Cadillac Optiq, Ford Bronco Heritage, Roof Top Camping in a CX-50, and 2 Bright BMWs

Hello and welcome to the AutoGuide show.

This week Kyle drives a cool electric vehicle and something very fast and I drive a whole

assortment of cars and then we have a very special guest but first a word from our sponsor.

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Alright, so because we want to keep a lot of time for our special guest, we'll get

through the...

Well, it's just reviews this week, no news because we have a lot of car reviews to cover.

So starting with something I drove, it was the Mazda CX50.

This is the fully loaded Turbo Premium Plus in the US or just the GT in Canada.

Basically the fully loaded, top of the line.

And the reason I got it, it's not like anything had really changed, is I took it on a camping

trip with my son.

I wanted something not too big but that could handle all the gear we'd need on a trip like

this.

The Rosars driving weren't overly rugged but still, you know, you don't want to worry about

a car that may scrape a bumper going down through a pothole or onto the little road to get to

your site.

So, isn't too much that surprised me.

The Turbo engine is still very torquey, super smooth, doesn't feel like 250 but we've gone

over that.

I'm starting to think it's not the engine at the six-speed, I'm starting to think with

a better transmission.

I think Mazda has to purposely tune it down on initial torque to prolong the life of the

transmission because when you're on the highway sometimes and you grab the right RPM in the

right gear, it pulls and then you're like, why doesn't do this from the stop?

So that's my theory.

So my theory is that, I mean, as our special guest will say later, there's a lot of freelancers

in this business and freelancers have to pay for their own gas when they get a car for

review, right?

And here in Canada, you have to fill up the gas on the car before you return it.

And so my theory is that whenever it's a Turbo Mazda, someone has filled it up on regular.

Yes, I don't disagree with that.

I actually drove this a lot because of where our campsite was actually I had to fill up

from empty and put in the premium.

And then I drove it a little bit more after that.

I can't say I noticed a huge difference.

I mean, we are talking 227 to 256, like true horsepower.

But before we move on quickly, the two big standouts are I love on this trim, there's

a light in the rear hatch area and on the hatch itself.

So when you open the trunk at the night, because I was using the hatch area as my like storage

slash fridge slash everything else, it's nice that you can see and it has a 12 volt back

there so I could plug in my power cooler.

The suspension changes that happened in 24, I don't think I'd driven one since.

And this does drive so much like the Meridian did or does.

So they've really improved.

It's still one of these differ compact or midsize, whatever you want to call this class.

Yeah, but it's it's much improved and I enjoyed it.

I forgot how much I like this vehicle.

And it's kind of a nice refresher getting in it.

And it's a great camping campaign.

And we're going to see how it compares when the new CX-5 comes out in a few months.

Yeah, just like the old CX-5 compared to it.

Now it's roles were first.

Yeah, all right.

So SUVs.

What did you drive?

Hey, it's on the dirt road, too.

It is.

I did not take a camping, though.

This was the 2025 Cadillac Optic, the smaller of Cadillac's four EV SUVs.

And then I have the Celestic sedan hatch, whatever.

So, yeah, I was really much I was very much looking forward to driving this

because I like most of GM's small EVs.

And this is kind of in a unique spot in the market where not a lot of the premium

brands are playing in this size.

I say small, but it's still basically 190 inches long.

So it's actually a pretty big car.

But that's that works in its favor, in my mind, because, you know, you get a good backseat.

We went on a long road trip with this.

I had my wife and my sister along with me.

Everyone really liked it.

It's very smooth.

I think that's the thing, right?

It is Cadillac has really found its groove with all of these EVs, because let's be

honest, the SUV lineup outside of Escalade hasn't really been a huge hit as far as

critically like they've been fine, but they're also getting rid of or got rid of

the XT4 and are getting rid of the XT6.

So they weren't doing great.

And this is a really impressive model that is also aggressively priced.

It is basically just above mainstream models, but you're getting a smoother ride.

It's very quiet because it has acoustic glass all over the place.

And the interior is fantastic.

It's up there with Genesis in my mind in terms of interiors that just feel special

and have a really nice design and lots of funky textures.

I really like it.

And this is now my my suggestion for people who are looking for small premium EVs,

especially because it also comes with a ton of tech as standard, including supercars.

Yeah, I mean, the GV 70, I guess, is electrified.

Is this closest competitor?

Now, does this differentiate enough from the Lyric, do you think?

I think so.

The Lyric, well, so it does for 2025.

