The Full Piëchisode Podcast Bonus! - The Carmudgeon Show w Jason Cammisa & Derek Tam-Scott - Ep 145 

Having enjoyed this podcast for years now, I couldn't help but feel some kind of weird parental pride while watching the Icons episode. All the buildup and excitement and dread finally realized the way that it was intended was very, very gratifying. Congratulations.

I’m listening to this as an active Porsche technician. The car fixed itself after hearing Ferdinand Piëch’s name.

Now you guys have to do one on Antoine Brodözer, inventor of the lift kit

The Golf key being the same as the Veyron one, nearly is my favorite Piechism and I love the fact it was outlined in the video. The Piechisode is upon us! I'm glad the podcast isn't ending... makes me really happy!

Your editor needs a raise. The clip after "he was horny" killed me.

I’m just happy I own a 5 cylinder car thanks to Piëch. I’ve waited for this episode and Icons episode for so long! Thank you!!!

Piech also did the VW W2 Nardo, which no one ever talks about, even though it was a really cool supercar.

Wow just wow. Thank you guys. Amazing piece and a great follow up to the Icons episode. VW group is now a much larger blip on my radar now.

Jason, due to the fact you can speak in the Deutsch. Do you find speaking to German Engineers in German, there more likely to tell you the truth over what marketing and corporate wants into the public. Cause you always seem to find the "real" reason why German cars are set up in specific ways.

Wonderful episode! It was worth the wait.

Years. In. The. Making.

GREAT episode(s) guys, thanks!

The only thing missing from this episode was the Peter Graves impression "Tonight, on Biography..."

Piech: "You will always notice a bad part in a car." VW owners, 20 years later: "You will always notice an unreliable part in a car."

Can't believe it's actually here, after all this time 😁🥰

I think the thing that is most disappointing about Piech, and their accountnof his career, is how he ushered in the CEL as a "Maintenance" item. Ironically, o5her manufacturers can produce emissions systems that function perfectly for 8 yrs, while VAG bleeds you wallet on an almost daily basis, by narrowing their compliance data to where the CEL will most certainly be on 90% of the time, after the warranty period, even on a Veyron. As well as exorbitant prices for common parts.

Anyone else notice the dove on Jason's shoulder around 45:30?

Good Lord. The Porsche family tree must look a bit like the Hapsburgs. Ending in the War of the German Car Succession?

Finally.

The whole nazi/slave labor thing def kills my Porsche fan boy love for the brand lol

You guys really should do all German episodes.

48:34 I GOTCHU: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-TfXv1BDxlWI.html

😃😃😃👍👍👍!!!

PART 2 please w. more details ... like 13 kids ?! really MIt wievielen frauen ? all his kids are doing what .. all at VW ? aso

an unbelieveable crisp clap from DTS: it's really here the piechisode

Spaces and Hyphens of all latitudes and longitudes - assemble! Piëchisode is here!!

The pigeon poking his head up behind Jason’s shoulder was a nice touch 😂

Perhaps I’m wrong but I’d argue that Akio Toyoda’s “Make Toyota Fun again” approach is the closest modern equivalent to Piech… He was directly involved in the development of cars like the LFA brought GR to the forefront. Made Toyota one of the leading sports car manufacturers in the world right now (yes not all of them are Toyotas at heart but if you think about it, he’s creating profit for the company whilst giving enthusiastic consumers a chance to own a sports car), and he brought Toyota back into the racing scene under the aforementioned GR brand…

The pëich-tacular follow up.... The longest ICONS episode to the longest Pëich-mudgeon episode... Im hoping it's somehow got Sacco Easter eggs too ..

It's incredible that the Piëchisode is finally real, we've been waiting since the time Carmudgeon was on Issimi!

'Ab jetzt werde ich die ganze Zeit auf deutsch sprechen' That might be the most German we ever heard you speak - which is a shame! Greetings from Ingolstadt!

New idea for next 4 years: Saccosode!

Haha. that little bird hooting on Jasons shoulder around 15 min and throughout was way too enjoyable.

I actually thought the 407th episode would be the piechisode.😂😂😂

So, I learned something new today. Apparently, that e39 M5 you mentioned, in which VW stuffed a W10 engine... was so good that Piech turned it into his daily driver for a while. I WANT IT.

finally after 3 years the piechesiode

Oh man what I would give to actually hear an entire carmudgeon show episode where Jason only speaks German

Literal, Audible Gasp came out of my mouth! My coworkers probably thought I was crazy! So excited for the ACTUAL PIECHISODE!!

WTF? Cute bird popping up over Jason's left shoulder at ~15:26?!

The V10 Diesel was gear driven which was great other than needing HIGH zinc oil to not wear the cam lobes because of the fuel pump. Nothing else I have owned has been able to tow as effortlessly. It was BRUTAL to accelerate 0-45mph.

