“Where horsepower meets conversation…”
By Tim Harris, Blair Smith & Shinoo Mapleton · April 10, 2026
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Tim's out this week.
The rumor? He was spotted car shopping for F1s alongside Sam Altman and Elon Musk.
We can neither confirm nor deny.
What we can tell you is that Blair and Shinoo held it down just fine on their own — and this ended up being one of the most useful, experience-packed episodes we've done. Shinoo drove a C8 Z06 on track at Spring Mountain. Blair drove a 981 GT4 through a canyon. And somehow we also ended up talking about a tiny Japanese van only running on three cylinders.
Buckle up.
Shinoo Drives a Z06 at Spring Mountain
Shinoo has been a member at Spring Mountain Motor Resort in Pahrump, Nevada since 2014. Nine miles of racetrack. Multiple configurations. Corvette and Cadillac driving schools running simultaneously on campus. He keeps his race Elise there.
This time, he got something extra.
After a conversation with the general manager, Dave Petri, Shinoo was hooked up with an instructor — a ten-year Spring Mountain veteran named Payton — and got a full session behind the wheel of a C8 Z06.
His verdict:
"That is a fast car. I had to completely recalibrate my thinking. Every corner was coming up way faster than I was used to. The brakes stop on a dime. The cornering speeds are just insane."
After his session, Payton jumped in and showed what the car could really do. Shinoo's reaction? Nothing short of impressed.
What makes this story interesting isn't just that a fast car was fast. It's who was driving it. Shinoo is the guy who came up through BMWs, then Porsches, then Lotuses, then Ariel Atoms, then a BAC Mono. He's the king of lightweight, high-feedback, analog driving. He doesn't typically chase big horsepower.
And yet — after the C7 Z06 left him cold years ago — the C8 genuinely got him.
"I've said I plan to get one next year, and my intention was not to take it on track. But after driving this one on track, I'm like… I'm going to have to. It's incredible."
The engineering reason is clear: the C7 became too much car for a front-engine platform. Too much power, too much torque, upsetting the chassis under hard driving. The move to a mid-engine layout on the C8 wasn't a marketing stunt — it was a functional necessity to compete on the world stage. And it worked.
Blair Drives a 981 GT4 Through the Canyons
Same color as the one he used to own — sapphire blue.
A local friend had just picked up a 2016 981 Cayman GT4 from a dealer on the Central Coast of California, drove it home, and discovered the alignment was so far out of spec the car was wandering all over the road. After doing some home adjustments, he brought it to Shinoo's shop to get it dialed in on the Hunter alignment rack.
Blair got to take it for a proper run on Shinoo's favorite road — Deluz — a twisty, narrow stretch that suits a car like the GT4 perfectly.
His takeaway: it's a great car. Genuinely great. But after buying Shinoo's Lotus Elise 111RS and tracking it recently, the GT4 felt big.
"As you're driving it through some sections of that road, which are pretty narrow, you feel the width of the car. You feel the heft. The Lotus is so light you feel everything differently."
Shinoo's measured take: the GT4 isn't too perfect — it just has more character than people give it credit for. The steering is good. But Lotus good? No. And at the end of the day, it's a heavier car.
Which led to the line of the episode:
"Only Shinoo Mapleton calls a 981 GT4 big and heavy."
Blair's Mitsubishi Kei Van: A Three-Cylinder Problem
A few weeks back, Blair mentioned he'd picked up a 1994 Mitsubishi Bravo Kei van — his little golf-cart runaround, kids in the back, just for fun. This week we got the update.
There's a GT Turbo version — a four-cylinder with a turbo making a whopping 62 lb-ft of torque — and Blair ended up with that one after not being able to find the naturally aspirated three-cylinder screamer he originally wanted.
Problem: the car felt dead off-boost. Like, really dead.
His brother has the naturally aspirated version. They staged a drag race. The brother won. Easily.
A buddy who's an engineer and car builder drove it, listened to it pull away, and called Blair immediately:
"Dude, I think that thing's only running on three cylinders."
ChatGPT suggested the wrong spark plugs. The right ones are on order from Japan. Blair is chomping at the bit to get it running properly. The car has curtains in the back, a super aero tilting roof, and all the charm of a vehicle that was never supposed to leave Japan. If he can sort the ignition situation, it's going to be a blast.
Automotive News: Ford GT Mark V Laps the Nürburgring
Both Blair and Shinoo flagged this one independently — a Ford GT Mark V prototype posting a 6:15 lap around the Nürburgring, making it the fastest lap by an American automaker on record.
The car rides on a custom carbon fiber Multimatic chassis with a longer wheelbase for aerodynamics, a more powerful uncorked EcoBoost V6, and bigger wings front and rear. Track-only. Not road-legal.
Shinoo has a deep connection to the Ford GT story. His fraternity brother Raj was president of Ford North America when the second-gen GT was greenlit — which gave Shinoo a rare private tour of the secret "skunk works" studio in the basement at Dearborn where the car was designed. Physical key entry only — they'd discovered digital key card systems could be hacked. He also helped design the watch box for the exclusive Ford GT owner's watch through a friend's company called Auto Droo.
His take on the run:
The second-gen GT was purpose-built around Le Mans. The EcoBoost V6 wasn't a cost-cutting measure — it was the aerodynamic choice needed to win on the Mulsanne Straight. And win they did, on the 50th anniversary of Ford's original GT40 victory. The Mark V takes that platform further. The lap time is real.