This is the the interesting thing to me is for 25 for its first model year,

it's only one flavor, 85 kilowatt hour battery pack, all wheel drive,

300 horsepower, 354 pound feet of torque.

So it's related to the Equinox CV.

Next year, though, there will be a rear drive model with a little less horsepower,

a little more torque and then an all wheel drive model, but at 440 horsepower.

So it gets much closer to the Lyric.

And so then I'm just like, well, wait a minute.

So so what's the what's the big gap between them?

And it gets an export for 2026.

So I feel like it's actually going to be stepping on the Lyric's toes more

starting next year.

Yeah, I mean, the size thing, they're pretty close,

but I guess they're considering them to two different.

I mean, it's sort of like, you know, you can get a X3M 50

and that's making more power than a base X5.

But yeah, I get it's a luxury thing.

But before we move on, one last thing that you mentioned that is so true.

Cadillacs gas SUVs outside of the Escalade, which has always been their thing.

They're rebadged GM to a degree, like they had to share a platform

and you're tied when you have the engine and transmission and everything

so tied into a vehicle, you can't really change the structure.

Whereas with EVs, you can differentiate so much more

because it's like a skateboard, just open platform to build on.

And they've done a really good job doing that.

And I think it's what they needed to make sense, getting rid of your other EVs

if they're not doing anything for your brand.

That's why I think their cars are so good because those cars

they're the only rear drive platform.

So they don't have to share with anything else in North America, at least.

And they stand out.

Yeah, you've nailed it.

And this does feel very different from an equinox EV.

So it justifies its existence.

So, yeah, very good.

So keeping with SUVs, I completely different.

We're going all over the map here at these SUVs.

So I drove the Ford Bronco four door.

And this is the heritage tradition.

Now, those who listened to the podcast last year, we had the two door heritage

and we compared it to a Wrangler and a Land Cruiser.

And this would have been the better apples to apples match up.

But I was driving this more as sort of just.

I don't know how to explain it.

I guess almost like a coolness factor.

I wasn't going to take this on any serious off roading.

I was just driving around town a little bit up to the cottage.

And yeah, it's it's one of those vehicles that just makes you.

Like happy behind the wheel.

It's impractical in many ways.

It's got terrible fuel economy.

And it's super wide because the heritage comes with the Sasquatch package,

which I say in my reviews and I think an absolute must for the Bronco.

I saw so many Broncos without it driving around and it just looks skinny tires.

Let's say I'm almost on stilts.

Looks very pedestrian, whereas the Raptors overkill.

This is the right in between.

And those giant beefy tires just complete it.

I think part of it is because it is a big looking vehicle.

I mean, it's not that long to your Catholic point.

This isn't I don't think this is any longer than the optic,

but it just looks big because of its almost normality.

Yeah, and driving it, it feels big, but you also feel like you should go off

roading or just leave the city and go on an adventure.

And the retro styling like it needs to have this Robin's egg blue.

It's such a nice color in the white roof and the white wheels and the red lettering

like everybody complimented it.

And it didn't matter if they were really into Broncos, knew the history,

someone into cars, couldn't care less about cars.

Everyone was like, that thing looks so cool.

And it's because it does.

I mean, it's a lot of money and it's going to use a lot of gas.

But if it's your sort of thing, like it's and it's more,

way more livable than a Wrangler, which is another big plus.

That was that was what I was going to ask is, is do you think it puts

distance between it and the Wrangler in terms of everyday livability?

And it sounds like, yeah.

Yeah, like it's got a choppy ride because it's so off road bias.

But so does anything like even Passport Trail Sport,

the Land Cruiser, they're still better than this, but they're not much better

because you need to have a certain level of capability and suspension,

like a stiffness to handle.

We're going to really hit something hard, but not having a solid front axle

and being able to build this more as a modern platform.

It, yeah, it's I did a lot of highway driving and it was perfectly fine.

I mean, you have to do little corrections, but I was surprised too.

There's hardly any road noise from those massive tires,

but that might have been because there's so much wind noise coming through that roof.

I know you talked about this with the Gladiator a little while ago.

This is this had a solid roof and it now has sound detaining material on it.

And it does nothing.

No, it's still really loud.

So now we are completely getting into something different.

Yes, talking about loud.

I was in the twenty twenty five BMW M four CS

and we've driven a lot of BMW M products in the last year

because the two, three and four were all updated for twenty twenty five.

So this is the top dog one.

This is the limited production.

More powerful, but all wheel drive M four and

I have mixed feelings on it.

It's better to drive, but it's also 40 percent more

expensive than an M four competition extra.

Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

So it's sharper.