Subaru was putting 4WD in passenger cars since 1972. Yes, it was on-demand AWD (although with option to manually lock central clutch making it effectively 4x4 with locked central diff) in budget and underpowered cars but it was available for years before Audi's Quattro and it arrived in WRC few months before Quattro, as Subaru Rally Team Japan (Subaru's world rally team didn't existed at the time) ran one of Leone-adjacent models with 4WD, winning Safari rally in group 1.

Audi's first AWD passenger car was 1980, Subaru's first was 1972. Japan "responding" to Audi/Germany's AWD cars is FAKE NEWS!

Piech was just an honorary doctor (two times from Vienna and Zurich), but he was a real (part time) professor at University of Applied Sciences Zwickau where he held lectures Automotive technology.

I loved the episode I am honestly a huge fan of both of you since you originally started this podcast. I didn't know much about the Godfather. I couldn't have picked a better duo to learn about him.

12:55 Turns out it’s much harder to run a company when you can’t exploit slave labour for your(and your family’s) own benefit.

IT'S HERE!!!!!!! THIS IS NOT A DRILL!!!!!!!

By frugal I think Derek means Ferry Porsche (a former SS member) refused to pay any fair compensation the the company's Jewish co-founder who was forced out prior to WW2. Today his fair share would be worth $70B "As the case went to court in late September 1950, a lawyer for Porsche and Piëch proposed a settlement to Rosenberger's lawyer: 50,000 deutsch marks [or $144,000] plus a car. Rosenberger was offered a choice: a luxury version of the Volkswagen Beetle or a Porsche 356, the first sports car under the family name, designed by Porsche's son, Ferry. Rosenberger was still in Los Angeles, caring for his wife, who was ill so his lawyer accepted the settlement without consulting him. Instead, he informed Rosenberger by letter after the matter was concluded. Rosenberger ended up picking the Volkswagen Beetle."

My thoughts on the Piech/Winterkorn battle is that it was over Piech finding out about Dieselgate and Piech wanting Winterkorn to change course and do it right with Winterkorn responding something to the likes of "you can't make me and there is nothing you can do about it." From that point on it was a battle that Piech would eventually lose. That, to me, is the most logical cause and effect based on the facts that I know them and the two people in question. I could still be entirely wrong on the matter but that is my current thought on the matter. So did Piech know? I think so but I think the entire fight between the two was Piech trying to get Winterkorn to stop and save the company from disaster. I don't think the right question is did Piech know about dieselgate. I think it is did he try to do something about it and the battle between him and Winterkorn and his resigning was over him trying to do something about it.

The passion you two gentlemen show in this episode is infectious, well worth the wait, thank you for all you do

Skoda is not specific for emerging eastern europe economies. But rather are marketed as biggest in his class. For example the Skoda Superb Combi has a boot capacity of 660 litres.

Maybe can we have a Marchionne episode in the future?

Thank you Jason for that Boeing rant. We all pissed off at them.

LOL the little bird at 15:26 🐦

The diesel car before the TDI in Europe was the Mercedes Taxi.

You guys forgot Subaru. They put 4WD in the Japanese market 1972 Leone wagon (DL/GL in the US, we got the 4WD ones in 1975).

For Piech's sake, Jason... go see a doctor, already! Maybe, it's just allergies. Maybe, it's something else.

The piechisode was an absolute masterpiece. You guys never disappoint

Just wanted to say i loved all three of these Piech pieces (pre-episode, the special, and this post-episode) and it was a great listen for a long time VW enthusiast. As I get older, I'm starting to understand why some people have a favorite era of their favorite automaker. It's hard to see VW ever recapturing the magic they had when Piech was at the helm.

BTW Saying 🖕 the EPA is the most American thing ever. VW TDI

you say wankels didn't end up working... but also say that Piech found ways to get things done. if Mazda could make the wankel as successful as it was, doesn't it stand to reason that Piech could have made it even better (especially with the money at his disposal)? gosh imagine modern 911s with wankels in the back. Although wankelgate would have been hilarious...

At long last! Gotta say, I disagree with your opinion about the R8, Jason. That car was the most successful halo project in the modern history of the automobile. It served as the shining symbol to the masses that Audi was back and that their lineup was new and improved. Maybe you couldn't afford the R8, but you could see yourself in an S5. It's still one of the most head turning and beautiful cars ever made. I count it as a brilliant marketing stunt. It only just so happens to have been done for Piech's favorite child. P.S. 1:17:16 you missed a dove here, Jake.

I love that CARmen, the Cardmudgeon pigeon made its introduction on the PIECHISODE episode. How iconic!

