ever, debate if a Juke can be cute, and wonder how many cylinders power the illustrious Dodge Nitro.
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1:00:14
Is There A Car So Good It Needs No Mods? – Carmudgeon Show w Jason Cammisa & Derek Tam-Scott Ep. 170
Is there such a thing as a car so perfect that it doesn't need any modifications?
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The Carmudgeon Show Sponsor, Vredestein Tires:
https://www.vredestein.com/
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Jason and Derek have modified many of the cars in their personal collections, which makes Jason wonder: is any of those cars so good that any modification would make it worse?
The discussion begins with a look at both Jason’s and Derek’s personal fleets and the modifications (if any) they did to them: Jason’s daily driver Mk7 Volkswagen e-Golf, his beloved but heavily modified Mk2 Scirocco 16V, the bat-shit bitch basket Mk1 Cabriolet, and even his OEM+ E30 wagon.
Derek divulges his vast 964-chassis Porsche 911 mod list, and talks W124 wagon mods before they both look back at some of the cars they’ve sold: MKIII Golf, Elise, Isuzu Pup, E39 BMWs, and more!
But were the modifications they installed necessary fixes for factory deficiencies, or simply a matter of personal preference?
Then they get down to business – what car(s) left the factory perfect? Candidates up for debate range from:
Cadillac’s CT4 and CT5 Blackwing
Alpha-chassis Chevrolet Camaros
Chevy SS sedan
Aston Martin V12 Vantage S 7-speed
Honda S2000
Nissan 240Z
Ferrari 308 GT4
Mercedes W201 (190E)
Mercedes W202 C43
Mercedes R129 500SL / SL500
E39-chassis BMW 5-series
Various Porsche 911 models
And more!
What do you think? What car(s) were perfect from the moment they left the factory floor?
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56:10
Fixes, Maintenance and Fleet Upgrades – Carmudgeon Show feat Jason Cammisa & Derek Tam-Scott Ep. 169
Derek and Jason own many cars and once in a while, many of them break. Or receive really cool upgrades. It's time for a car-nerd fleet update!
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See: https://www.vredestein.com/
And: https://www.radwood.com/socal-2024
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The boys start with discussing "de-advanced" ignition timing on the Rover SD1 — and Jason did his first-ever brake master cylinder rebuild. But the big issue is that Jason wants to downsize his fleet (he still has 10 cars) but loves the different experience that each car offers. The Rover has a big (ish) lazy V8 and is unlike anything else Jason has.
Derek wants to be done with his Citroën CX because it sprung a hydraulic leak, but then found the Citroën community — and, hopefully, someone to work on it. And so maybe it'll stay.
Thanks to Derek's guilt, 9 of Jason's cars have fresh brake fluid — which doesn't seem like a big deal, but doing 9 brake-fluid bleeds is time consuming. And worse, Jason discovered that his E30 Touring still had ATE Super Blue in his car. Which confirms that it was at least a decade old.
Derek's Porsche 944 no longer has a 14-year-old timing belt, which means it can be driven to Radwood SoCal (hopefully on new Vredestein tires, no less!)
Jason and Derek talk about today's ridiculous trend of people changing timing belts at 3, 4, or 5 years, with no mileage on them. This is an epidemic in the Ferrari community — when mechanics happily double the recommended replacement interval.
Jason has been suspecting that his VW Cabriolet is suffering from SMS: the dreaded transmission self-machining syndrome that kills many 020 transmissions. But after some exploratory surgery, it really now seems like a bad wheel bearing.
That would figure, since Beatrice the E30 (the 1989 325i) also needs a wheel bearing after completing a track day (with Randy Pobst as an instructor on Sonoma Raceway.) These tend to come in pairs. Just not on different cars!
Derek suspects his S124 E320 wagon (with the dogleg 5-speed and 3.6-liter swap) has bad wheel bearings, too.
More urgently, Derek is having a Motronic Month: he's finally troubleshooted some strange running on his Porsche 964, which has gotten progressively worse over the last decade. He also found that one ignition module had failed, so it was running on half of its spark plugs.
A new idle control valve didn't fix it, but swapping a DME (engine computer, or ECU in non-Porsche speak) from his dad's 964 fixed everything. Jason's buddy's 993 is doing the same thing — so Derek might have just inadvertently found that car's problem.
Jason had never heard of rebuilding an ECU (except on Honda Beats) but thats' it. Jason's cars mostly don't have DMEs, and he's been fighting with ignition timing on both of his 16-valve Volkswagens (the Scirocco and Cabriolet) and wonders if he just should upgrade all the old cars to a Holley EFI or Megasquirt.
Derek found a hard top for his R129 Mercedes SL, in Florida, but shipping was too expensive. So he found a local one in the wrong color . Jason has once done that, with the wrong color hardtop on his 996 for track use, and Derek also bought a very expensive new softtop for that SL.
RIP by the way to Bruno Sacco, to Mike Valentine, and almost to Jeremy Clarkson.
The R129 SL500 / 500SL is the best deal in the collector-car world, period.
Jason did another (for a total of three) Power Acoustic CP-71W Single-DIN wireless Apple CarPlay head unit. He loves them. And that's before the $140 (+ tax) pricing.
Except that he won't put one in the Mercedes 190E 2.3-16 because the Becker is too iconic. Or the Beat, because of the Gathers (Honda) head unit in there. Or the e31 850CSi. Continental and Blaupunkt make retro-looking radios, but Becker's original units can be retrofitted with Bluetooth or Aux In.
Porsche Classic PCM unit is amazing, but it's far too expensive for non-Porsches. Says Jason.
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Part of the Hagerty Podcast Network, the Carmudgeon Show is a comedic, information-filled conversation with Jason Cammisa and Derek Tam-Scott, two car enthusiasts who are curmudgeonly beyond their years. Proving you don’t have to be old to be grumpy, they spend each episode talking about what’s wrong with various parts of the automotive universe. Despite their best efforts to keep it negative, they usually wind up laughing, happy, and extolling their love for cars. Which just makes them angrier and more bitter.
Jason Cammisa is an automotive journalist, social-media figure, and TV host with over 300 million views on YouTube alone. Jason’s deeply technical understanding, made possible by a lifelong obsession with cars, allows him to fully digest what’s going on within an automobile — and then put it into simple terms for others to understand. Also, a Master’s Degree in Law trained him to be impossible to argue with.
Derek Tam-Scott still tries. He’s a young automotive expert with old-man taste in cars, and a Master’s Degree in Civil Engineering — which means he knows how to be civil to Jason. Or at least he tries. With a decade and a half’s experience buying, selling, driving and brokering classic and exotic cars, he’s experienced the world’s most iconic cars. And hated most of them.