Written by Some ideas sound easy… right up until you actually try them.
This was meant to be a simple garage challenge: identify car fluids by smell, blindfolded.
No touching. No tasting. Just your nose, a glass, and confidence.
That confidence didn’t last long.
The Challenge
We lined up a set of identical glasses, each containing a different car fluid.
Engine oil, gearbox oil, brake fluid, washer fluid — and a couple of surprises.
Blindfold on.
One sniff per glass.
Guesses locked in.
Score kept.
The loser would face a punishment
What Went Wrong
Very quickly, it became clear this was harder than expected.
Some fluids barely smelled at all.
Others smelled nothing like we thought they would.
Confident guesses turned into confident mistakes.
By the time the scores started adding up, it was obvious this wasn’t about “knowing cars” — it was about how deceptive smells can be.
The Realisation
After the final round, Colin pointed something out that changed everything.
The problem wasn’t our noses.
It was the setup.
The containers were too tall, dispersing the smell and making the test far harder than it needed to be. Same liquids — but the wrong conditions.
That insight turned this from a one-off challenge into an experiment.
The Consequence
There was still a score.
And there was still a loser.
Which meant one thing: punishment.
Cleaning the wheels on an old Ford tractor…
with a toothbrush.
What’s Next
This was Hard Mode.
Next time, we change a variable and run the test again — same liquids, same noses, different setup. To see if it really makes a difference.
Watch the full challenge below 👇