Well, you did it. I never was much a fan of Piëch’s, or most of the cars produced under his guidance, but you’ve adjusted my outlook. I have a new appreciation for the Piëch era now. I wasn’t ignorant of the milestones of his career. It’s just that I don’t particularly dig many of the things he’s credited with bringing into the automotive mainstream. All-wheel drive, Diesels, five-cylinder engines, turbocharging, not really my bag. And I’ll admit to spending a couple of decades being an absolutely insufferable snob about the superiority of Japanese quality and reliability (a few Mk3 and Mk4 VW products might have contributed to this attitude, too). I dismissed all those cars as little more than a waste of raw materials because it was so frequently an exercise in patience (and financial planning) to keep them running properly. Basically, if the cars were built and engineered so well, why did they break so often? But maybe there’s something to be said for ambition and experimentation. Maybe now that cars are so mechanically homogenized, there’s room for me to appreciate things precisely because they are an alternative to the things I normally enjoy. Maybe I don’t have to want a car to like it.

My Way Or Else: The Ferdinand Piech Story

15:26

25:00 loved the cute birdy 🐦🦜

About Winterkorn an Piech and Boeing and Airbus: If Piech would have been involved, Winterkorn would have pointed at Piech immediately and blamed everything on him i think. Then again, the way Winterkorn is i am surprised he isn't pointing at Piech anyways. (he's dead already, so can't even comment if that's true or a lie.) Wanna know what some europeans claim is the reasom, why the quality problems of Boeing can't happen at Airbus? Because of the distrust between the countries here: Different parts of any Airbus are made in different european countries. The french don't trust the spanish and italian productions, the germans don't trust the french, and when the plane is ready, someone distrusts all of them and checks again. 😉🤡 (At least that's for the european airbus market, for the US they have their own production plans in the US and for the chinese they also got some plants there.)

You missed one of Audi's biggest Motorsport achievements. 1994 when they entered the A4 Quattro into every single national touring car championship in the world and won them all that year. 😮

Missed one of the senior Porsche's more interesting projects - the Auto Union grand prix cars of the 1930s. 600HP, mid-engine, skinny rear tires - a definite driver killer.

Y'all have threated this episode for awhile. No wonder my 5 cyl. Jetta Sportwagen is such a great driving car 100 mph in the rain or hilarious in Autocross...Great episode! ❤

I like Wankels & 5 cylinders 😔

WILL SOMEONE AT RU-vid PLEASE REMOVE--OR ENABLE ME TO REMOVE!--THIS AND EVERY OTHER "PODCAST" JUNKING UP MY FEED!? (And then go back to feeding them one-by-one so I can make an individual decision about whether a certain individual topic interests me?) In the interim. I will only be clicking on vids that I know enough about to DESIRE to select, and have the option to remove from my incredibly lousy feed if I want to...

The path to the 917 was set off by the change in endurance rules for the prototype class after 1967. The FIA had decided they didn't want those nasty, bellowing American V8s and reduced the limit on the prototype class to 3 liters. When Ferrari decided not to develop a new prototype design for these rules in 1968, it was a gift to Porsche. (Ferrari didn't have a successful 3 liter car until the 312PB started winning in 1972.) The 907 swept the Daytona 24 Hours in 1968 with a 1-2-3 overall finish and when the 908 came out, it was the top car in the prototype class in 1968 and 1969. But the rules had a loophole. There was also a class with a 5 liter limit that required that 50 cars be built for homologation. Ford had produced a limit run of a road version of the GT40 for discerning enthusiasts who prized noise and discomfort. They made enough of these that the GT40 met the homologation rules for the new class, and John Wyer began field a team to prepare and enter GT40s in the World Sports Car Championship Wyer's cars won the WSC championship in 1968 and Le Mans in 1968 and 1969. I imagine that after losing Le Mans in 1968, Porsche/PIech decided that the way to go was to build a car for the 50-examples class. They basically joined two 911 engines nose-to-tail for a 4.5 liter flat-12, which was entered at Le Mans in 1969. The car was hella fast, but unreliable. And the combination of extreme top speed and poorly developed aerodynamics meant the drivers really needed adult diapers on the Mulsanne straight. Porsche provided cars to Wyer to run in 1970 and someone (Piech? Wyer?) developed the upswept rear end that cost a bit of top speed but made the car manageable. Ferrari introduced the 512 in the class for 1970, but it never really was able to match up with the 917. The FIA switched the rules again after 1971 and eliminated the 5 liter class. The 917 was clearly a car that was too fast for the tracks on the time. It was faster around Spa than F1 cars - 14 seconds a lap faster -with an average speed of over 160 MPH.

Come on Jason, get your TDI facts right. VW TDI engine existed way before they (VW) introduced the PD (Pumpe Duse) they were first 100% mechanical injected, then they went to electronically controlled mechanically injected, and then to PD where each injector was its own pump. After the PD era yet another iteration was adopted; the Common Rail Injection, were a fuel rail behind the injectors was pressurized and the injectors were the valve that dossified the fuel but no pumping duties as in the PD. And guess what? They were all called TDI!!! BTW excellent, long awaited episode, just in time for my birthday!

