The Automotive Society Podcast · Suraj Makkar

The Automotive Society Podcast Ep.38 NEW YEAR SAME OLD US

·1 hr 2 min·4 clips

At 9 meters in the Great Barrier Reef, scuba diving feels claustrophobic, panicky, and hard to breathe through.

Siraj and Alexander open by saying they’re back after a very long hiatus. They joke that every return is basically a special now. The two compare their pacing to The Grand Tour while admitting there is no video this time. The chat stays loose, chatty, and a little chaotic, with both of them finishing each other’s thoughts and circling back when they lose the thread. Wheel choice becomes the first real topic. They revisit the old Volk T37s and decide those wheels were too shouty for a car that was leaning OEM-plus and stealthier overall. The replacement is Konig Ampliforms. Alexander explains why they make sense as a dailyable wheel. Price comes first. A rim in the roughly 450 to 500 dollar range feels expensive enough to care about but not so expensive that one bad scrape turns into a crisis. They frame that as the point where a driver can stop spiraling and just buy a new rim if needed. The wheels are flow formed rather than forged. That matters less for bragging rights than for cost and everyday use. Siraj and Alexander agree they look good, especially in graphite gray. They also note that Konig started in Germany in the 1960s, even if the wheels themselves are not made there now. The tone stays grounded in lived ownership rather than catalog language. From there the episode pivots to a very recent ding. Alexander says he was driving in the rain, talking to a client on the phone through Bluetooth, and had Apple CarPlay pop up at the same time. He calls it a lapse in judgment. Siraj teases him, but the story lands as a reminder that a lot of driving eventually ends with some mark, knock, or scrape. The pair keep the mood light while still treating the damage as real. They move back to the idea that wheel choices should survive actual use, not just look good in photos. The banter keeps the episode from feeling too polished. It wanders, jokes, corrects itself, and then returns to the point. Near the end they talk about being poor and not renting an office for the show yet. That turns into a sponsorship pitch, including an Instagram handle and an Outlook email. They jokingly aim high with a McLaren Racing shout-out. The close is warm, simple, and slightly absurd, with thanks for listening and a Happy New Year send-off. It ends like two car friends talking after they have already packed up the tools.

As heard by us

A relaxed comeback chat about wheel choices, fitment, and a rainy mishap, with practical car-nerd detail.

The episode stays close to wheel taste, daily-driver practicality, and what it actually costs to live with a car that still has to handle real roads and a rainy day in Sydney.

Read the full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

For when you want wheel talk, daily-driver pragmatism, and a rainy curb-rash confession.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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