BMW Blues, Hyper-Celebrity vs. D-List Celebrity, F1 Movie | Episode 1002
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103:33
Car
Nissan Armada
The Nissan Armada Pro4X is a version of Nissan's big SUV that is designed for off-road driving. It has a strong engine and features that help it handle rough terrain.
Term
Nismo
Nismo is a special part of Nissan that makes faster and sportier versions of their regular cars. They add better engines and features to make the cars more fun to drive.
Car
Nissan GT-R
The Nissan GT-R is a fast sports car that has a very powerful engine and is designed for high performance. It's famous for its speed and racing capabilities.
Term
JD Power Initial Quality Test
The JD Power Initial Quality Test is a survey that asks new car owners about any problems they had with their cars in the first three months. It helps show how reliable a car is right after you buy it.
Brand
Volvo
Volvo is a car company from Sweden that is famous for making very safe cars. They also focus on being environmentally friendly.
Brand
Rivian
Rivian is a company that makes electric trucks and SUVs. They are known for their unique designs and features that cater to outdoor enthusiasts.
Brand
Lexus
Lexus is a luxury car brand that comes from Toyota. They are known for making comfortable and reliable cars with a lot of features.
Car
Nissan Z
The Nissan Z is a new sports car from Nissan that is part of a long line of Z-cars. It's designed to be fast and fun to drive, while also looking stylish like the older models.
Car
Ferrari Amalfi
The Ferrari Amalfi is a new car from Ferrari that is meant to be even better than the Roma. It has more power and improvements in its design.
Car
Ferrari Roma
The Ferrari Roma is a stylish sports car made by Ferrari. It has a powerful engine and a comfortable interior, making it great for long drives and fast speeds.
Car
Chevrolet C7
The C7 Corvette is a model of a sports car made by Chevrolet. It's known for being fast and having a unique design.
Car
Porsche 928
The Porsche 928 is a type of sports car made by Porsche. It was known for being luxurious and having a strong engine.
Car
Ferrari California
The Ferrari California is a type of sports car made by Ferrari. It's known for being luxurious and having a roof that can open and close.
Term
MSRP
MSRP is the price that the car maker suggests you should pay for a new car. It's like a starting price before any discounts or extra features are added.
Term
steering wheel buttons
Steering wheel buttons are the buttons you find on the steering wheel of a car. They let you control things like music or cruise control without having to reach for other controls, which is safer while driving.
Term
V8
A V8 engine is a type of engine that has eight cylinders. It's known for being powerful and is often found in trucks and sports cars.
Term
V12
A V12 engine is a powerful engine that has twelve cylinders. It's designed to provide a lot of power and is often used in fancy or fast cars.
Car
Ferrari Rome
The Ferrari Rome is a stylish sports car from Ferrari that combines modern features with classic design. It's known for being comfortable and powerful.
Car
Jaguar Ftype
The Jaguar F-Type is a fancy sports car that looks great and drives fast. It's available with different engine options, making it a fun car to drive.
Car
Aston Martin Vantage
The Aston Martin Vantage is a high-end sports car that looks beautiful and drives really well. It's known for being powerful and stylish.
Concept
gasoline powered
Gasoline powered means that a car runs on gasoline, which is a type of fuel used in many vehicles.
Term
V8 engine
A V8 engine is a type of engine that has eight cylinders, which helps it produce a lot of power. It's often found in powerful cars and trucks.
Concept
electric versions of the Charger
This refers to Dodge's attempts to make an electric version of their Charger car, which is usually a fast muscle car. The first try didn't go well, showing that making muscle cars electric is tricky.
Term
Hemi
Hemi is a type of engine design that helps cars run better and faster. It has a special shape that makes it easier for air and fuel to mix, which helps the engine produce more power.
Car
Xiaomi SU7
The Xiaomi SU7 is a car made by Xiaomi, a company better known for electronics. It's an electric vehicle that has been recognized for its speed and performance on a racetrack called the Nürburgring.
Concept
ring time-beating car
A 'ring time-beating car' is a car made to go really fast around a specific racetrack called the Nürburgring. Companies sometimes change regular cars to make them faster for this track to show off how good they are at building fast cars.
Car
Tesla Model
Car
Toyota Rav4
Term
big US pickups
'Big US pickups' are large trucks that many people in the U.S. use for work and everyday driving. They are strong and can carry heavy loads.
Car
Mazda Miata
The Mazda Miata is a small sports car that is very fun to drive. It's known for being light and easy to handle, making it a favorite among people who love cars.
Car
Mazda MX-5
The Mazda MX-5 is a small sports car that is fun to drive. It's known for being light and easy to handle, making it a favorite among people who enjoy driving.
Car
Porsche 911S
Car
Toyota Corolla
Car
BMW M4
Car
BMW M2Cs
Car
BMW Z4
Car
BMW M40I
Car
BMW M5
Car
Subaru Outback
Car
BMW New Class
Car
Toyota Supra
Car
BMW Z3
Car
Alpina Z8
Car
BMW Series Bmw
Car
BMW E46
Car
BMW M3
Car
Ford Mustang
Car
BMW E28
Car
BMW M140I
Car
Porsche Boxster
Car
Audi Quattro
Car
Audi RS3
Car
Audi S3
Car
Ford Fiesta ST
Car
Lotus Emira
Car
Acura Integra
Car
Opel Tigra
Car
Gm Sierra
Car
Mercury Grand
Car
Suzuki SX4
Car
Saturn Astra
Car
Opel Astra
Car
Dodge Avengers
LIVE
And we're back. You guys had a lot of things to say on YouTube. You actually watched this podcast, which is really cool. So we're back. We're going to continue revising things. We're going to use the screen differently. There's a lot of stuff we're still refining. We're spending a lot of time just kind of revitalizing this podcast. It's really cool. There will be plenty of refinements as we've still got lighting. We're adding gear just so we can get a screen switcher. So thank you for bearing with us while we get more into it. But we've got a ton of stuff to cover this particular episode. Thank you guys for jumping in.
On YouTube, by the way, I do want to point out we have video on Spotify. For those of you listening and watching, we do have the video element. And it is the everyday driver video card debate. I added the word video just so you would know the differentiation between the regular audio feed and then the new video part. So that also comes up with chapter markers. Same thing on the YouTube channel as well. So thank you guys. You can consume it anywhere you'd like. Yeah. And that's totally fine. And for those of you that are just listening, thank you. We're going to try to cater to you guys as well.
But there's a lot going on. And there was a ton of response on the video side, which we're really excited about. Yeah. So we keep fine tuning. As we had before, we're going to do the same basic structure. We've got a lot of news. They've got a cool topic Tuesday. We're talking about another different car company today. Today is BMW. We're talking about that. We won't do a car company every time. But we thought we'd start with the Porsche one. We'll go to the BMW one. There's more coming to really cool car debates. One from Denmark, which I'm actually really excited about. And then we've actually got car conclusions. I want to talk about the F1 movie while we're here.
Oh, yeah, that's right. There's a lot of stuff going on. So we're going to dive right in with Nissan.
We were just at NCM Motorsports Park for the new hooked on driving mid-Atlantic region track day. There it was a two-day weekend. And so we flew into Nashville drove up to Kentucky to
to NCM Motorsports Park. And Nissan was very kind to give us the new Armada Pro4X. I wanted the platinum reserve. But the more we drove the Pro4X, I decided that was the perfect truck to do.
To have to be driving. I also don't worry. I asked for the Nesmo version, but it is not out yet. I want to drive that thing.
Think of the engine on this not related to the Z-car, but very distantly related to the V6 in the GTR.
Yeah, yeah. So for Nesmo to have a Nesmo version of this thing, the new Armada skirts and everything.
Although this was great. We've got a test drive of this coming out. I did want to point out the ongoing news that we see from Nissan because we see that Nissan has decided to delay or defer payments to their suppliers in an effort to free up $150 million in short-term liquidity because they are trying to get around an $11 billion loss from last year.
Yeah. But the good news is everyone. We liked the Armada.
It actually holds its own. We got a big test drive coming. I'm looking forward to talking about it with you guys more on camera.
There's a lot of really mixed news going on in Nissan because again, they're bleeding cash, which is terrible for them.
But then they just, I cannot believe I read this. I just read this week. There's that JD Power Initial Quality Test, which we make fun of.
Every car is great, because it's got, you just built it. But of course it's got good news.
But here's the thing you have to know about the initial quality thing. This is done in the first 90 days of ownership.
This is those surveys. If you ever bought a new car, you've gotten the survey where it says, you know, what's happened to your car in the first 90 days?
And you fill out how many problems and that kind of stuff? And they have a whole equation about the number of problems in the first 90 days. And it gives you a number above 100 or whatever. This is how it all works.
So right now the bottom two on the JD Power Initial Quality, meaning the most issues people had are Audi and Volvo. Audi at the bottom.
Audi's at the bottom. Audi's at the bottom of the initial quality rankings.
Well, actually this year they didn't rank Rivian because Rivian was way below everybody else, but they listed it as not enough data.
Because there are so few Rivians.
So Rivian is way at the bottom, which we heard on consumer reports as well. But Audi's at the bottom with Volvo just above it.
But what's fascinating to me is the top two. In the number one position, initial quality, Lexus.
In the number two position, Nissan. That's great news.
I mean, it's great. That's a bright spot.
But I need some sense of all this financial crap.
I cannot believe that Nissan of all people, number two in the JD Power Initial Quality, I am astonished that that's a thing.
But I mean, good for them. But I'm amazed. I mean, they're losing bleeding, bleeding cash while their parent, let me try to figure out what to do with them.
Revising an old lineup in a new way, and yet this initial quality ranking was pretty good.
And we actually liked the current ultimate quite a bit because it's such value for money, which is one of the great, and you can get great deals on Nissan.
So that happens as well.
There's our modest surprise.
There's a reason they want to sell cars because they're doing cash.
For sure, for sure.
We actually saw a new Z-car in our latest hooked on driving track day.
We were at the mid-Atlantic. There was a guy in a brand new Z.
I was just thrilled to see it on track.
One of the only ones we've seen in the wild, and there it was on track, which was awesome.
Very cool to see car manufacturers continue to bring out new models that harken back to the olden days.
I know where you're going, yep.
Ferrari has announced their brand new model. It is called the Amalfi.
Here it is. And if you are listening via audio, go to Ferrari.com because that's their newest, latest, hottest thing.
It replaces the Roma.
So more to revision than the Roma.
And now it's your right.
It's a revision of the Roma.
So they've got a power bump, a little bit of a power increase.
But I never really resonated with the Roma.
I didn't feel like the front end was resolved very much.
The new styling, the new direction that Ferrari has gone.
And Ferrari has gone because they have distanced themselves.
Remember from Pinn and Farina, they are no longer using Pinn and Farina to lean on for design, help or design direction.
They're doing it all in a house.
And I think the refinements to this are gorgeous.
I love it to the point where I went looking at these specs for the C7 Corvette.
And the wheelbase for the Amalfi is approximately two inches shorter than the Corvette.
But you know what this car most resembles to my eye is a Porsche 928.
Mercedes has the new AMG GT, which means Mercedes has identified their customer base, wants to buy a car like that.
And now Ferrari has two.
Even though the California, the Portofino Roma, and now the Amalfi in this category, even more power, but they've got their new Ferrari styling direction, which is actually quite nice.
And look, they've gone back to clean, beautiful, simple, voluptuous, sexy surfaces.
I love it.
I actually like the Roma a lot.
And this is a nice refinement of the Roma, which is going in the good direction.
What I find amazing though, and all the press releases that have come out with this, and went from the Roma to the Amalfi coast.
We've got the Amalfi now.
Of course this will be, you know, no money at all.
It'll be $400,000 the minute you actually exhale, because it starts at about 300.
But the time you put like option one on it, which is probably this cool paint, then you'll wind up with any cool color.
