The Avants Podcast

So what happens when you are in charge of a social club in a time where everyone has to do social distancing? Well, if you’re Amanda from Drivers Club you do A LOT more than you might think. From arranging virtual happy hours, to planning fundraising, to booking exclusive guests, Drivers Club is still in full swing. Listen in to get some fun ideas on what to do right now.

On Episode 126 we try and focus on some of the good things that are happening around us! A special shout to Woodinville Car Club for helping over 20 people celebrate their birthdays while still staying quarantine safe! We also talk about inclinometers, discuss ways of hacking together multiples stops on Google Maps (because some jerk over there took away are ability to add more than 10 stops and w...

Things we never thought we’d say: If you need a rocket scientist, we know a guy. We had the pleasure of interviewing Mike Krene, a fellow member at Drivers Club, and asked him all about rocket science, his awesome car collection, and we tried to understand as best we could. We are doing interviews remotely now to do our part to fight Covid-19, but we’re still having fun, so we hope you do too!

Welcome to Episode 124, recorded and streamed lived from Dan’s garage! Our partners at DC are being responsible and we are holding RCS from Dan’s garage until we get this whole virus sorted out. We streamed this episode live to test out a bunch of ideas and had a little fun, but we also talked about how things are changing in the car world. We have guests and regularly scheduled content coming bac...

There are a lot of reasons to have a good rack on your car and they are more popular than ever! We brought in Jayme Mayfield, Manager of Rack N Road to talk about racks, roof top tents, and picking the right one. If you’re thinking about getting anything for the roof of your car, reach out to him at Rack N Road Bellevue and tell him we sent you!

We here on RCS love all things with transportation related including the electric kind. We invited Officer Cameron Balazic to talk to us about how the police are handling them and how do be a good rider. He’s also an awesome car enthusiast with a gorgeous Golf R and a fellow Avants member. Correction: Dan mentioned 50 MPH as the top speed of the Zero 10 scooter - it is actually 50 KMH, or 31 MPH....

We welcome back Trevor Wert to talk more about his expanding role at DirtFish and all the amazing things DirtFish is bringing. Trevor gives us all the info on the big moves DirtFish is making in media and becoming yours and the whole world’s source for all things rally! We talk rally cars, rally drivers, drives to Alaska, and his adventures around the world. Check out Trevor’s work and all the new...

To say the name “Griot” is an icon in the automotive world is an understatement. When we were teenagers the Griot’s Garage catalog was the equivalent of the Sear’s Christmas catalog as kids, hell, it still is. We get to know Richard and Nick Griot on our usual unscripted, personal level and laugh the whole way through. Enjoy this very special EXTENDED episode of RCS!

If you’re an Avants member, Camaro aficionado, or just a regular in the PNW car community you probably known Brian. He’s the friend we refer people to when they want a high performance Chevy. He’s also the guy you call when you want to go snow wheeling, have a great bonfire, or just good company. Brian does things a little a different in the car sales world - he makes a lot of real friends. Brian...

Don Kitch is a household name in the car community in the PNW. Those of ours listeners outside of the PNW probably know him too from his many ventures in the driving world - ProFormance Driving School, Team Seattle Racing / Heart of Racing, Dempsey Racing, Le Mans, Daytona, and of course The Art of Racing In The Rain, where he was famously played by Gary Cole. In this special episode we get to kno...

Our favorite Dan replacement comes back to join and talk all about car culture around the world. Jason travels constantly for work and gets to see some of the most amazing car culture around the world. He gives us an overview car culture experiences from London, Singapore, Monaco, Japan, and more!

They say you can’t always judge a book by its cover, nor can you know an author by his books pages. Jay is a man of many talents as a writer and musician, the latter we didn’t know at all until this interview. Listen to Jay talk about his love for all things automotive, especially the Gulf Porsche 917s, and music! Check out the links below to see his impressive book all about the Gulf Porsche 917...