I can atest to the pedal position being the culprit to "unintended acceleration" My 2nd car was an 84 audi 4000. (thank you again Mom!) brillant car and even after I hit the wrong pedal reversing (into a tree) the car was amazing! you could not kill it! Would love to find another one, so far Ive only been able to find a matchbox car of it, in oceania blue just like mine

You've outdone yourselves gentlemen and it's hard to believe the long awaited Piechisode has finally come to fruition. Jason I find it ironic that you were too scared to meet Piech because in a weird way you both are very similar in your respective careers. Piech made the ultimate CEO because he was an engineer first and understood what it took to extract the most out of men and machines. He never worried about the money because he knew that would come naturally by selling a quality product. By comparison I feel you are the best automotive journalist because you're able to combine your engineering background, law degree, and wise-ass upbringing to create content that is factual and entertaining. Others in the industry are too dry, while others are just too much fluff and not enough substance and you and your team continue to raise the bar with every production.

Hi guys, love the content you make but could you stop using car type code names and start using brand/type and approx dates in stead? example, you said L322 today, had to google just to know, ah Range Rover launched in the early 2000's. just so much easier

This was awesome episode listening to it twice 😂😂😂. Two legends talking about legend of automotive industry. Keep up with great work, and you should come to Europe to test out Cupra, Seat, Škoda brands😊😂

Great episode and Ferdinand was my favorite CEO of any car company. He was a very hard but fair boss. He told you exactly what he wanted and helped give you all the tools you could ask for. But he didn't care for excuses and not getting results. He also cared for the workers more then the shareholders which doesn't exist in todays companies.

About the diesel gate, the EPA demands were impossible to meet in that size category. The engines were too small to produce enough power to run the car and the accessories demanded in U.S market. So, instead of developing an entire engine family/car for one market alone, they tweaked the software. Those same engines run perfectly fine in other markets, on smaller cars with less stuff packed in, mainly AC compressor and smaller or no turbo. Possibly no power windows nor mirrors, lower average speed and more actual driving. The 1.9 TD pre chamber injection hit regularly 60-70 MPG and the 1.6 TD pre chamber injection did 75+ MPG after Cat and EGR delete and pump&boost tune. And that mk3 engine family was the high distance vehicle. With regular maintenance 600 000 km, 800 000 if careful. One car went over a million, then the coolant hoses started to come off one by one, eventually killing the engine. These were all Sedans and Wagons, although the Polo(Seat) had sometimes good engines too. In mk4 those numbers dropped to around 400 000 km while the engine displacement grew to 2.0, but the block never did. So those with the direct injection had all kinds of issues. OBD4 regulations were clearly too much for VAG, they haven't built a decent car since.

I wish there would have been more reverence in the Haggerty special.

I think the model 3 will be a milestone for ev sales and the Cybertruck for ev engineering. But I seriously doubt the stainless body and absurdist design of the Cybertruck will ever be mainstream in the vein of a F150.

Actually, Fiat has developed direct injection diesel before Audi came with its TDI.

Speaking of that w8 Passat, I nearly bought a manual sedan, most likely I'll never see one for sale again, it was also only 1500 of your finest British pounds

My goodness, whata great episode, Jason. Honestly, it could have been a series of shows on each and every car in that video. Very well done, and shame on you for making me want another VR6 car.

Just a note, The B5 Passat never had the VR-6, that was in the B3 and B4 Passats. The B5 Passat had the 30V V-6 from the Audi lineup.

My first car was a manual 2000 Passat wagon that I bought in 2007 for $5500 cash with 88k miles at a used dealer in Nashville.

I genuinely thought It wasn't going to happen. I thought it was going to be a running joke a this point!

I can't watch anything about Piech. Flawed man, who created the Dieselgate culture of VAG.

They made German engineers eat McDonald's food while driving? Aren't there rules against that in the Geneva Conventions?

Why is there a pigeon appearing twice over Jason's shoulder between 15:20-15:40?

I'm sure Jason got sick from driving all these German cars with their cold AC air hitting his neck ;-)

44:22 - 44:42 the last remaining braincell from being sick and crafting the Piëchisode checked out lol

Loved that Icons. Best yet!

I'm over an hour in and I'm still shocked the W12 Nardo wasn't mentioned.

I had ad no idea the Audi A8 did so poor in the states. Here, in eastern europe, they are quite popular. Probably as much as the 7 series.

what's up with the pigeon at 15:34 ?

After years, it's finally here!

Is there a prize for seeing the pigeon at 45:34? Anyway the episode is great so far!

Now the Bruno Sacco episode 😁