You'll wind up instantly in the $400,000 range.
But I actually think this is amazing.
But in all of the press releases, you saw this.
They integrated the screen better into the dash, from the last one, which was kind of on a pillar in the center.
But they're making a big point in all of the press releases about, hey guys, we went away from haptic on the steering wheel.
We brought back buttons.
Yeah, that's good thing.
And that has been discussed all across automotive media, and I'm thrilled about it, but I think it is fascinating.
That the number one thing they are pushing with this revision is not super amazing power, weird power plant.
Look at this new technology we invented.
They're actually advertising and pushing guys.
We heard you.
We went backwards, buttons are back.
I love it.
I just think it's amazing that that has become such a sore point among all of us in just the usability of cars
that part of the Amalfi press release and launch is, oh look, it has steering wheel buttons.
That's amazing.
Only good news.
So I want you to take a good look at the styling.
And like I said, if you're listening audio only, I want you to take a look in comparison to the 12-cylindry.
They have two very similar models.
One V12, one V8.
I think I like the Amalfi better, but now that I look at this even more closely, I do like the 12-cylindry.
It's got that fast back shape here.
It's really grown on me.
Look at that long nose.
And I'm not a fan of this one.
I'm not.
I think the Amalfi's gorgeous.
The Amalfi is far more refined.
This is sort of leftover styling.
I feel like from what Pinn and Farina was trying to introduce, but there are some voluptuous surfaces here.
I feel like the door shut right there ends too soon.
I wanted that fender to flow into the door more.
But look, it does on the Amalfi.
Yeah, the Amalfi's gorgeous.
It's a great new car.
I like the Rome.
I like the Amalfi even more.
That is a spectacular car.
It's packed with loads into the door right there.
Honestly, this is my favorite Ferrari right now.
It's beautiful.
Because I have money for a Ferrari.
I don't.
I don't like money even for like used Ferraris.
But if I were shopping Ferrari, this is the one that is the most intriguing to me.
Doesn't that strike you, everyone, as a 928 shape?
So therefore, if Mercedes has identified their customer base to say,
okay, our customer is buying that.
Ferrari has refined that welcome to Ferrari car, the entry level model,
the one you spec so you can move up in the world.
But I say buy this and be happy.
Porsche now has an opportunity to introduce,
reintroduce the 928 with the Tykon styling.
Let's not go too crazy on that.
But let's integrate that and make that the new direction for Porsche styling
and reintroduce the 928.
Don't give it two back seats.
Just make it the two-seater GT car.
Apparently, the market wants it.
Well, think about all the cars that are this approximate shape that are gorgeous looking.
We've got the Jaguar F-type.
Yes.
The Aston Martin Vantage.
Aston is gorgeous.
The Aston has been refined really, really well.
The current version when it came out, but it's been refined really, really well.
We've got this.
We've got the Mercedes GT.
There's a lot of cars that have this approximate shape.
And they all, if you will, occupy the market the 928 in a modern way would live in.
This long hood GT car is so great.
Was the 928 developed too soon?
Is now it's time?
Who knows?
Who doesn't have products to reintroduce to the market and capitalize on this market?
We already talked, Porsche, and they're planning.
We should not return to that.
Don't get that color interior by the way.
I do not agree with that.
I do not agree with that.
Whether get the tan or the sand or the camel or oatmeal or biscuit or whatever you call it.
There's a lot of really good colors available here for the exterior and the interior.
It's a good, it's a great looking car.
Really is.
In other news, we have SRT.
We do.
SRT tries to figure out, well, actually, Stellantis tries to figure out how do we sell cars going forward, right?
SRT is back, supposedly.
There's going to be gasoline powered V8 angry versions of upcoming Dodge and Ram products.
We'll see what that means.
I'm very curious to see what the new Ram Boss is saying, this Tim is saying that he's going to do.
SRT is coming back.
We don't know any more than that.
But we do know that the electric versions of the charger was a fail.
And we know that the Hemi and all those engines were the thing that were the defining reality for that brand.
So the fact that it's coming back is quite intriguing.
I'm very curious to hear where it really goes, though.
Agreed.
I'm glad SRT is returning.
I'm glad the performance brand is coming back.
I think people get excited by the performance versions of anything.
And speaking of performance, Xiaomi, I believe is the correct pronunciation.
Oh, sure.
Yeah.
For the new Ring record set by our friend, David Petard, from last year.
We interviewed him on the pump and made such a great guy.
So nice.
Incredible dude, incredible driver.
And here he has set the new Ring record in the Xiaomi SU7 on the Ring.
I think he shaved 22 seconds off his old record when he was driving it before.
It was 644 before.
642 now.
622 now.
What?
But the key thing here is, this is where this gets nuts.
This is actually off of his Instagram, even though Xiaomi has been elsewhere talking about just the time,
like my name was a driver, but this is his actual Instagram post.
And this is the fifth fastest production car record of all time.
That's insane.
This is the fifth fastest ever.
Actually, I say that.
These cars listed, not all of these are even production cars.
Fifth fastest record is unbelievable 622.
The onboard, it looks fake.
It's so unbelievably fast.
Yeah.
And this is, of course, a Chinese manufacturer who is making an all electric,
if you want to think about it, Tycon competitor, and then they've taken this one,
and they've wrenched it way away from the production car just to make it a ring time-beating car.
So how, if you will, real is this car for something you could buy?
I don't think it's all that close.
But the point is they've done it, and the reason we're excited about it is because we know David,
and he is a master of the ring, and they hired him, and he did a six.
You can see it there, 622 is what he did, which is an astonishing time,
and the other people listed here as the four people in front of him are names you've heard of
and legends in their own right.
So it is astonishing that he is in that list now of folks that just amazes me.
I also want to talk about new breakthrough records, and that is the Tesla Model Y has been
the best selling car in the world, and it has now been dethroned by of all things,
the Toyota RAV4.
Now I want to hit a couple of things here.
The Toyota RAV4 in the last year has sold like 1.2 million vehicles worldwide.
They sell almost 500,000 here in the US, but this is for the RAV4 that is outgoing.
We were at a recent Toyota HQ event where they unveiled the upcoming one.
And typically when you unveil the upcoming car, it's because the old one is kind of petering out
and people aren't buying anymore.
This is the last year for the current one.
Not so.
And now it hits the record as the world's best selling car, and they haven't even released the new one yet.
This is the old model, and I say old because the one you could buy currently
with the new one coming later this year, and it is the world's best selling car.
And I hate to say it, but this shows because it dethroned the Model Y.
The point I'm making here is this shows where car and vehicle buying is right now.
We're buying five seats, lifted hatches, pretending to be SUVs.
This is what the world at large is buying.
Remember in the 90s, it was like, is it the camera or the tourist?
Remember that?
This is where we are now.
And it's been this way for a while, but keep in mind, this is out selling big US pickups.
This is out selling everything.
The five seat just works SUV.
And there are some versions of the RAV4 in their marketplace that are really, really good.
But the reality is these are vehicles, the Model Y, the RAV4.
The design of them is not to have personality.
They are just designed to be, they work.
They have technology, whatever.
This is what the best selling car in the world looks like right now, the RAV4.
That's amazing to me that that's where we are.
But here is the 2026 version off of Toyota's website here.
Look, lifestyle.
Oh yeah, they're going to have a lifestyle version.
But they've also introduced GR sports just like N line or AMG line or something like that.
But look, the styling is updated.
It's on point.
They will have electrified power trains.
They've got variety and they are going to sell even more of these.
It's astonishing.
And in this photo, for those of you that can't see, there is a guy carrying a paddle board.
While his girlfriend gives the dog some water.
I mean, this is fantastic marketing.
Why a lake?
They're doing it.
Idealics on.
Yes.
And it's perfect.
Nobody else is around.
Yeah.
So it's just you and your new RAV4 for 2026.
Speaking of things that are changing cars, I really ought to show you, I have to show you this photo because
and those you listening, it's no big deal.
You're not missing anything.
And that is the fact of, oh look, tumblers are ruining it all.
Now, here's the thing.
In the 90s, early 2000s, the German or all of the European manufacturers didn't understand the American market because we all wanted cup holders.
And they were like, why would you eat and drink while you drive?
Well, the beast has grown on their head.
If you get into your local minivan or big SUVs, they brag about how many cup holders they have.
But the market is speaking and saying the problem is that now that we're all using these reusable tumblers,
I mean, I have my little water bottle here that is not nearly like this.
Using these reusable tumblers like the Stanley tumblers and these crazy things are huge.
The cup holders aren't big enough.
So consumers are going to manufacturers and saying, I'd like a larger cup holder, please.
So what is this going to do to center consoles?
If we're trying to accommodate these like 32 and 40 something ounce tumblers in our center consoles,
I just don't even know where to put that information.
And then I have to jump from these bits of news to you guys responses to the last podcast.
There were two interesting things that came out of our discussion of the last podcast, lots of them, but two main.
First one is, we were asked about a singer version of the Miata.
Oh, that's right. Yes. That's right.
And our big commentary was, well, it's not really an aspirational car.
It's a car you just go get, why would someone do it?
And our discord, which is made up of the amazing patrons of this show.
Somebody on our discord revealed that such a thing exists.
I'm looking at classic driver right now.
This is a revised.
It's called the rocket tier MX five built out of England.
They put a Jaguar V6 in the front.
They redo the interior.
You can see the quilting.
They make it singer style.
They really do. Here it is.
It's a gorgeous looking in a Miata.
Now it's one of those things like a singer where when you look at it,
you're not sure why it's different.
Just at glance.
It's like, oh, somebody's really nice, super clean in a Miata padded leather
in the inside of an NA.
But it has a Miata.
It's got a little under 300 horsepower.
The review here on classic driver is glowing as you can probably imagine.
You can do this yourself.
He'll send you the parts from England or it costs like 60,000 euros or 60,000 pounds
to have this done to your NA, which is indicative of the Miata itself quite affordable
compared to things like the 911s of the world.
So that's going on, which I thought was interesting that I hadn't heard of it.
In fact, most of our patrons, even Miata owners on our Discord hadn't heard of it,
but somebody on our Discord brought it up.
We've been discussing that, which I am fascinated by.
And speaking of discussion points, you guys had many things to say about our ranting about the ZR1.
I thought we were being controversial with Porsche.
But apparently, that was not the topic you guys wanted to talk about.
The funniest thing that came out of our ZR1 ranting.
And I will acknowledge maybe we went on too long about the naming convention.
We were just so annoyed.
But the thing was funny is comments and emails have come to us.
I find this amazing.
Where people are saying, well, I happen to know.
Yeah, sure.
I saw a lot of those.
Sure, sure you do.
The I happen to know is, guys, the Zora is still coming.
It's going to be even more amazing than this, which actually leads me to the reason I'm bringing this up.
The ZR1 is over a thousand horsepower.
The ZR1 X is all-wheel drive and 1,250 horsepower.
If there is a bigger version of the C8 coming, my question to you, the audience, is to do what?
How much more nuts can this car get?
Well, we were reminded again at this track day about the discussions that inevitably come up when you're talking about a track day and you're talking about a versus Corvette.
It always happens.
It will always be, hey, Corvette drivers, could you just feather the throttle on the straightaway even though you know you can leave everybody in the dust.
Maybe the next generation will have so much power.
Miata's won't be the fastest car in track because you'll be so far ahead on the straightaway that by the time you make it all the way around the track,
the Miata can't catch up.
Maybe, generally speaking, the Miata driven by a very capable driver will always catch the Corvette on track.
Because they're heavier. They don't handle as well as the lightweight tiny little Miata fly.
I think 1,250 horsepower.
You can have a fun track day and you can go really fast in a 300 horsepower car.
Or less?
Yes.
A quarter.
Much less horsepower would be the prosciutto.
When we're talking about this and we're at this level, let's say we're wrong and Chevy still has Zora.