Stewart Waliser is a young and successful entrepreneur who started Stew’s Garage in Kirkland on his own. That last part is especially important, because it’s hard enough to start a small business, let alone one in your early 20s! Stew’s shop is an absolutely unique garage that allows people of all skill levels to come and not just work on their cars, but also learn! He and his staff can walk your...

In this shorter episode Nick and Dan connect via phone since Nick is having a great time in Scottsdale without him! We talk about what’s crossing the block in Scottsdale and give a quick recap of events there while Dan freezes to death without power at home. Listen in for a unusual, but useful Carter Subaru Tip of the Week as well! Special thanks to previous guests Scott and Katrina for hosting th...

Dan cuts through the marketing hype of Radar Detectors and laser jammers on our Carter Subaru tip of the week, the 2020 Hagerty Bull Market List , and Hollywood-esque escape of former Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn on this weeks episode of RCS!

A lot happened in 2019! Not just for us, but for the automotive world. From 300 mph street legal cars to electric all the things, we tried to cover our favorite stories and breakthroughs from the last year. Dan also tells you the scientifically best way to defrost your car in his Carter Subaru Tip Of The Week! Are you heading to Scottsdale for Car Week? We have discount tickets thanks to our frien...

Byron Sanborn of VRM (Vintage Racing Motors) is a man with stories. Some of which he was nice enough to share and some of which we laughed about for hours off the show. Easily one of the most interesting people we’ve met, let alone interviewed, so we let him go a little longer to share all the details of racing some cars you’ve all probably seen driving around and then some you might have crossed...

One of our most sought after interview requests is with local legend Roy Cats of Cats Exotics. Roy is the epitome of car guy - he drives his exotics, and hypercars, year round. From his famous 60k mile Diablo, to his manual Murcielago SV, to his 675 LT, you might find him crossing the passes on snow tires just for fun. Then there’s the Senna. Did we mention Roy has a Senna? Did you know he used to...

On Episode 109 it's story time! We enjoy our fancy new mixer (which we are still learning how to use), Lithium Ion Batteries (at a very high level), $30 car tabs (or not), how there are real consequences for being an idiot at a car show (thanks Redmond PD!), winter stuff, and we also discuss our relationship. Apparently.

We wanted to make a real episode about what it’s like to be from another country and try and get into American car culture, but as 2 very white guys in our 40s we decided we probably shouldn’t tackle this on our own. Our very good friend, Exotics volunteer, track day junky, and fellow road tripper Gaurav Rajasekar joined us to tell us what it was like moving here from India and jumping into the ho...

It might be winter, but it’s a great time to sign up for your first track day! Curtis Creager is an instructor with Proformance Racing School at Pacific Raceways in Kent and he’s on this episode to tell you all you need to know about doing your first track day, what mods really matter, and gives us great general driving and car advice. Another interesting guy you definitely should know, so we made...

Supra Steve, the very first guest ever on our show, is back for this special episode! By request we were asked to talk all about how to buy a car out of state (and beyond) sight unseen. It’s not as easy as it sounds no matter what, but people do it all the time. Steve tells us how he bought his GT2 out of the country and imported it and Dan talks about buying many cars out of state and the mistake...

Dan is finally back from rehab for Episode 105 with Shay Hoelscher! We get to talk about race cars, hair, and more! We also announce our big winner for the photo shoot up at Epic Exposure! If you listened to this episode and felt inspired to contribute to Project Beauty Share, you can find them here:  projectbeautyshare.org/ . If you’d like to get involved, please do email us and we’ll get you in...

This week we talk to Tyler Brunkhorst who has one of the most remarkable come-to-cars stories. After losing his wife at a young age, Tyler decided that life was about experiences and he wanted more of them. Tyler is now an experienced driver at Evergreen Autocross and finds ways to fuel his passion for aviation. He also speaks with us about his professional experience which landed him working for...

Known for building one of the most innovative photography studios on the west coast, Bruce McCallum from Epic-Exposure joins us this week to share his journey. Seeing where he is now, you would never guess the life that this gentleman has led. From fishing in Alaska to racing motorcycles, and from Microsoft to content creation. Check out his work at www.epic-exposure.com or on his Instagram page @...