The Avants Podcast

Of all the places you might be the most excited and yet most nervous to go to, it’s your Senior Prom. After that it’s probably driving the Nürburgring. This episode is all about getting prepped and ready to go to The Green Hell and back without going broke. We brought in 3 experts to help you out: Tom Roberts, Aaron Kerson, and Curtis Creager.

On this special episode we introduce Leif Bergerson, the newest member of the Avants staff! Leif is helping us run things in California, so we thought it would be best if we introduced him on video. You can still listen in here of course, but if you want to see Leif be sure to check out the Avants YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2QdvcrxWMb0i8Ix1ezpVVg

Dan has a new Raptor coming in March, so of course the mods have already started in January. In this episode we're chatting about those mods that start before your new vehicle even arrives. As odd as this sounds, we actually think it's worth to have some parts waiting and ready to be installed. What mods are you doing before you get your car? 

In addition to that, the trailer is already getting it's own upgrades and the list keeps growing! 

Read that again; Colleen Sheehan got to ride to school in a McLaren F1. No matter how cool you think you are, you didn't get to ride to school in a McLaren F1. So now that we got that out of the way, she's also an absolute authority on everything Ferrari and probably has more seat time on the track than most of us do on the road! 

We often thought the glory days of cheap performance cars were behind us, but performance comes in at bargain basement prices today. In this episode we discuss what we think are the real bargains today, and find out we were wrong all along in real time. 

In 1994 the Mustang Cobra was $22,425 and had a whopping 240 horsepower, did 0-60 in 5.9 second, and ran a 14.7 second 1/4 mile. Today, the Ford Mustang EcoBoost costs $32,515, has 315 horsepower, does 0-60 in 4.7 seconds, and does the 1/4 mile almost 2 seconds faster at 13 flat. The little turbo 4 cylinder kicks the old Cobras butt in every single way by a big margin, but the most impressive part? Adjusted for inflation, the Cobra came in at almost $46,000 in 2024 dollars! 

We welcome back official Avants Magazine Editor-in-Chief Karl Noakes! Karl is on a rare break from IMSA and chats with us about his new M2, the Hagerty not-so-hot list of 2023, and we all compare our old-man back injuries! It's always a good time when Karl is here!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to everyone! Our long, lost Megan returns to us to join us for Shop Talk this week and we talk all about squashing nuts, the new studio, Borla's electric "exhaust", R8 build updates, and our very adult Christmas lists! Also, if anyone is selling a BAC Mono, let Dan know. 

The Tonkin name is definitely a northwest staple and Brendan Tonkin didn't fall far from the family tree. Brendan talks to us all about the new Ineos Grenadier, track time with dad, overlanding, and more, all while his dog became best friends with Nick while we recorded. Brendan has some big plans for Grenadier owners, so we'll check back with him this summer for more exciting updates. 

We also got to check out the new Ineos Grenadier at the Avants Toy Drive in partnership with Collectors' Car Garage (formerly Hagerty Garage and Social / Drivers Club) and it sure lives up to all the hype! If you're interested in one, get a hold of Brendan at Ron Tonkin Gran Turismo. 

How big of a hammer do you need when you race Baja in a Porsche 911? We seek to answer important questions like these as we chat with James Manning from Rothsport about Baja, Porsches, and…GIN! Not only does James do awesome things like race Baja, but he also is the owner of The Falls Distilling and makes some damn good gin!

With 55 years in the business, Heckmann & Thiemann have seen it all. We get all the good stories from President and CEO Phyllis Thiemann and Master Technician Bryan Reeves. We talk about the stuff classic Porsche people don’t usually like to in this episode like the Cayenne, Boxster, and even RWB, dive into the topic of the air-cooled boom and how it has impacted owners who bought “cheap” 911s, talk about how to store a car for 20 years, and so much more! Did you know the 356 was going to be the Continental?

Heckmann & Thiemann is an Avants partner and offers 10% off labor for Avants Members! Check them out online at https://heckmannthiemann.com!