I I was against the carbon.

So it has a different center console and you don't have cup holders.

In the M three, I thought that was silly because it's a sedan.

But for the coupe, I was like, you know what?

Sure, sign me up.

I like that it's just that little bit sharper

because it's it's lost weight.

It has unique suspension tuning, 20 more horsepower, not that it needed it

because it's a BMW engine and some unique arrow parts.

So it is pretty good to drive.

I mean, there's still the M four weakness of having kind of strange, vague steering.

But it's so sharp and on a dry road, it is wildly quick.

But I can't get over that price.

And like, I get that people are paying because they're buying a limited model,

right? But at that amount of money, I start questioning what other products

I would get if I was really concerned about like a pure driving experience.

Sounds like we've gone full Porsche GT three RS here where they're like,

hey, let's just jack the price up on a super special vehicle.

Yeah. Yeah.

And I mean, like, sure, if they sell them, there's a market for it. Great.

And I will say, you know, it's been a few years now since we've had this generation.

I'm not opposed to looks anymore.

And in fact, the CS in particular, when it has the red ring around the grill

and the yellow DRLs, it looks like a race car.

It looks like the GT three car.

So I'm good with that.

And this Matt Green is fantastic.

So there's a lot to like about it.

It's just, boy, I hope you really like it.

Well, wrapping up our discussion on the reviews of the week is another BMW.

But this one's very different.

I mean, kind of has a very similar engine, a lot less powerful.

But it was the BMW 540i X drive.

Now, for American listeners, it's just, OK, what's the big deal?

We've had that forever.

But in Canada, we don't have this.

In Canada, we have the 530i or you go to the 550e.

So this is the only way you can get the turbo three liter inline six

without all of the plug and hybrid extra power.

Yes, but also extra weight and complexity.

So in Canada for the 2025 year, we are getting an option.

And it is called the legacy edition.

And it only comes one way with that engine, which is the vehicle I have.

You can choose the exterior paint.

But and the interior trim is the same you would find in the 540i in the U.S.

in a lot of the five series, they have the different color schemes,

I guess, and materials.

But there's no options.

It comes basically with all the options you could get on a 540i in the U.S.

So it has the Panoramic Moon roof and the M look package and all that stuff.

The big thing in Canada is we get a paint color

that isn't exclusive in the BMW world.

This has been on many products over the years, but it was on the older 540i.

So they're trying to tribute to the 90s and early 2000s, 540s with the V8s.

And I'm just trying to remember what it's called.

It's got a very specific, no, it's no, it's a Maldives.

Oh, yeah.

Yeah.

Yes, Bluetooth metallic because they always have numbers,

just like how I had that retro M3 and it was the car.

Yellow two.

Yeah.

So the sequel.

Yeah.

So this was the one I remember most recently on the M2s, but I know it's been on other vehicles.

So you can't get this in the U.S. on any five series M5, 540, 550, 530.

So it is exclusive to Canada.

Gotcha.

And it isn't only, it isn't the only color for this.

You can pick basically any five series color, but it is the one to really do the throwback.

And it's got the throwback 540 badge where the fives way bigger than the 40.

But that's really it.

I mean, I know it's called legacy, but...

Well, BMW started doing that now.

Oh, so they've come back to that?

Yeah.

For, I think it was 25, they've started doing that for all the cars that got facelifts,

is that it's big number than little number.

Okay.

Well, this one has that.

So it's even less retro.

So it's the paint, which you don't even have to put on the car.

But you should.

Yeah.

Unless you want to be subtle.

But there's some really cool matte options, but they're really expensive.

But anyway, back to the car.

I mean, the five series is just such a good vehicle.

You've driven many gas and electric.

And I know you've been saying that this is the first time I've driven this generation.

And this is such a nice car.

It is crazy how smooth everything is.

The steering, the brakes, the power, the gear shifts.

Like it's just, it's so refined.

I said in my review, I don't know how BMW makes the next generation more refined than this.

Like, I don't know how you get beyond this.

It is such a good vehicle.

And this six, yeah, it makes 375, which doesn't sound like much for a 4,300 pound car,

because the five series heavy, but it still could do zero to 60 in 4.4 seconds.

And it flies.

And it's got power at any speed.

And they have the sound augmentation inside, even if they don't call it out.

That makes it sound a little lower and grumblier.

So it makes a nice noise.

And yeah, it's just a nice packaging.

Price-wise, it's right on top of what a similar A6 or E450 would be.

So it's not like it's this crazy premium.

And it's a very good vehicle for it, isn't it?

