We have an unofficial motto here at MotorWeek. “The cars are the stars.” But our show is an evolution 43 years in the making, shaped not just by what’s new in the automotive industry, but by electronic media, and of course viewers like you. In that spirit, we want to shift gears with an all-new feature where the cars…at least for a day…are the co-stars!

Nate Ferguson: No.

Greg Carloss: Now this is the fun part.

People tell us all the time ‘you guys have a dream job’ and it’s true. I’ve had a lifetime of automotive thrills at MotorWeek. But now, I’m going to share some of those thrills with a viewer. So today at Dominion Raceway, we’re going to kick it into overdrive. With such a vast and loyal following, picking just one fan was quite a task. but after weeks of searching, we found our guy.

Nate Ferguson: Greg!

Greg Carloss: Nate! Nice to meet you, man.

Nate Ferguson: Nice to meet you, too.

Greg Carloss: What did you bring?

Nate Ferguson: My old ‘82 Cressida.

Greg Carloss: A Cressida, man.

Nate Ferguson: Yeah.

Greg Carloss: Let’s introduce you to what we’re going to be driving today. The new version…

Nate Ferguson: Wow, look at this.

Greg Carloss: …of a four door Toyota. Yeah. So we got Camry TRD for you today. And this isn’t your run-of-the-mill Camry. That’s the point, right?

Nate Ferguson: Oh, absolutely not.

Greg Carloss: You have upgraded brakes, upgraded suspension. So what you’re going to notice is that everythings going to be tighter.

Nate Ferguson: I can’t wait to drive it.

Greg Carloss: Well, why don’t we just go drive it right now?

Now this, blast it down the straight, just get into it. The nice V6 sound power is all up high. There’s a cone up there you are just aiming right for that cone. This is a fun little corner. There’s a lot of fun little corners.

Nate Ferguson: This is so cool.

Greg Carloss: There you go, perfect timing. hit a hundred, go. There you go 101, 103 right. It’s fun to drive fast, right?

Nate Ferguson: It is.

Greg Carloss: Safely of course.

Nate Ferguson: I’m here for it.

Greg Carloss: Man. I’ll give you credit. You went a little faster than I thought, which is fine. That’s good. That’s what we came out here for.

Nate Ferguson: Yes.

Greg Carloss: What’d you think?

Nate Ferguson: I loved it. I really loved that. That was so cool. This car is full of surprises. It does not feel like a regular Camry.

Greg Carloss: Yeah. Well, you did great out there. I’m going to go a little bit faster if you’re cool with that, cool with it. You’re going to hop in the passenger seat?

Nate Ferguson: Absolutely.

Greg Carloss: All right, so we’ll just get up to speed a little bit. We’re just warming up, man.

Nate Ferguson: I look like an old lady going around here compared to you.

Greg Carloss: All right. Faster through here, right?

Nate Ferguson: Yeah.

Greg Carloss: I’m full throttle. Apexing there at 97, 100. See, it’s a little bit more fun at the higher speed of this.

Nate Ferguson: Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah, the Cressida would not do this.

Greg Carloss: We could always try if you want. I’m game.

Nate Ferguson: Wow, you killed that. this car goes. I thought I was doing it fast, but you. Wow.

Greg Carloss: Well, I got to say, Nate, we do have one more surprise for you.

[exhaust noises]

Nate Ferguson: No. Holy smokes. It’s a Supra. No. Oh my god!

Greg Carloss: So Nate, this is Scott Webster. He works with Toyota.

Nate Ferguson: Nice to meet you.

Scott Webster: Good to see you.

Nate Ferguson: Oh my god.

Greg Carloss: We had some good fun out there, but we wanted to kick it up a notch. And Scott’s going to be able to do that. He’s a good driver.

Nate Ferguson: Oh my god. Wow.

Scott Webster: So yeah, we got you in the S6. I thought we’d bring an inline-6 for you. A reminder of your old Cressida there.

Nate Ferguson: Oh my gosh.

Scott Webster: Put a little turbo on it. See, you have 382 horsepower. See what it’s like.

Nate Ferguson: Wow. MotorWeek!

Scott Webster: And if we’re not using all the track, we’re not doing it right.

Nate Ferguson: Exactly. Nice.

Scott Webster: Put it fifth, see if we can…135.

Nate Ferguson: Yeah, yeah. The straight six is singing. Wow.

Scott Webster: So we’re cooling down. We’ll just go 90 into this turn instead of 110. How’s that?

Nate Ferguson: Whoa. Whoa. Wow. Well, holy smokes.

Greg Carloss: Scott, I appreciate it, man. Thanks for coming out.

Nate Ferguson: Whoa.

Scott Webster: Always glad to do it.

Nate Ferguson: Awesome.

Scott Webster: A great way to spend a day.

Nate Ferguson: Yeah, that was wild.

Greg Carloss: A little bit faster, right?

Nate Ferguson: A lot faster.

Greg Carloss: Well, we want to thank you for coming out and spending the day with us.

Nate Ferguson: It’s been my pleasure. This has been one of the best days of my life. Thank you.

Greg Carloss: It was a pleasure. now you want to give me a ride around or…?

Nate Ferguson: Me drive the Supra? Yes!

Greg Carloss: Let’s see what you’ve learned.

Nate Ferguson: Wow, best day ever.

Greg Carloss: So you having fun?

Nate Ferguson: Yeah, I’m having a blast.

Greg Carloss: If you think this was fun, just wait until you see what we do next time.

Nate Ferguson: Oh, I can’t wait!