But context matters:
"This is a race car. They went to the Nürburgring with a race car. The ZR1X is a homologated street car that meets emissions. Let's see Ford beat that with a real production car."
For reference: the Corvette ZR1X posted a 6:49. The Ford GT Mark V ran 6:15. Impressive — but they're not the same category of machine.
Also discussed: the Hyundai Boulder — a boxy, rugged Bronco/Defender competitor that both Blair and Shinoo agreed looked genuinely cool, though perhaps not quite as exciting as Land Rover's Defender Octa with a 600+ hp BMW twin-turbo V8 crammed into it.
This or That: Best Dual-Purpose Track Car at Three Price Points
This was the episode's main segment — and one of the most practically useful conversations we've had on the show. Three price points: ~$30K, ~$100K, and ~$250K. The brief: a dual-purpose street/track car. Not a dedicated race car.
Under $30K:
Shinoo's picks — Mazda Miata (NA or NB) and Toyota GR86/Subaru BRZ.
The Miata is the most raced car in the world — not a cliché, a fact. Mazda's support of grassroots racing built a massive, affordable ecosystem around these cars. Parts are cheap. The physics are great. There will always be a better-prepared Miata on track that will annoy you no matter what you're driving.
The GR86/BRZ earns the same endorsement: lightweight, rear-wheel drive, well-understood by the aftermarket.
Blair's pick — C5 Z06. 405 hp. Find a clean one for around $20K. It will shock you with how fast it is. The caveat: brake fade is real on most street cars going to the track, so proper pads and fresh fluid are non-negotiable before you grid up.
Around $100K:
Blair's pick — 981 Cayman GT4. Plug-and-play dual-purpose. Factory carbon ceramic rotors available. Front-end confidence that makes you want to push harder. One of the great all-rounders of the last two decades.
Shinoo's picks — Lotus Evora or Elise/Exige. Both come with manuals. The Evora GTS offers more space; the Elise/Exige gives more raw feedback. The Evora is sharper and more track-focused out of the box than the Emira, with steering feel and dynamic character that rewards committed driving.
Around $250K:
Shinoo's pick — C8 Z06, plus professional coaching.
Not just a Z06 school. A dedicated coach. Six to ten to twelve one-on-one sessions. The car is almost too fast for a newcomer on track. The difference between going out unprepared versus going out with a coach is the difference between frustrating and transformative.
Blair's pick — 992 GT3. If that's your budget and you want the best street/track machine you can buy new, the GT3 is the answer. The precision, the front-end response, the way it communicates at the limit — everything about that car earns its reputation.
The interesting agreement between them: at ~$100K used, the C8 Z06 is the value proposition of the decade. Exotic flat-plane crank engine. Genuine mid-engine dynamics. Available in great colors without paying exotic-car markup. And for the first time in Corvette history, a motor that can look a GT3 in the eye emotionally — not just on a spec sheet.
"Corvettes have always had the performance to match a GT3 in a straight line. But what you've never had before is an exotic motor that matches the GT3 until the C8 Z06. And that's what's so fascinating."
Listener Q&A: Is Lotus Ownership Realistic?
Greg wrote in with a question a lot of people have:
"I've always been interested in a Lotus, but a little afraid of the unknowns. How reliable are they and what should I think about before taking the plunge coming from Porsche and BMW?"
Shinoo's answer was honest and practical.
On track, there are three things Elise/Exige owners call the "Track Trilogy of Terror" — oil starvation, toe link failure, and fuel starvation. All three have well-known and affordable fixes. Handle those before your first track day and the car can be completely reliable.
One practical tip: paint-mark your hardware. Before any track day, take a paint marker and mark the head of every exposed nut and bolt. If the mark rotates, the fastener has come loose. These cars are light and vibrate more than a BMW or Porsche — checking hardware before each session isn't paranoia, it's just maintenance.
The bigger concern Greg raised — living far from a Lotus specialist — is real. Blair addressed it from his own experience: you don't need a Lotus dealer nearby. You need one good independent mechanic who can work on European cars, a relationship with a specialist who knows the platform, and the willingness to be proactive about maintenance.
Shinoo started in BMWs, moved to Porsches, then landed in Lotuses — exactly Greg's path. His message:
"Don't be afraid. Reach out to a Lotus specialist. Talk to them about what you're looking at and what you'd like to do. The solutions are affordable and you're going to have just a hell of a good time."
Miles to Think…
Tim was MIA this week. Probably fine. Probably not actually car shopping with Elon.
But Blair and Shinoo filled the hour with something genuinely valuable — the perspective of someone who has spent 12 years in dedicated track cars talking to someone who just discovered what it means to really feel a car work beneath you.
The recurring theme across every segment — the Z06 experience, the GT4 canyon drive, the track car buying guide, the listener question — was the same.
The car has to talk to you.
Not at you. Not around you. Not just in a straight line.
To you.
That's what makes a Miata outrun a GT4 in the corners when the driver knows what they're doing. That's what made the C8 Z06 get Shinoo's attention when the C7 didn't. That's what makes Greg curious about a Lotus even though he doesn't have a dealership nearby.
The connection matters. Always has.
🎙 Listen to the full episode here: https://youtu.be/8yKjqZDHwnc?si=tlLMkbPgXiWOu4Xw
– Tim, Blair & Shinoo
🏁 The Full Throttle Talk Team
Full Throttle Talk drops weekly. Strong opinions, real experience, zero hype.
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