The nameplate of their sleeve.
We're hearing things about an all carbon version.
Maybe the carbon tub.
Sure.
Well, that just got even more expensive.
You're going to have to amortize the tooling and you're going to have to go crazy.
Now, you're into the layering levels of build.
Is somebody going to pay a half million dollars for a Corvette?
Yeah.
That's the question.
I mean, people are paying $50,000 for a Corolla, but that's a different discussion.
Yeah.
Also concerning.
When you build something at that level now and you call Zora, great, yes.
But it's gotten to be even so much more of a bragging rights kind of car.
And we want to see these on track.
I mean, they do build a track version.
Of course.
Holy cow.
You're not going to be using even a half of that kind of power.
So did it get more fun?
Is this just becoming a straight line vehicle?
That's a great question.
That's a great question.
Welcome that.
I think there were a lot of people that misinterpreted our opinions about it.
It was the name that kind of rubbed us the wrong way.
It was not.
Well, but it didn't suggest something even crazier.
It just suggested an add on like a knee-to kind of thing.
Even though it's technically a different car with 200 more horsepower.
But I really, if the Zora, this is what people rage that us about, that the Zora is still coming.
And my question is, and it does what?
Does it have jets on the back?
It does it actually fly by accident?
It does it go back in time?
Is it actually a time machine?
I don't understand what is next and available beyond what these are doing for the C8.
But look, I don't mind being surprised.
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Our topic today is about BMW.
We covered Porsche last episode.
And we're discussing BMW in their future.
We had Chris Chapman on a few months ago.
Hopefully you heard his take on BMW who is a well-known designer.
Work for BMW, work for Honda.
Hyundai, excuse me, for a long time.
And Chris is a great guy.
And he really shaped the direction, the pushing forward of BMW.
He really was influential in doing all that stuff.
And so we're talking about BMW and what's in it for their future.
But where I wanted to start was BMW's current success.
Sure.
They're wins.
How good they are currently doing.
Okay.
Starting with the row racing team.
I'm sure I'm pronouncing that incorrectly.
That is a motor oil.
It's just oils and lubricants in Germany.
It's R-O-W-E.
Or R-O.
I'll just pronounce it R-O.
I'm sure I'm mispronouncing that terribly.
But R-O racing, that BMW M4 GT3 EVO,
campaigned by R-O racing,
just got victory in the 24 hours of Nurburgring in June 2025.
And that makes BMW up to 21, having 21 overall victories in the race.
That car also got its first win at the Imso Weathertech Sports Car Championship.
Six-hour race at Watkins Glen, June 23rd, 2025,
from the Paul Miller racing team.
And also the Mini Cooper JCW and Bulldog racing placed second
in the SB3T class at the 24 hours of the ring.
The BMW M2CS was just announced,
and that just set a new Nurburgring lap record of seven minutes, 25 seconds,
for the fastest compact car class beating the previous time by eight seconds.
Yeah, yeah.
Also an M2, also driven by your vidinger,
who was also driving that prior M2.
So we shaved eight seconds off his prior time with the new car.
The new car, yeah.
Still, yeah.
The M2CS is still the class record there.
And you hopefully are aware by now that car makes 523 horsepower,
479 pound-feet of torque.
Weight has been reduced by 100 pounds, primarily in the transmission.
Top speed of 188 miles an hour.
And we talk about the ring.
It is the benchmark testing facility for all M vehicles,
just like it is for most performance manufacturers.
The Spartanburg plant is the largest single production facility in the world.
It makes more than 1,500 vehicles per day,
including the X3, X4, X5, X6, X7, and XM.
And then when it comes to sales,
for the first six months of 2025,
sales are up globally 1.6%,
but the company experienced a 21.2% decline in EV sales
compared to the second quarter of 2024.
Okay.
We really liked the Z4 M40i manual.
We really did.
Yes.
Great car to drive.
I want the new M5 touring in green.
I just, I just want it.
Yeah.
BMW has also found there's much excitement.
Many buyers, they have experienced far more sales increase
and customer interest just by having the wagon in North America again.
Let's sell something here other than an outback as far as wagons are concerned.
And the RS6, of course, thankfully that exists.
They're doing a lot correctly, a lot right now.
Yes, they're making hugely fast cars, incredibly capable cars,
and they are doing well with sales.
Winning race teams, record setting cars,
a lot of customer interest,
except for the battery electric vehicles down 21.2%,
it's not just them though, by court.
It's not just them.
It's an industry wide thing,
but they're certainly experiencing it.
And like I said, BMW is doing a lot right.
The NOIA class, the new class is coming,
so they're hopefully going to reset everything with a new styling.
And you know what?
I actually really like where the direction they're going.
I think it looks gorgeous.
The current styling introduced throughout that isn't consistent,
isn't doing the many favors,
like the seven series and the I7, which are flat out.
Ugly.
The Beaver Teaf.
Yes.
The IX is ugly, the XM is ugly.
Yes.
Beauty is in the eye, of course.
But my biggest question is for BMW.
And us.
Where did the fun go?
I agree with you.
And I want to take a step to the side here real quickly,
because we talked about Porsche last time.
We're talking about BMW now.
We'll talk about other manufacturers going forward.
But I do want to acknowledge the elephant in the room here.
And that is regulation.
Okay.
In the EU and here in the US,
there are different regulations these manufacturers have to adhere to.
And most of the time they are some combination of safety standards,
new things that are required.
Or if it's not safety standards,
then it's emission standards, whatever those are.
So as a result, there's a lot of stuff going on that these manufacturers are,
they're forced to adhere to certain things.
This is where electrification is coming on.
So people's cars are all going to be electrified,
which is key because hybrids do count.
But then the EU is about to come down with some serious carbon emission restrictions,
which is why Porsche went with the weird split turbo,
the T hybrid thing was for emissions more than anything.
So there's a lot of other stuff going on here.
These manufacturers have to adhere to.
But remember, in the 80s and 90s,
BMW really pushed forward the ultimate driving machine moniker.
That was their thing.
But if you go right now to your search engine of choice and you just type in BMW,
the official site will say BMW, the ultimate driving machine,
they've come back around to it.
And I don't think they're making that anymore.
Now I say that.
You just identified some really good cars that they make.
And to a car, BMW more than I think any other manufacturer,
whatever the number says on the tin,
like this is how much it makes,
it's going to feel like the most powerful version of that number you've ever come across.
If they say 300 horsepower, you drive two 300 horsepower cars back to back,
one's a BMW and one's not.
The BMW one is going to feel like it's got 25 to 50 percent more.
They certainly measure their horsepower super conservatively.
I think they measure it for like you lost a cylinder today and it's still got that amount.
They have an astonishing amount of power.
I mean, let's be honest.
This is why Toyota picked the B-58 engine for the Supra.
I mean, that is really very successful.
So all of that is going on.
But the other thing to think about is the fact that all of their cars have gotten crazy heavy.
And I still think that the best era for BMW was late 90s, early 2000s.
Think about the Pierce Brosnan James Bond era.
During those movies, they introduced the Z3 in those movies.
They introduced the Z8 in those movies.
And his primary car for those movies, it was scandalous at the time,
because it always been asked in Martin, was the seven series BMW.
That late 97 series BMW, I still think, hands down is the best looking one that BMW has ever made.
There's one in my neighborhood right now that a father and son trade off driving around,
like the son is like late high school and the dad is a car guy.
It is black.
It is spectacular.
That is the seven series.
I would still like to own it.
It's more than 20 years old.
And all of their cars used to be the ultimate driving machine, meaning they were good to drive first
and luxury cars second.
But in the 2000s BMW has pursued, and there's a couple of reasons for this.
BMW has pursued sales, which means volume became more important than driving experience.
Even though they still have so many engineers that are really good at making their cars good,
we've been to a couple of launches of BMW, where it was M cars.
And he just sit there in Marvel.
How did the M guys make this brick drive this well?
BMW has thrown out a concern for weight.
Every one of their cars now weighs way too much.
And as crazy as this has to say, it kind of doesn't matter.
I mean, it matters when you hit a corner and I'll come back.
But I think the biggest loss to BMW was the shift from hydraulic steering
to electronic power steering.
If you think about the E46 BMW in the early 2000s, and at the same time, the E90 M3,
those two had hydraulic steering.
Then BMW jumps to electronic power steering, and this is a regulation thing as well.
Electronic power steering, yes, there's some gas savings there, but it also allows for lane keep assist.
And this is many factors across the board.
This allows them to do lane keep assist.
So that's the reason everybody moved along.
The steering feels exactly.
And the amount of ratio or whatever.
That's what electronic power steering gains you.
And we're not going backwards.
Not going backwards.
Sadly, but the problem is I think BMW more than any other manufacturer.
That was a key element of the way their cars drove was how great their hydraulic power steering was.
And as soon as they went to electric, it just became mute.
Mute on all their cars.
And I almost feel like this was a calculated decision.
We've talked about on some of our test drives and also some of our reviews.
Electric BMW and a gas BMW right now drive the same.
It's not like the gas BMW has extra interesting stuff going on or more information in the wheel.
I really think they made their gas cars drive like their electric cars so it actually makes it propulsion irrelevant.
But we've lost there was tactility in BMW hydraulic steering that no longer exists on the face of the planet,
which is a real tragedy.
But if you look at their website right now, they sell a lot of SUVs.
They are successful selling a lot of SUVs.
And there are many performance versions of any model you can think of available in their lineup that will blind you with speed.
But the ultimate driving machine which says to me the driver interacts, the driver is spoken to, that's kind of gone.
Yeah. And to your point, BMW has always taken normal cars and made them fast.
Three, five, seven series, now SUVs.
They've taken normal cars.
They haven't been any particularly specific cars.
The Z4 aside.
But if the Amalfi is any indication and the AMG is any indication, could BMW bring back the Z8?
Well, they have an eight series right now, which is crazy.
They do.
I feel like it's overlooking out.
Just that long hood.
Just beautiful sports car GT car because I'm always curious.
We joke about mood boards.
We joke about what the companies think their customers are.
Yeah.
And have you seen when you're driving, you see somebody driving a car and you think,
man, that company nailed their target market.
It's exactly who you were thinking of when you started down that road.
And that's okay for sure.
But my question is, who does BMW think their customers are?
What customers do they want?
But who do they think their customer base is right now?
Sure, yeah.
It's a mix.
And I think of any car company, BMW has the biggest ability to broaden the spectrum and build cars on one end,
on both ends of the spectrum, everything in between because they will.
It's BMW.
But really get it right for everybody.
Because Z4 over here, I'd love it to bring the Z8 back or some lighter smaller.
The M2 we thought was going to be the light small thing.
And then their new generation got even heavier and faster and more capable and ring record setting.
And heavier and uglier.
Yeah.
Now regarding steering, the feel is gone.
It's gone.
But the precision is there like crazy incredible, which makes you think that there's a lot of feel.
That's not true.
You're not feeling the car's attitude because of all the systems that even traction troll off.
You're feeling a lot of the car do things for you.
But that precision is really quite amazing.
No other car company has the precision, I think, BMW currently exhibits in things like the M2.
See, it's a scalpel.
It's a scalpel.
I also think the thing that's happened with electronic power steering is I think they have created
artificially fast initial turn in.
When you move a BMW steering wheel off center, it's like you cranked it.
It's just a lot of code.
You can just crank the lot of code until the steering rack to do what you want to do.
You do a tiny input and it's like you crank the wheel a quarter turn.
It is amazing.
And then it settles out after that.
But the problem is, and you and I have recently experienced this couple of our hooked on driving track days.
If you throw a lot of steering input into a BMW, it kind of assumes you want to go 90 degrees right now.
Yes.
And they have excellent traction control systems.
I was actually instructing at Hedge Hollow in our Midwest region.
I was instructing there in a brand new BMW.
Yes.
The car was so powerful, we could leave everybody else in the novice group behind.
