Ahead of the second season of Between 2 Rides, we caught up with Emelia for a quick chat.
If you haven't yet watched Between 2 Rides, then you're missing out on some of the coolest car content on the web right now. But ahead of the Season 2 premiere, CarBuzz caught up with this season's presenter, discussing the basics of car modification, her Corvette Z06, and what it's like being a woman in a male-dominated industry.
After the craziness of the first episode of Season 2, we can't wait to see what comes next. Of course, the point behind the entertainment is to showcase what can be done with mods purchasable from eBay Motors, and Emelia knows a thing or two about building a high-performance car. But what does she recommend as the first few mods when starting a build?
“I'm being a hypocrite,” she tells us, “because, if you've watched my channel, you'd know it's always power; that's the first thing I always go after.” But giving real advice to newbies starting out, she says, “suspension first, and then a cat-back exhaust, and an aftermarket set of wheels and tires,” in that order. That's on the assumption that you're starting with a modern car whose brakes are up to snuff from the factory, with Emelia citing that you wouldn't prioritize brakes on a new car as you would on a car from the '90s.
“You have so many different cars, and each car is going to have the things you wanna upgrade.” Basically, while there are standard recommendations, your build should always be based on your starting point and the purpose you want to achieve with it.
In the case of Emelia's C8 Corvette Stingray, for example, after she slapped on nitrous, she fitted an exhaust system and then KW coilovers with stiffer springs, which ended up being the identical spring rate as the Corvette Z06. “One of my favorite upgrades I did on the C8 Stingray was the KW coilovers I put on that car,” she tells us. “I stiffened the spring rate, lowered the car a little, and go figure, when the Z06 came out, it was the same spring rate as what I’d done on my own one.”
Speaking of the Z06, Emelia says she’s “struggling to find anything that makes it better than how it came out of the factory.”
Throughout the filming of Season 2 of Between 2 Rides, Emelia has had the chance to interact with the various crews behind the crazy builds we’re going to witness. But when it comes to modifying cars in unique ways and building a great car, she says they all have one common trait: “Curiosity. And a willingness to tread into the unknown.”
“Everyone’s a gearhead, everyone loves cars, and everyone wants to tinker. Everyone wants to make them unique and personalized and add more power and have fun with it at the end of the day.”
It sounds simple, but combining passion and creativity is always going to be a recipe for a good time.
Emelia has risen to prominence as an automotive influencer and YouTuber, but unlike many, she’s proven she has the knowledge and skill to back up her content. More than that, she’s proven to be multifaceted, previously as a drifter turned drag racer on Netflix’s Fastest Car, then through her YouTube channel doing crazy things with Corvettes, and soon we’ll see her on the silver screen in the forthcoming Gran Turismo movie.
But in a male-dominated industry, it’s not easy to get to that level, and Emelia is a role model for young female car enthusiasts. We asked her what advice she had for upcoming enthusiasts about getting into the industry.
“I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t challenging being a woman in a male-dominated industry, but as much as there can be negatives and confrontation, there’s also just as much good, if not more,” she tells us. Her best advice is to “find a good group, a good circle.”
“I feel like this community is very welcoming of anyone who comes into it. Of course, there are going to be…” she trails off, trying to think of the right word, to which we offered up “a**holes.” There’s a laugh, and we know it’s true, as we’ve seen our fair share of toxicity in the car community, particularly from armchair critics commenting on people who are actually doing something productive.
“I can put a timelapse video out of me doing something, and people will comment, ‘That’s fake.’ People are constantly commenting, ‘Did you torque that to spec?’ and ‘Oh, you didn’t do this correctly.’ People are looking for things to criticize and point out, and my guy friends say, ‘I never have to deal with that.'”
But the industry is becoming more accommodating, and Emelia claims, “From when I started to where it is today, it’s happening less and less. It’s not abnormal to be a female in this industry anymore; there are plenty of badass girls out there kicking ass.”
Emelia recalls the old saying, “People doing more than you are never going to talk down on you,” saying that those who criticize you are usually “just bad at expressing themselves, in a way, that they wish they were doing what you’re doing.”
She comes back to the basics. “Find a good crew, find a good circle. The community, as challenging as it can be and as nerve-wracking as it can be to get into it, there are great people, and I wouldn’t be in this industry if I didn’t feel like the car community was my family.”
“I owe my life to this industry, I really do,” says Emelia.
It’s something we can all relate to, as for many of us, cars are therapy, and the people in this industry have become more than just friends but extensions of our families. It's great to see Emelia building kickass cars and being a role model for young female enthusiasts. We can't wait to see what's next.
Keyword: Emelia Hartford Talks Corvettes, Modding Cars, And Being A Woman In A Male-Dominated Industry