It was a bullet.
Incredible.
But it was super heavy, which was clear anytime we got to a corner under heavy braking.
That BMW also makes very good seats and generally very good brakes.
But their traction control system saved us more than once from a spin.
Because of sudden steering input that we were working on, it was a novice day.
We were working on sudden steering input.
But I could feel, okay, I had that moment, sitting right, seat runs like we're going to spin.
It's happening.
We're going to spin.
That was a lot of input.
We're going to spin.
And then I could feel the brakes all over the car, like settling, settling, settling, we didn't spin.
The car systems were calculated.
So BMW, those M guys are really good.
I can't take anything away from the performance.
They ring out of these cars.
But you enter into a sharp corner in a BMW.
And you have to be careful about the steering input because it is so sudden.
It is so sharp off of center.
And then the weight goes high.
By the way, I'm still really heavy.
And I would argue in almost every situation of every car they make right now, too heavy.
It's happened by regulations, but their cars are super heavy.
They didn't use to be.
They're used to be a delicacy.
Go to the E30 M3.
The original one wasn't very powerful.
Incredibly delicate to drive.
But through the E36 and the E46, there was a delicacy in working with those cars.
It's gone.
The steering feels gone.
The weight has created a big mute beast.
But my Lord, they're fast.
The through line that I'm seeing through all of our discussions constantly is weight.
Yeah.
And manufacturers are dealing with a lot of regulations that require systems that increase the weight.
We hope that manufacturers can continue to get away from all of that.
Focus.
How do you make stuff lighter?
I don't have a recipe.
I don't have a model lineup necessarily.
I think they're doing great.
They're selling cars.
They are.
They became a volume German manufacturer.
They used to be a niche manufacturer that was worried about driving first.
And now they are worried about volume first, which, okay, it's a business, I understand it.
But it has changed the core of the company.
I don't think about BMW being in the luxury category.
Even though it is, the price tells you and the higher end stuff.
Yeah, it's a more luxury vehicle.
But I always felt like Mercedes, leave the luxury to Mercedes.
If you want a sports car or a sporty version, go buy the BMW, which was always attractive to me.
Even though it's a luxury, you know, higher end vehicle, the sport always was just a step ahead of the luxury.
It was ranked slightly higher than luxury, whereas opposite of Mercedes.
Agreed. It was the brand where if you were buying a luxury car, but you were a driver, you went to BMW.
I don't know if that's the case anymore.
I just want that again.
It's world crushing capability, but I don't need to be there as a driver.
It's not this extreme, but it's along the lines of what Nissan did with the GTR.
Where I cannot believe how capable this is, but I'm not necessary.
And the great thing about BMWs is there was a ton of capability there, but you had to find it, ring it out,
and become a better driver to extract it.
And then there was just so much merging with the car.
Now, as evidenced by these track days and other things, it's unbelievable how fast and capable they are.
But you as a driver and driver skill and involvement are far less important.
Right, BMW.
Thank you.
Good job.
You've got some more work to do, but we might be pleasantly surprised with the new class coming.
I like the styling direction.
Sure, yeah.
Let's go small.
From what I can see, from what I can tell, that three series, the new class three series, looks smaller to my eye.
It does, I agree.
I have hope.
BMW.
You're doing good.
Let's keep it going.
But let's think about the ultimate driving machine moniker, even when we're building everything we build.
I just want lighter and I want stuff that worries about the driver.
I realize that ship has mostly sailed, but man, that's what I want.
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I think our first car debate really made me laugh because it was just like a little poke
that we Americans are not typically very good with our geography.
I mean, I lived in Norway.
I lived in England.
I'm somewhat aware of European geography.
I lived there.
Certainly things I get wrong.
But Sebastian wrote in.
And he said, hi.
Greetings from Denmark.
A small country in Scandinavia.
Just to be like, in case you have no idea where Denmark is.
Right.
Not a former Russian state.
We're not next to Ukraine.
We're in Scandinavia, which I already knew by the way.
But he's writing in from Denmark and he's listened to our podcast for a long time.
And that was the start of his email.
I will admit I've got a little bit of PTSD.
Oh, you do.
Because when somebody comes in swinging, sometimes they're kidding around.
And I think they're serious.
So I read this title about having a love hate relationship with our podcast.
And I was like, what is this now?
And I started reading and then I started laughing.
Yeah.
Because Sebastian's problem is he likes our podcast until we convince him to buy another car,
which seems to happen often.
So he appreciates what we do.
And man, we love to have you listening and all of you listening.
We love that we actually influence you to buy a car that you love.
That's the whole point.
The whole reason the show exists is for that.
But he realizes that we keep spending his money and making him unhappy with his current car
where he goes and buys another one.
Sebastian, thank you for writing.
Really appreciate it.
I love reading your email.
He says he'll listen to one of the car debate.
It's in a feeling we'll start to see pin a feeling that maybe, maybe it's time to try something new.
Probably.
Yeah.
It slowly evolves and gets stronger over a couple of weeks as he listens to more podcasts.
Eventually with him, hardly realizing the hunt is on.
And he's actively looking for a new car.
The sad thing is that thanks to auto tempest and what we do, we never really stop.
We have really nice cars and we never really stop.
You and I weekly had the coverage.
Do you know what's this cheap now?
We could totally stop.
Yeah.
It happens to us.
But then we keep going.
Yes.
Sebastian loves the feeling of the hunt.
We accelerate that feeling.
He hasn't owned a car for more than a year since he started listening to the podcast.
Every year he trades out.
Wow.
Amazing.
Okay.
But he regularly tells people if you were a wine enthusiast, you wouldn't necessarily drink the same bottle of wine every night for years.
Would you?
Maybe.
Maybe.
That would be before.
If it's in 82, we'll see.
No, but he made the point.
But yeah.
Okay.
You wouldn't necessarily stay with one thing forever.
I do see it.
Yeah.
Sebastian's current car is a 2020 Mustang bullet.
Steeda edition modified by its previous owner, a racing driver in Luxembourg.
Check out art and revs on Instagram.
Custom diff, shorter gearing, full suspension upgraded, wider wheels and tires.
The car is glorious but has drawbacks on snowy, Danish winter roads.
Where they're salted, the road they're salted.
All right.
So he's concerned about rust and with 500 horsepower on the rear wheels and his one year old son now sitting next to him.
The current concern of safety is now omnipresent.
Sebastian, how many Mustangs are even in Denmark?
Agreed.
You have a bullet Mustang.
That has to be one of the rarest cars in the country.
Honestly, just far as sure numbers of other ones you could see in Denmark, it has to be in the single digits.
A bullet Mustang over and we'll show it to you.
That's amazing.
It's just incredible.
Yeah.
So it's that Mustang bullet, that green edition here.
So here it is from Sebastian's email.
Yep.
Really cool.
Yeah, looks great.
Really like this thing, man.
I love that you sent photos.
Even the wheels are green too.
So incredibly, you've got that car there.
And I bet you you get so much attention.
Yep.
But it doesn't seem like we're getting rid of that car.
It seems like we're shopping for something new.
We're shopping for a winter car for Sebastian.
You can think of two different ways to go about this.
He's very keen to hear our ideas.
His wife drives a brand new electric SUV, so his new winter car doesn't need to be super practical.
But it should have rear seats and a large enough trunk to fit a compact stroller.
Okay.
He gives us two options here.
First of all, put the Mustang in storage during the winter, get a newer winter car.
And he would drive that November through March.
Then put it in storage, get out the Mustang for summer, April through October.
A list of candidates include a new Land Rover Discovery.
Preferably the three-door.
Okay.
Or quite expensive.
BMW M340i sedan or wagon.
Toyota GR Yaris.
He says it's got back seats and four-wheel drive.
All right.
Yes, it's all those things.
He says, couldn't I just say, hey, honey, it's a rally car.
Those are safe.
Yeah.
By the way, anyone in Europe has seen enough rally videos to know that the first thing that follows with a, hey, it's a rally car is not those are safe.
All of your pictures around it.
All of your spouses are picturing right now a hatchback tumbling through the forest.
Okay.
So in that regard, Sebastian, I'm not sure that connecting it to rally is the best idea, even though it is a great little car and I want to circle back.
Budget for this newer winter car is ideally around $45,000 US dollars, $55,000 US at the top end.
Okay.
Going on to option two, still put the Mustang in stores during winter but get a second slightly older car, perhaps from the 90s or the odds which he runs all year or on its own during the winter.
Okay.
And in parallel to the Mustang during the summer, so therefore somehow being an enthusiast car.
And it doesn't necessarily mean sharp handling, he says, but engaging feels analog compared to newer cars.
He's on more recently and he's got the candidates here, including the older discovery.
They're really going up in price and are becoming a bit of an image and prestige car in Denmark.
That makes sense to me, actually.
Yeah.
Staying the chassis Mercedes W123 or the BMW E28, definitely older.
Well, they rust away from the snow in the salt.
They will.
Yes.
Yes, it will.
Yes.
Like the one Todd, you had as a winter car and his wife loves the Cooper and has owned two of them in your life.
But do it, do the high taxes on cars in Denmark.
It's expensive to run two cars at once.
So the budget is around $30,000 US dollars, preferably less.
Okay.
He includes his car resume, which includes a 98 Golf Mark 4, 2.3, the V5, his first car.
He bought from an old lady and the Mark 4 Golf drives like an old lady's car, he says.
He had a five year break from cars during university.
He had some bikes, 2013 BMW M135, the 2020 BMW 330i, 2017 M140i.
Three BMWs in a row.
I want to note that.
Yes.
Wow.
That's when he started listening to the podcast after watching the YouTube channel and got himself a 2017 991.2 base Carrera.
Of course.
That's surprising.
Like he says, manual transmission, fantastic daily.
But then he got black smoke and flashing warning lights.
So he says that 30 years of age, he thought this car could ruin him.
Got rid of that.
But he got another Porsche, which I find hysterical.
He got rid of the Carrera to get himself a 2014 981 Boxster S.
And he'd been bitten by track fever.
So he wanted something cheaper to run.
So he was running this boxer.
But then he traded that out for the Mustang bullet.
And this is what leads us back around to these options.
And to be honest, I kind of prefer the idea here of having the car that you can keep driving even in the summer.
It's cool enough that you might drive it in the summer as well.
I like the winter beater idea very much.
But just buying something just for winter duty to me feels like the wrong way to go.
You're missing an opportunity to have something just fun in general.
So I actually kind of chased that reality for a little bit.
I have a few thoughts here.
The first one I was surprised by, you're not going to be surprised to hear this.
But the first one I was surprised by is I found a Mitsubishi Rally Art.
That is currently in Denmark.
Is it really when shopping?
I went shopping in Denmark.
I went looking for the EVO.
I found some EVOs, but they were older ones in this.
This Rally Art is the EVO X in Rally Art hatchback form.
That is all-wheel drive.
It has roughly 230 horsepower.
So it has the horsepower of a WRX.
It's not that old.
It's 2010-ish, okay?
Currently available.
That's the one that I happen to find in Denmark has weird graphics on it.
But the point is, those cars were sold there.
This one that we actually looking at has a tow hook on the front.
I don't know if that's really been used or it's just there for fashion.
But it does have a tow hook on the front.
But again, it's hatchback.
It's automatic.
It has the DCT.
It has that actually very robust motor, even though mine had a problem.
But generally they're robust.
So this is something that's out there that you could find in that market.
And I think that is a really good option.
I like that as kind of one of my ideas.
But I want to circle back here real quick to the GR-Yaris.
I think this is a great idea.
This is a great idea.
It is a two-door hatchback.
The hatch is very small.
The car in general is very small.
But you're talking about a brand new car.
So it's going to repel rust and salt the best.
Great gearbox, great drivetrain.
It is related to the Corolla, the GR Corolla drivetrain.
We drove this recently.
We're in Germany the last time we drove it.
I was genuinely impressed with it.
I really like the drove it on spa.
And I thought it was really fun.
It was a bit out of its depth on spa.
But I still thoroughly enjoyed it.
This is a great little car.
If you want to go this far,
I love that you're here on this.
But, you know, it's hard for me to not just love.
Oh, man.
I haven't seen that many.
I had to bring up a picture of Scott the Mini.
And this is the first gen.
So it's the 2003 to like 06.
The R53 supercharged mini.
You said your wife's already like some.
This is a great call because you can get these for nothing.
And if they're well maintained as the one I had was,
they're interesting to drive.
They're fun.
You can get a manual or supercharged.
That is the problem with the,
the answer that I mentioned is it is dual clutch only.
The Yaris, you can get manual.
But these old minis.
You can get manual, which is great.
That's the way you want them.
If this is, it's probably cheap.
I don't, I don't want to discount this.
But it's probably cheap enough.
This is almost a throwaway car.
This is a car that if it gets beat on in the winter,
you're not going to be that sad about it.
They made a lot of them.
They're fairly affordable now as old cars.
They are 20 years old, which is crazy to think about.
Again, mine was originally bought for $5,000.
So I really like this idea for you guys very, very much.
This is actually one of my very favorites because, of course,
I have a soft spot for it.
But where did you go on this?
We went in very, very different places.
You can switch me over there because the car that made a very big impression on me
when we visited for our pilgrimage trip,
Tom came up and visited from Stuttgart,
and he brought with him a Cupra from Intor, VZ5.
If you are going to have the winter do-it-all,
I was so impressed by this.
I want Cupra.
We've heard the rumors that Cupra wants to come back to North America,
the Spanish division of Seat that was carved off into its own brand,
but of course, part of Volkswagen Group,
that means the VZ5, Sebastian at the top end,
has the 384 horsepower in line five,
the 2.5 liter turbo engine in it,
with 354 pound-feet of torque.
It was rocket-fast.
It was excellent.
It was kind of a golfer and a better suit.
And it's slightly larger.
It has a little bit bigger backseat,
and you can get the compact stroller in the back.
I really liked this car,
but of course, you don't have to get the VZ5 version.
Now, the new Cupra for Mentor is all electric.
If you go back slightly,
they come in a lot of other powertrain versions,
different engines.
You can go as low as, I think, 150-brake horsepower.
You can go a lower horsepower,
pay less money.
But if you couldn't find for your budget of VZ5,
holy cow, you've got that special engine in a sweet-looking car,
I really was impressed by this.
And I think, of course, the oil drive,
you've got the Quattro oil drive system.
I think that is my top consideration for you.
You don't have to go full-top end.
But also, if we're going to talk about that particular engine,
you can ignore the RS3 Audi compact car.
You could go S3 as well.
I realize that you do have the A3 hatch.
I think you've got the modern versions of the A3 hatch,
which are intriguing to me.
But if we're going to go hatch,
and we're going to do A3 hatch,
A45 AMG.
Yeah, those are super fun.
And the thing is, those older ones actually
are going to be pretty affordable all-wheel drive.
That is a fantastic hot hatch.
In fact, I'll say this.
That's interesting enough that it wins over the Yaris.
You think so?
I think it does.
Now, here's the thing.
The Yaris is going to be...
It's got four doors.
This is four doors.
Yeah, it's a four door with a hatch.
It isn't going to be manual, which is a bummer.
No.
But it's going to feel like a grander place.
The problem with the Yaris is,
you can't get past the fact that it is a cheap car.
It's rowdy, it's special.
Like the old Fiesta ST.
Like you're driving a bus.
Yeah.
Like the old Fiesta ST.
It was incredibly fun to drive,
but you looked around constantly like,
yeah, this was a super cheap subcompact.
That is the reality of the Yaris.
This feels like a Mercedes
that might be the black sheep of the family.
I've always thought it is.
And whenever I see the A45
we didn't get it.
It's so cool.
That's really good.
I do like that.
Stubby, little, hot performance thing.
Yeah, that's good.
Because, Sebastian, I feel like
that you're going to want something sporty.
You even mentioned it.
It's got to be kind of a fun car,
but still do family duty.
And Europe is littered with these kinds of cars.
The kids are exactly to what you're looking for.
We have a dearth of small, fun, lightweight,
hatchback family.
Those Mercedes hatches are great.
I actually thought of the S3,
because I actually thought of it
and found the fact that you can get the S3
and hatch over there,
which we don't get.
And the S3 and hatch is very intriguing,
but I see your RS3.
And it's really hard to argue against your Mercedes A45
because, again,
that's super snorty.
And that's generations that we didn't get here.
It's so good looking.
And it also,
it's older now.
It's the same as the CLA we did get
that we talked about so much.
This is the A45,
and it really is a phenomenal looking car.
And now they're old enough you could probably get them.
I don't know the reliability on them
because they are super,
super cranked within an edge of their life.
They're strong.
But they are very, very fun.
I love it.
All right, Sebastian.
Thank you for writing.
I'm always finding the images
that are the hot performance version of the thing.
Of course you are.
I know.
So just have that in mind,
while you shop for the mid-grade version, I guess.
But if you can get any of these,
wish you're happy hunting.
Please send us photos of what you get next
because I think you should hang on to that Mustang for a while
because it's such a cool car there.
I mean, it's a cool car anyway,
but in Denmark,
what a rocket,
what a awesome car.
I'm glad that that's not on the chopping block, though.
He's saying it was to keep it,
just find something a little more winter friendly,
which I love.
That's great.
Young son is going to want to know
what do burnouts feel like?
Dad, do more burnouts in the blitz.
And you know,
there are a few things is fun
as a rear-wheel drive car in the snow.
Even though I know you want to keep the bullet nice,
that's so much fun.
Next car debate is from Adam W.
writing and his title is,
if you know, you know,
because it seems like Adam has struggled with being a little bit too showy.
People know what he's been driving us.
It's caused him to have to move on.
I appreciate you writing so much, Adam.
I loved your email because you said,
you sold your 991.2 Turbo S last year,
painted Miami blue,
because it was ludicrously flat-fast,
and too much car for he and his wife.
Well, his wife didn't mind the sports car ride
and getting in and out of it.
She just didn't like the attention
that they both got when they drove around in the Midwest.
So, what they're looking for,
this is a short email that is tough.
Yes, because we go down a lot of potential rabbit trails here.
Something within the last 10 years,
with a 150,000-ish budget.
10 years or older,
or 10 years or newer,
and 150 or less,
but we can spend up to 150 grand
that still gives him the feeling,
I think, of driving a special car,
having a 991.2 Turbo S,
fast, crazy car,
without the flash.
Well, the flash is the difficult part,
because he's willing to have performance,
but doesn't need as much performance as the Turbo S gave him.
But I think the real reality is,
he wants something that's more subtle
that the average person doesn't know it's a hot car,
and frankly, a Miami blue Turbo S,
is a hot car anywhere,
but in most places of the Midwest,
that's the only one that persons ever seen.
You're going to be stopped at gas stations.
We just had this experience recently,
with R2 cars.
You had your GT4,
and I had my Lotus Emira,
and it was like driving spaceships.
Yeah, we had multiple people
that ran stop signs,
missed stop lights,
got really close,
because they were concentrating on making sure
their phone got the shot of our cars.
It's a crazy experience,
and it hasn't happened to us very often,
but it happened in Missouri for sure.
So, depending on where you are in the Midwest,
you're right.
Miami blue Turbo S is a ridiculous spaceship of a car,
and it is frankly just about as fast as any car out there,
so you don't need that much performance,
you don't want that much flash.
I really wonder, though,
I have a musing for you, Adam,
that leads me to my first
and favorite recommendation for you,
but here is my big question for you,
and I don't have an answer,
but I'm just asking,
what would people say if they saw you in a Corvette?
Because my guess is,
not much.
Oh, you're going...
My recommendation for you is a C7 Grand Sport.
An older generation?
C7 Grand Sport is a fantastic car.
That has the Magna-Bride suspension,
anywhere you guys want to go on a road trip,
it's going to be perfect.
It's got that 450,
460-something horsepower,
because it has the Zio-6 looking body,
but it has the smaller engine.
You don't need crazy fast.
This is a great performance car.
You can get it with or without stripes in any color,
you can imagine,
you can get it in the subtle color,
but my suspicion is,
that anywhere in the Midwest,
a Corvette is interesting?
Oh, look, a Corvette.
But that's the end.
It's not like, stop them at the gas station.
Oh, my gosh, that thing.
It's not...
It's not ostentatious in the Midwest to drive a Corvette.
There's a lot more of them there.
That's true.
And Porsche's.
So, I really wonder if,
because the problem that I have with,
and I've got other ideas too,
but the problem that I have with this idea,
with what we're chasing here,
is the fact that ultimately,
what we're struggling with,
is what something people are not going to bother you about.
But it's still a fantastic road trip car,
performance car,
and something that feels special.
These grand sports
are actually really cool to drive.
And it is a very different field than your 911.
But I also think,
it's...
How do I put this?
You and I are like...
You heard of D-list celebrities?
We're like Z-list celebrities.
Double Z.
Okay.
The point I'm making here is,
if we go to various car events,
people know us at a car event.
But outside of a car event,
nobody knows who we are.
So we can...
We can on some level,
if you will,
get the upsides of celebrity like,
Hey, I know you.
Hey, that's cool.
I like your show.
Can we take a selfie?
And that's all fine.
But then we go to the grocery store.
Nobody cares.
If you're a actual celebrity,
people never leave you alone.
There's photographers
because you actually just went out to get the paper
and they took photos this morning.
The 911 is the hyper celebrity.
The Corvette is the D-list celebrity.
You notice,
but you don't care that much.
So this is my number one recommendation for you.
I have others
because I think you can get less flashy.
You're asking for things that,
if you know you know cars.
And one of my favorites is actually this.
The first gen M2.
That's good.
Now, the best color on this car is the awesome blue.
But if you see one of these in black
or like that gray gun metal silver that they made,
no one that isn't a BMW fan or a car person
even knows what it is.
It blends with all the BMWs.
It does. Good news, Adam.
This leaves you about a hundred grand left over
to spend on other cars.
True, true, true.
You can get these for $50 grand and under.
You can get these for $45.50.
You can.
You can.
You can also have one more that is it's on the flashier side,
but not on the price point, which makes me wonder,
it's one of those cars that I don't think anybody can be mad at.
The Miata RF.
That's a beautiful car.
It's a spectacular car.
It's a great car.
Great to drive, fun to be in, nice to walk up to.
It has that thing like a 911 where it just feels special.
I know I'm equating a 911 in the RF, but go with me.
This is a car that it is interesting enough,
unique enough, and pretty enough that you want to walk up to it
in a bright color and just be like,
that's my car, which is really cool.
But on the flip side, it's a Miata.
Yeah, true.
Okay.
It isn't a super flashy expensive car.
I think this is, in spite of the fact that it is great looking,
I don't think there's anything ostentatious about a Miata.
So I do want to recommend the RF.
Those are my primary recommendations.
I think the answer, the subtle answer is probably M2,
but alternatively, you mentioned it already,
but I got to mention it now, the RS3.
That's a sweet car.
The RS3 is a great car.
That's a great photo too.
That if you get an RS3 in a, in a,
just the standard sedan that we get,
the people that know what an RS3 is like,
that's an RS3.
Did you hear it?
That's an RS3.
And everybody else is just like,
you have a little German car, I don't care.
It's a little sedan grade.
Yeah.
Because the problem is, if I spend a hundred grand in up,
I start struggling with things that are going to be noticed in the Midwest.
That's the real struggle here is those cars.
They are.
You're right.
I'll switch over to my screen because I'm desperately trying to spend your money on them.
Car enthusiasts.
Love station wagons.
Okay.
Do they not?
True, yeah.
Now, this is, I think, a fine line between,
oh, you got a wagon to run errands and go to the home improvement store.
Sure.
But what people don't really know is how much these cost.
And they also don't know just how fast they are and how much power they have
and that all four of you in this car,
take some friends, take another couple,
you won't know what to do with yourselves.
The acceleration, the handling,
how can a car do all this?
And I sail this, not even having driven it yet.
But at $122,000, first of all, I'm saving you money from your budget.
Second of all, the color is what's flashy in this green color,
which I think is, if you didn't get the green color
and you got black, blue, silver, white, don't care.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
You're going to disappear.
Yeah, it's just a wagon and nobody cares.
Just a wagon.
Yeah, fair point.
When you painted a fun, crazy color like this green,
then that starts to be the eye catching notice me.
But what if you didn't?
I mean, I kind of want you to get the green,
but what if you didn't?
And you got the M5 touring in something else.
New BMW M5 touring is my choice for you.
But I couldn't help myself.
The problem is this car is also kind of flashy.
It is.
I don't know how much less flashy it is than the Porsche.
But it is the new 2025 Vantage cabriolet.
You don't have to get the convertible you could go with the coupe.
But you're going to spend even more.
Yeah, you are.
Here's my rationale that is probably weak at best.
And that is the attention that you get with this
is a little bit less frenzied.
It's not quite so race car, wings, crazy tracking.
Yeah, it's more subdued.
It's more in the gentlemanly category,
or pulled back like, wow, beautiful car, man.
Rather than like, holy crap, how fast have you gone?
Sure.
Yeah, you get a lot of that.
Yeah.
And the surfaces on the new Vantage I think are superb.
I think it is the Vantage to buy.
The interior is...
It doesn't actually, for me, match the exterior beauty.
It's fine.
But it's kind of a standard interior.
I feel like it's nice.
But the exterior surfaces on this,
I think, are really just pretty.
It's striking, but I think this is the notch above your Corvette idea.
Oh, your T-car.
Absolutely.
A little bit flashier, but not going to turn your heads
like a 9-11 with a giant wing on the back.
Well, and being Miami blue.
I have one other atom on, I want to bring it up
specifically as a wild car.
So I want to bring up one more car, and that is...
The reason I bring it up, the reason it's a wild car
is because everything else I talked about was rear-wheel drive.
But I have one other one for you that I think is worth considering,
and that is this.
The Acura Integra Type S.
That's really good.
No one's going to care what this car is.
Oh, that's good.
It just, it looks...
I mean, Acura, whatever, okay, I don't care.
I love it in the flashy blue color,
but I think you can't get another flashy blue car.
Atoms, you can get in the white, you can get in the orange.
But Tigra and Orange, I suppose.
But you can get it more subtle, even though I want you
to get another flashy color, but that's part of the notice me problem.
But an Acura Integra Type S is phenomenal to drive.
It has great seats.
Good back seat space, if you want to take another couple
or whoever with you, also a fantastic manual transmission.
This is a superb car to drive.
It is completely under the radar unless you know what it is.
But from behind the wheel, it is spectacular.
Now it's front wheel drive, which is not something I feel like
is the right answer for you necessarily,
which is why it's a wild card for me.
But subtle, great to drive.
Need a real performance car.
Nobody notices Integra Type S is under the radar and superb.
Awesome.
Adam, write to us, send photos.
Love to hear from you.
What you end up deciding.
But what this means is you've got drive homework.
And by virtue of drive homework, that means you're going to need to travel.
You're going to have to make a vacation.
You're going to have to travel.
You don't have to go figure that out.
And we wish you happy hunting.
Use autotempest.com slash every day when you're looking
for all of these ideas.
And let us know.
Write to us every day.
Drive a TV at gmail.com, car conclusions, topic Tuesdays.
And of course, those great car debates.
At Sierra, discovered top workout gear at incredible prices.
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Sierra, let's get moving.
Couple of car conclusions today.
First one from Nick A who writes to us.
He asks, with so many of our listeners, car conclusions going over the original budget,
he is here to balance the scales.
Like that.
Yep, good.
By the end of 2022.
He had sold his Mustang.
I don't remember exactly which episode you were, Nick.
But he had had the Mustang.
He mentioned for about $4,500.
Had a deposit on a matter of hybrid.
No build date in sight.
Dailyed his Jeep that he mentioned and started thinking cheap again.
But he had bought a string of cheap, cheap car.
That's right.
A string of Mustangs or Mercury Grand Marked Markies.
It was all old Ford product.
I guess we had shamed Nick for behind the DC stack.
We ceased because he kept buying the same thing over and over.
He bought another one, an 07 Grand Markie for $35,000.
That's right.
Two Mercury's.
Super, super cheap again.
We were actually kind of advising him because he kept kind of buying these cars that were close to death.
We kept being like, you know, spin a little more.
And get a car that's going to last a little while.
But he, while waiting for his Maverick bought this 07 Mercury Grand Markie for $35,000.
But then the Maverick he ordered was actually ready a few months later.
But he realized that at that point, the interest rates had doubled since he put his deposit down.
So he was like, you know, the Grand Markie drives off all nice.
It's got a pretty nice ride.
So he passed on the brand new Maverick.
And he decided to, this is, I remember this part.
He kept like putting money into mods for things like a Mercury Grand Markie.
So he got a unnecessary, that's our word, free or breathing exhaust for his 4.6 liter in the Grand Markie.
So he decided he would drive that for a bit.
And the Jeep soldered on and it's off road position until the summer of 24.
And it's recently been replaced with an 05 Mercury Mountaineer.
He's a Mercury guy for $3,000 to Mercury's for now.
I don't get it.
I don't get it either.
But, but what he's doing, what he's doing is he says he's getting roughly
a year of use for every $1,000 he spends on a car.
Says the Mountaineer feels like it might be less of a good buy at a time we'll tell
because he's playing Rusty Roulette with this Grand Markie and Mountaineer.
Okay.
Hey, there's a win when he's got a year of use for every $1,000 spent on buying him.
That's a win.
That's Rusty Roulette, right there.
That is Rusty Roulette.
You know what?
You're balancing the scales from the people that blow their budget.
You went under budget Nick after saying this.
I mean, the thing that you're proving here is it is amazing how much car
you can buy for almost nothing and some of them just run in spite of you.
It's good.
Buy it and you think this is never going to work and a year or so
that you and I have done it multiple times.
We bought really weird things and a year later believe it or not they're still running.
I'm glad that you're finding that stuff that's really funny.
You say at some point you're going to actually spend some money on a brand new
or a newer car but for now you have that at a motorcycle and you're loving it.
And I think that's great.
Car conclusion number two is from Yev B, who writes to us with a title of
Car Silom for Orphans.
Yev, you wrote us a book.
You wrote us a book.
You wrote us a book.
I'm not going to read the entire email but it was in book form.
Actually, yes.
I like that it was written just like you would a novel.
Yes.
He spent time on this and I love that this was an outlet.
It was car conclusions for his son and his daughter.
Yes.
And Yev is in Arizona there in Arizona and it was the path, the journey
that both of them took and he took two separate journeys for both of his kids
which was great to end up on two very different vehicles that fit their needs
that they discovered that had not been on their radar.
They had not considered them but they felt really in tune with these cars
that they ended up getting incredibly long.
Well, the pontificates about the roads in Arizona
and the places you can get lost in and the wonderful bits of tarmac
and the mountains and the desert.
I mean, literally, I cannot overstate this.
We could spend 20 minutes reading this email because it is lengthy.
I love that you wrote it and it took the time.
It's wonderful.
But the key thing that comes out in the email is even though they had different needs.
Did you notice this?
Both of his kids didn't want a car that was common.
They both wanted something that they wouldn't see that car anywhere else.
And while they had slightly different needs, it led them to a couple of very interesting cars
that actually are pretty cool that you don't see very often.
But that is part of the fun.
The first one is this that we championed years ago.
And that is, I cannot believe I'm going to say this.
The Suzuki SX-4 for his son.
Remember these?
I do remember those.
Suzuki starts selling cars instead of just bikes in the US for a while.
They had the Kizashi after this, which we really liked.
The Kizashi is cool.
I remember the wheel arch cladding to be...
I recall it being more fat.
I guess that was the...
Well, they made a performance version you and I drove it a track day once.
That's right.
That actually had part of the brain on a switch underneath the seat
because it was a development car.
And every now and then it would go into lip mode and they'd flip the switch back and forth
and it would be a rocket ship again.
It was actually very, very fun.
But this is a completely forgotten little all-wheel drive hatchback
that at the time that we drove it, we were like,
you know what?
This is pretty darn cool.
But it just...
It never really found a lot of success in this country.
But his son got one of these in 07 SX-4.
And you know what?
You'll never see another one of those driving around.
And he loves it.
Yeah, right.
So this SX-4 introduced in 06 was the collaboration
with Fiat designed by Italian designs,
Giorgetto Giorgiaro,
to appeal to drivers looking for a affordable all-wheel drive option.
It's like the Subaru, the Justis and the Bratz.
Yes, it is.
It's that kind of thing for a small all-wheel drive thing.
It's a tough sell here and it was.
But it's a very cool little hatch, honestly, for one time.
Yes, blending off-road capability with small car practicality
and you didn't want jeeps or Subaru's.
That's pretty cool.
Because his son saw him everywhere.
He's like, I want something different.
This is very different.
And it's good for off-roading.
Like he said, the place is where they go over now
and then where they get off paved roads in Arizona.
This is great for that, which makes sense to me.
Do you have a photo of his daughter's car?
Yes.
Switched to that.
His daughter was interested in something completely different.
Pretty cool.
Oh, yeah.
There it is.
Saturn Astra.
This is the Opel Astra.
When it came out in Europe was actually praised
for being an incredibly good looking
and good handling little hatchback.
When it came over here, sadly, it came over
right around the time of the Saturn sky.
Because they had...
When Saturn was dying to...
And so they released this...
Do that.
This Opel Astra, this well-reviewed Opel Astra,
this good driving Opel Astra got released in the US
as the Saturn Astra, which, let's be honest, was a time period
when everybody thought Saturn's were plastic and nobody cared.
So this was released in the wrong market at the wrong time.
Right about the time Saturn sky came out and also died.
And that was also a good car.
I can't believe you found a good Saturn Astra.
But your daughter bought it and she loves it.
And you guys ended up on a mountain road
where she wasn't entirely in love with the car.
You ended up on a mountain road.
And you were both so impressed with the handling
that like that was the moment that solidified your daughter's love
for this car.
And I love that story, that just thrills me.
Yeah, your story is amazing here.
And you end with the sentence that it's not about the car you drive,
about the roads you take, the adventures you find along the way
in cars that can do more for less.
And that is exactly our headspace.
I love that you found...
Both your kids found something that really is truly them.
These are not forever cars.
So continue that thinking.
But while you've got them, drive them and enjoy them.
Thank you for writing to us.
Really appreciate it.
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We're going to return to our segment called Did You See This?
Because I did see this.
I have to jump...
What do you have?
I have to jump to the F1 movie.
Here it is.
The F1 movie, we actually just saw this.
And this has been out for a little over a week now.
And I want to talk about it.
I'm not going to go too far into spoilers.
So if you haven't seen it, you're still be safe.
But I want to talk about a few things.
First off is the press around this movie.
Apple releases this film.
Now Apple, of course, has nothing but money.
This is an Apple-produced film.
Apple and Amazon are streamers that make money not by creating content.
Netflix makes money by creating content.
That's all they do.
But Amazon is going to make money
whether every single TV show and movie they ever make bombs.
Amazon will make money.
Same situation with Apple.
They're making plenty of money.
They just happen to make a couple of movies.
TV shows that might be successful.
But it's difficult to get a theatrical release that does well if you're a streamer.
Because on some level, people just know this is going to wind up streaming in my house.
And they don't go.
Netflix doesn't do theatrical releases at all.
They've been defiant about it.
Or if they do it, it's like,
this is in one theater for two weeks.
They do lame ones, okay?
But both Apple and Amazon have promised many filmmakers theatrical release.
Last year, there was a movie called Wolfs with Brad Pitt and George Clooney.
It was supposed to have a theatrical release and very late in the process.
They pulled the theatrical release and just released it on the service.
The filmmaker was quite angry.
This has been advertised as a theatrical film,
again directed by the guy Joseph Kaczynski that did Top Gun Maverick.
As a theatrical experience, best for IMAX.
This has been advertised that way for a while.
I'm giving all that backstory to come to the headlines, okay?
Because the headlines have been wrong, okay?
The headline that you are seeing about this movie since it came out is
Apple shatters all records with the release of F1.
Let's dial that hyperbole back a bit and tell you the record that's been shattered, okay?
This got $55 million its opening weekend.
It got about $144.45 million worldwide.
Now, for a movie that cost probably $250 million,
had a lot of marketing on top of it.
This is soon they spent $300 million getting us out the door.
This is a released by Warner Bros. produced by Apple, okay?
That's a decent opening weekend.
$55 million opening weekend decent.
$144 million worldwide decent.
It's not record breaking.
The only record it breaks is this is the most successful theatrical release
by a streaming service, which means Amazon and Apple,
both of whom's theatrical releases have generally bombed.
The theatrical release gets like $20 million.
So this is a, but I'm just joking about the fact that there have been headlines about this shattered box office records.
Okay, Avengers Shatters box office records, Titanic shattered box office records,
the Star Wars movie set.
This didn't shatter any legitimate records other than,
hey, all those streamers that make theatrical releases that bombed,
this one didn't bombed.
That's the, that's the thing it makes me laugh, okay?
I'm putting it in perspective.
Okay, okay.
Having said this, this was really well done.
You and I haven't even talked about it.
This was really well done.
I was very impressed with it.
It is very well shot.
I'm kind of surprised they were able to piggyback on an actual F1 season
as much as they did.
Yes, agreed.
I want to hear more of your commentary on the plot,
the, the filmmaking quality seemed to be superb for me.
Yes.
And talk about heavy hitters, not just the actors,
but Hans Zimmer doing music.
Yep, of course, yeah.
Heavy hitters, Joseph Kaczynski, as the director,
I mean, huge names attached to this movie.
So it almost had to do well, but it didn't feel forced.
It's hard to do, in my opinion, car movies.
Definitely.
Cars, films, anything about cars,
where cars are the central element, the key figure.
The 2001, Rene Harlan driven movie with Sylvester Salone
really left a bad taste in my mouth.
I know you're a big fan.
And it wasn't, yeah.
It wasn't until Ford versus Ferrari came along.
Somebody did it right again, finally.
There's actual story back here.
The car is the main element, but there is a lot of story there.
And here, a movie about a racing series
whose entire, the entire series is named after the rule book.
That's a Formula One.
What other, yeah, I can't argue that actually.
What other sport?
It's a very good point.
What other sport can you think of who is,
that is named after its rules?
I'd never thought of it that way, but you're absolutely right.
Oh, wait. Yeah, that's good.
That's very good, yes.
Now, there has been a huge interest in the drive to survive,
which has brought a whole new audience
because of the stuff behind the scenes.
And so many people are saying,
yeah, yeah.
I'd rather watch the behind the scenes drama and politics
rather than the actual race.
Yeah.
Race is cool and all, but I'd rather see the behind the scenes stuff.
I think this touched on things that can
and do happen within the F1 community,
the modern F1 racing.
I think this reaches other people who have a vague interest.
Now, I've heard of it, and I know it's racing,
and what is this more than IndyCar,
and I've heard of Drive Survive, haven't seen any of that.
So it reaches even more audience members,
and potentially new eyeballs, new enthusiasts.
And I think it was really well done.
It seemed to have an easy flow to it.
Of course, it's a great actor.
Everybody in it was, it seemed very natural and easy.
Yeah.
And the use of all the current F1 drivers wasn't overdone.
It wasn't suddenly like, well, we're going to write this in
because we're just trying to give you a cameo.
It should feel forced like, yeah.
F1 driver, you're good at driving.
Let's not give you any lines.
Let's not try to make you do things that you're really not good at.
Produced by Lewis Hamilton and Total Wolf,
both of whom got a couple of lines in it
because of course they did.
And those are fun.
And they were also the Zach Brown was in it briefly.
I forget his name.
Zach's personal.
Fred from Ferrari.
Yeah.
Gunther, who's no longer in F1, of course,
he got to do cameos because everybody likes his facial expression.
So there was definitely stuff with the integrated.
I'm really surprised it did such a good job of actually,
because they filmed during some F1 races
and some actual qualifying.
It's up to get actual other cars in play.
Ford versus Ferrari, among others,
have done a lot of digital recreations on track.
This pretty much was shot in the actual locations,
which is hard to do.
They had access.
Yes, hard to do.
And they did a really good job.
They have kind of a one trick camera that they do
that looks right off the halo, looks down the front of the car,
and then swaps to look at the back of the car
with the driver on screen,
which is a very impressive thing.
And I was actually reading about it.
In order to get that to work,
it's pretty much just the sensor.
Oh, really?
It's just a sensor that's hanging off the halo,
bolted off the halo that can just pivot.
It doesn't record anything.
It is instantly radio broadcasting all of the data
to a recorder on track side.
Because you got to think about the amount of airflow,
the amount of difficulty to mount something
on the side of a car going that fast
that they couldn't mount an actual like big camera.
Was it a lens as well?
It's essentially a small sensor in lens,
and that's it.
Wow.
Mounted on the halo in order to get this shot.
Very impressive, very cool that they figured that out.
It's really well shot.
They got all ridiculous access.
I'll tell you,
I'm not going to go too far in a spoiler,
but I'll tell you what I was worried about
that we just dodged.
Okay.
Okay.
I was worried about essentially the plot of Top Gun Maverick,
which I like Top Gun Maverick very, very much.
But let's be honest.
If you boil it down, Top Gun Maverick is
the oldest guy flying jets is the best guy flying jets.
Nobody else out there can fly as good as this guy.
True.
We go along for the ride.
And it works.
Tom Cruise is very compelling.
Here's the thing.
I'm not saying this shouldn't have been the way Top Gun Maverick was
because it works wonderfully.
It works great.
But I was very worried that that was going to be the premise here.
That Brad Pitt plays Sonny Hayes
and he was going to be like the best driver in the world
and nobody can touch him.
And what they did a good job with
was making him a very good driver
who because he's been doing it so long
and so many kind of race series,
he's very knowledgeable
and he has offbeat strategies.
I don't know if you notice,
there's one moment in the film
where he's actually doing,
Brad Pitt's doing an interview,
right, a post-race interview.
And Alonzo walks up behind him
and just smacks him on the shoulder
and they just have an eye contact moment and a smile.
My son identified that
as an interesting acknowledgement
to the fact that Alonzo right now
is this guy in F1.
That's perceptive.
Yeah, he has history.
He is a race winner in Alonzo's case.
He's an actual Formula One champion.
But right now he's driving a mid-pack car.
But it's interesting.
If you watch Alonzo drive,
he can pull off strategy better
than anybody else on the grid.
If you give him something to do,
block that car, chase that car,
create a situation,
Alonzo can do it at a level
that nobody else can.
Why?
He's been driving for 20 years.
In F1.
Yeah.
He just can execute strategy
at a level that everybody else is going,
I don't understand.
And Alonzo has just done it.
This was the interesting thing
about this character.
As they brought him in
and they never,
I don't feel like,
gave the impression
that nobody can drive as well as this guy.
And he also seemed to acknowledge
that other people there are very fast.
The other thing I was worried about
is that the young kid
that he's supposed to mentor
was going to be a bad driver
until Brad Pitt showed up.
Oh.
No, he was a good driver.
Oh.
This was the thing I was worried about.
Like, he's lance stroll.
I hate to say it.
He's lance stroll until
Brad Pitt shows up
and now he's maxed for stabbing.
That's a good point.
Yes.
He was a solid driver
in and of himself.
His own issues,
his own character arc,
all that kind of stuff.
And his character arc is minimal.
But he was a solid driver
whether Brad Pitt showed up
or didn't.
And everybody else in the F1 race
was a perfectly excellent superb driver,
nothing to do with Brad Pitt.
They do a decent job of integrating
why is this old guy here?
And there's some absurd stuff
because he kind of starts
and this is a little bit spoiler,
but he kind of starts
dictating team strategy
which was a bit of a bridge too far.
But...
Although that could happen
and I've heard of Lewis doing that.
Yes.
In a lot of meetings.
Yes.
So it was interesting to have him do that.
I guess for them is a team to acknowledge it.
But you start to see why it happens.
But I was just...
I was very worried
we were going to do the Top Gun Maverick thing,
where it's like,
nobody can do it like this guy.
And they didn't do that thankfully.
And I think that made for a better movie.
I am going to ruin it just slightly.
Hopefully you've seen it
and hopefully by listening to it.
You realize we are going to talk about
the culmination of what this means.
And that is...
Sonny Hayes,
Brad's character,
being so giving,
even though you don't see it at first.
He's really making it not about him,
even though it seems that way.
And even though he's willing,
I did not think
that he would ever get
his retribution, his victory.
I thought that would never come
because of who his character became
throughout the movie
that he was giving it in
deference to the team
to bring everybody else up to what he knew
the level should and could be
that he was so giving
and by doing that,
he still won.
He elevated others first
and it was surprising
that that ended up being
a benefit to him as well.
I agree with it.
That's a really good assessment.
That was cool.
I mean, they have...
They have the other cliches.
You've got to have a love story.
You've got to have villains.
You've got to have a betrayal.
All that stuff's in there.
And they did a good job.
Probably does happen.
They did a very good job.
I have to say...
Here's the thing.
I was concerned about this being like,
oh man,
that's the movie you made.
This is solid.
This is a B movie.
Maybe a B+.
It's not a home run.
But if you have any interest at all,
I think you will enjoy it.
It is well shot.
It is well acted.
It's a pretty cool movie.
They do it.
I can't believe we're going to say this.
They do a halfway job of convincing you
that Brad Pitt,
somebody his age,
could show up
and actually drive F1.
I don't actually believe it,
but they did a really good job
of convincing you that it's possible.
It's a pretty cool movie.
It was awesome.
Really entertaining.
This episode is brought to you by State Farm.
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We have got to wrap up this episode
by jumping to questions online.
I am going to start over here on Instagram.
We've got a lot of great questions.
Thank you so much.
You can see the Bruce B is asking
if we have set days
we're going to be asking for questions
for the new Vidcast podcast
or will everybody need to keep their eyes peeled
for posts asking for questions.
Well, what this has done
is the weekly cadence
has allowed Todd and I
will record if we're traveling.
And we need a bit more flexible schedule
during the week.
So today, for example,
is different than last week.
So we asked for questions.
You're going to have to just watch social media
because hey, maybe we're going to ask for questions
and something else,
some other news came out.
So we're going to shift the
month of recording a little bit.
Just adds a little bit more flexibility
for our record time
and certainly watch this space.
But we really appreciate you guys
looking on social media
and looking for
those announcements.
But yeah, it's going to be flexible.
It's going to ever change.
Even though we'll try to do midweek cadence.
I think it's going to be Wednesday.
It's going to be Wednesday.
It's going to be our target.
But then we may move either side
based on what's happening.
Also for production.
I mean, it's going to give us the opportunity
to move things around
and maybe double up if need be.
Kyle is actually writing in on Facebook
and says,
Amira versus GT4 roadtrip film.
When is that coming?
Kyle, I'll tell you this next coming Thursday.
This is a Tuesday when you're hearing this.
This next coming Thursday.
A couple days from now
you will actually see
on our main YouTube channel
we are dropping the first
of a six part series
of our literally best roads
in the U.S.
Coda roadtrip series.
That is coming starting this Thursday.
And the first episode is all about
the kickoff of the series
and you and I talking about our cars.
So that is the primary thrust of episode one.
But then the episodes to follow.
We're in different cars every episode.
Which I'm really excited about.
We've never done that.
It's going to be a monster roadtrip series.
I'm expecting at this point
roughly six films
all about a half hour each.
It's going to be big
every other week.
We will have a new one.
So that is coming very, very soon.
Over here on Facebook,
you can also see
from Christopher Lot
asking if there is
a car market bubble right now
and is the market in trouble.
You know, I don't think so.
We're certainly out of the
COVID market.
Things have come very much back
down to earth
and we're consistently
telling each other,
hey, do you know how much these costs?
They're actually kind of reasonable now.
We should think about buying.
Wait, wait, wait.
Yeah, yeah.
Don't be stupid.
I mean, we're being stupid.
But you know what I mean?
This is who we are.
I don't know that there's necessarily a bubble.
I mean, car prices have come down quite a little bit.
But I do acknowledge
there's a lot going on in the world right now.
There's a lot of supply chains.
There's terror for realities.
Carmen makers are doing what they can.
But I think that's just going to continue to fluctuate
as all of that continues
to settle and get flatter and flatter.
Flatten out a little bit.
But I don't think
there's necessarily a giant bubble right now.
No.
I think that the gravy days
of the car auction space are behind us.
There was a boom of that a few years ago.
Everybody on the planet was creating an auction site.
There were a few that,
I mean, bring a trailer.
There's still a thing.
And cars and bids are still a thing.
But I think beyond that,
most of the rest of them have died away.
And the craziness going on with auctions has kind of gone.
Here's the thing.
We're not trapped in our houses anymore.
Yeah.
We've gone back to work.
There's stuff that's happened like that
that has actually kind of dialed this back a little bit.
But obviously,
there's stuff still going.
Anthony Z says,
all right, you're a flat-erther.
That's a weird opener.
But okay.
All right.
You're a flat-erther.
Okay.
We're headed toward politics.
All right.
Look out.
All right.
What vehicle are you choosing to explore the ragged edge
and off road beast like a marada,
marada,
or at least,
so you can feel the edge
through the wheels,
ensuring you don't fall off into the abyss.
This is a weird drone.
So I can see what's underneath.
Yeah.
Somebody fly a drone
and she'll be where the edge of the earth is.
Why can't we have a helicopter
in like you can go underneath and look?
Stop. Stop. Stop.
I'm trying to be...
That's very good.
That's very good.
That's very logic.
That's very fun.
What's the aerial atom that off-road...
Aerial.
Hold the nomad.
The nomad.
Thank you.
That is the flat-erther car.
The nomad.
The aerial nomad is the flat-erther car.
Let's find the edges of this disc.
Because I want to be able to look through the chassis.
There you go.
At the ragged edge.
Because what you don't want to do is show it in the edge.
Out into space.
But if you're strapped into a seat with the tires at the edge, you could probably do it.
It's the closest thing.
That's good.
I can find to the moon buggy.
It's like the modern moon buggy.
Yes.
Where you can wear your space suit.
Do you have to wear your space suit on the edge of the flat-er?
I don't know.
I don't understand any of these works.
Because you're close to space.
I don't understand any of it works.
It's got no idea.
Beyond here, be monster.
Yeah, I don't know.
But I can get it in and out easily
and I can see through the chassis.
So I can see the edge.
And I want to be able to see the terrain.
That is an unexpected topic.
Love the twist.
He's on Instagram.
He says he's liking the new format.
I appreciate it.
I hope so.
Again, these will all be about 90 minutes or so.
We're already doing great on time here.
We're excited about this.
We just love stacking up more things.
The news and all this kind of stuff.
It's really great.
He has a first world problem.
They have a boxer GTS.
They get sunscreen on the seats all the time, no matter what kind they use or how long they apply it.
How long before driving they apply it.
How do we get that off the seats, the leather and the Alcantara?
I'm going to say interior cleaner from Griot's.
Combined with their leather care, which I'll give you a secret.
They have a leather care liquid, which is awesome.
But my wife likes the wipes.
She uses the wipes on all the leather in her kind.
And it is a phenomenal job.
You can actually get leather care wipes from Griot's.
And I am a huge fan of those.
But if you're actually trying to get the sunscreen out of the seats,
I would say you can use their interior cleaner.
And they also have an interior detail.
These are slightly different things.
The cleaner gets the product out or the dirt off and the detailer.
Believe it or not, it makes less of that kind of dust settle in your interior.
It's kind of crazy.
But those leather wipes are a huge fan.
That's really good.
Eric P. Yes, Peg on 86.
You can see down on IG here recently.
I drove a 26-foot Winnebago built on a Ford E450 chassis.
Oh gosh.
One of the worst driving experiences he's ever had.
While it's like a drone battleship.
His Chevy Bolt is a fighter jet by comparison.
What is the largest or worst vehicle you've ever driven, not the Touse?
As much as I like the new Nissan Armada, the new Marano is not in that category.
I might have found a vehicle that I dislike more than the Touse.
I actually floated the idea of doing a Touse versus Marano comparison
because you were such a fan of both.
It would be an interesting fight inside you to see which one you'd have to say stuff about.
One do I dislike more?
Which one do I hate more?
That was new or not a fan.
The Marano is strange to me.
The surfaces are overly bloated.
The proportions are odd.
It's too wide and the amount of air space, the air gap between the seat and the door.
It's three more inches on each side.
The vehicle is oddly wide.
It is very wide.
The square block driving down the highway.
Nissan, go away from that.
No, don't do that.
You're so right.
It is surprisingly wide.
Armada, cool.
Whatever else.
The frontier cool.
The pathfinder is cool.
You're doing great stuff.
The Marano is inexplicable to me.
So when praise is merited, we will say a car is great and we like it.
But the Marano is baffling to me.
We are not against critiquing stuff as well as you probably noticed on this podcast.
I'm going to stop right here with Ted Adam Green.
He says he appreciates us podcasting and we were his...
I'm amazed by this.
We were his last audio only podcast.
So now he's watching on YouTube and as a result he is actually closing his Apple podcast app.
He's not going to use it anymore.
He's only watching on YouTube.
But that made him ask, is that going to affect us negatively?
What is the financial benefit to him watching on various platforms?
Ted, I don't want to give you a couple of things here.
Look, yes, there are going to be YouTube ads embedded in our YouTube stream.
If you watch it that way, there are automatic ads that are happening on any of the audio feeds
and also on Spotify.
So there's stuff that happens there.
But if you hear us reading an ad, those are our sponsors.
And that is key.
And I want you guys to understand that the reason those folks come alongside us
is because we're able to say certain numbers of you are listening to the podcast.
Now we are adding listening and watching.
You will start seeing ads from us again.
They have a video component obviously because of all these really cool sponsors that we have like Autotempest.
So keep in mind that the benefit to us is the mass total of all of you that are taking in the podcast
because these actual, I'm not even going to call them sponsors.
I'm going to call them partners that we chase every year.
That are the three or four really good brands.
Griot's, PowerStop, Fredestine, Autotempest.
The ones that step alongside us for the calendar year.
They're just interested in the total numbers of you that are taking in the podcast or the videos.
And so it counts no matter what.
And we're very excited to have seen the response so far to this video podcast to be honest with you.
I'm a little shocked.
I hope you guys keep showing up for the video podcast.
It'll keep coming out on audio again once a week from now going forward.
Agreed.
Huge thanks to our sponsors.
Griot's garage.
FCP Euro is part of everyday driver and hooked on driving now as well.
Autotempest.com slash everyday, of course.
Fredestine tires has come alongside us.
And they've put tires on both cars.
We've roadtrip them to Coda.
They've been fantastic.
Those old track pros have been really fantastic and incredible high performance street tire for us on both the GT4 and the mirror as well.
Sure, yeah.
And PowerStop as well, which also has power clear wipers, which you can not only get breaks,
because you also get some fantastic wipers that actually tell you when they need to be changed, which is very cool.
So we appreciate all of our sponsors, Miley.
It's amazing to have there.
They're genuinely their partnership is something that we fought for.
And the Griot's folks have been with us forever as have Autotempest.
And we're glad that they keep coming back because they like you guys as an audience.
You have to understand it.
They like the kind of audience that we bring.
And that of course is you.
And we cannot thank you enough.
Looking forward to next time as always.
Thanks for watching.
Cheers everyone.
About this episode
A lively discussion kicks off with updates on the podcast's new video format and the exciting news surrounding Nissan and BMW. The hosts dive into the latest automotive news, including the impressive performance of the new Nissan Armada and the surprising JD Power Initial Quality rankings. They also explore the future of BMW, touching on its recent successes and challenges in maintaining the 'ultimate driving machine' ethos. The episode wraps up with a review of the new F1 movie, highlighting its engaging storytelling and impressive cinematography, while addressing the balance between drama and authenticity in motorsport films.
big US pickups
electric versions of the Charger
gasoline powered
Hemi
JD Power Initial Quality Test
Lexus
MSRP
Nismo
ring time-beating car
Rivian
Acura Integra
Alpina Z8
Aston Martin Vantage
Audi Quattro
Audi RS 3
Audi S3
BMW 1 Series
BMW 3 Series
BMW 5 Series
BMW 7 Series
BMW M2
BMW M3
BMW M4
BMW M5
BMW New Class
BMW X3
BMW Z3
BMW Z4
Buick Gran Sport
Chevrolet Corvette
Dodge Avenger
Ferrari California
Ferrari Portofino
Ferrari Roma
Ford Fiesta
Ford Mustang
GMC Sierra EV
Jaguar F-Type
Land Rover Discovery
Lotus Emira
Mazda MX-5 / Miata
Mercedes-Benz AMG GT
Mercury Grand Marquis
Mercury Mountaineer
Nissan Armada
Nissan GT-R
Nissan Pathfinder
Nissan Z
Opel Astra
Opel Tigra
Porsche 911
Porsche 928
Porsche Boxster
Porsche Cayman
Saturn Astra (5 Doors)
Subaru Outback
Suzuki SX4
Tesla Model Y
Toyota Corolla
Toyota GR Corolla
Toyota RAV4
Toyota Supra
Xiaomi SU7
Original notes
Does BMW have an actual problem, or are things going so well there’s no need to worry? The guys debate for Sebastian S. in Denmark, who already has a high-performance car. Then, Adam W. has a large budget but doesn’t want a flashy car.
Audio-only MP3 is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and 10 other platforms.
Look for us on Tuesdays if you’d like to watch us debate, disagree and then go drive again!
00:00 Intro
01:40 2025 Nissan Armada PRO-4X
05:11 2026 Ferrari Amalfi
11:09 SRT is back?
12:03 Xiaomi SU7 Ultra Prototype ‘Ring Record
13:58 RAV4 has dethroned the Model Y
15:51 2026 RAV4
16:34 Stanley Tumblers forcing cupholder rethink
17:39 The Rocketeer MX-5 Miata
19:12 ZR-1X name too controversial?
22:51 Topic: BMW Blues - Things Are Good Now, But What Are They Setting Up For?
40:09 Car Debate 1 - A Love/Hate Relationship
56:00 Car Debate 2 - If You Know, You Know
01:07:42:10 Car Conclusion 1 - Rusty Roulette
01:10:38:01 Car Conclusion 2 - Carsylum For Orphans
01:15:20:16 Did You See This - The F1 Movie
01:28:18:14 Audience Questions on Social Media
Rate and review us on Apple Podcasts, and subscribe to our two YouTube channels. Write to us your Topic Tuesdays, Car Conclusions and those great Car Debates at [email protected] or everydaydriver.com
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