I'm happy that we get it in Canada, even if it's only in this one package.

And I just hope maybe it sells well and the 540i will stick around,

because the four cylinder is good and the plug-in is good.

But this is sort of, to me, the one that is what people are looking after in a five series.

Maybe a bottom-down.

But it's the classic recipe, right?

So yeah.

Okay, yeah, I hope what you said.

Is it like maybe this will be a nice sign for BMW Canada to be like,

let's just put this on the lineup all the time.

I couldn't believe how well it drives,

like ride quality for having the 21-inch wheels,

because I saw them with 30 series tires and I was like, oh, this is going to be rough.

Because it doesn't have air suspension or any of that stuff.

This is just suspension.

But they tuned it so well.

Interesting, because I'm pretty sure the 550i I had in the winter was on the same

wheel, but it was on winter rubber.

And I found it really stiff.

So I think, as we've all known for years, tire selection is important.

And they may have to stiffen the springs,

because you have an extra 500 pounds, I think you're falling around.

Yeah, that's true.

And one last call up before we move on, because I know we're going long here.

The interior, the light game, amazing in this car.

The way the screens and the ambient lighting is like,

they don't have like little ambient single line LEDs.

They have like a bar and it's a full screen basically,

all around the dash into the doors.

And putting in the different modes,

which I hate that you can't customize the modes as much as you used to be able to.

But it does look really cool and you go through different modes.

And yeah, at night, this car is just amazing looking inside and it drives really nice.

So it's one of those rare times I'm in an electric car and I'm like, that's a lot of money.

But you know what? If you spent it, you got what you paid for.

Sweet.

All right. Well, that wraps up the reviews on the AutoGuide show brought to you by eBay Motors.

We're going to take a bit of a break here.

And when we come back, we'll have Greg joining us with a special guest.

And then I'll have Columns talk at 4 and then Kyle will be back to take a look at what's ahead.

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Okay, welcome back. We have a special guest with us this week. So special, even Greg's joining

Kyle and I. I think you just introduce yourself. Hey, I'm the special guest, right? Okay.

This is Emmy Hall. Hi, you guys. I'm a freelance automotive journalist. I get to work with Greg

every now and again on some projects. People might have seen me on doing the video reviews

for Edmonds.com, which is super fun. And then I also have a lifted Miata that I build and race

when I have money in off-road desert races. So I got my little fingers in a lot of sticky car parts.

Yes. Yeah, painful. I mean,

it is sometimes when I'm, you know, like busted knuckles or like, I've got a little,

a little thing on my hand because I touched the exhaust because I'm dumb. And like, so this little

like blurb on my hand, I'm like, oh, it is because I burned my hand on the exhaust because I'm dumb.

I don't think anyone can truly say they're into cars if they don't have a permanent

disfiguration from a car. I have one on my arm from 12, 15 years ago. I was bolting rivets

into the floor of my Miata because it was all gone from rust and the drill bit broke off and

went straight into my arm. And it was more what you said, a burn than anything else, but yeah.

That's what I'm always afraid of when I'm working on cars, especially if I'm working with like

anything that spins really fast, like a grinder. I'm just always afraid that I've like put the

blade on there wrong and then it's going to come out and like split my face in half.

So I'm like, miss safety was like all of the safety gear on all the time. I look like a freaking

idiot, but my face is still here. So that's good. We've all watched final destination. We, we're

just being careful. Right. I know how it goes. Glad I just finished drilling for the last week

and a half and I'm over that because now I'm a little paranoid. Anyway, back to cars. So,

um, one of the first questions we always ask people is were you born into a car family or

is it something that you developed an interest in on your own? I mean, kind of was born into a car

family. Um, my dad was always into like, you know, camping and off-roading and we had a dune buggy,

you know, an air cooled dune buggy, uh, which back in the day was like, you know, that was

stuff that you had to build in your garage. It wasn't like today where you can just go buy a

side-by-side, which I call, uh, golf carts. You couldn't just like go buy one and go out and wheel

like you actually had to build it. So, um, my dad was really into that and then, uh, he started

racing off-road. So I was always in the, you know, just kind of in the area of it. Um, and then

like a couple of years later, I was going through some papers and I found the like NHRA drag racing

rules and I was like, that's weird. Like dad was always into like off-road cars and my mom was

like, oh no, that's for me. I'm like, are you kidding me? Like she's like, you know, I used to take

our, our Ford with the police engine special and like go out and street race it. And I was like,

how is it that you never told me this? Secret life of the street racer? I know. Well, I don't know.

Maybe she thought, I don't know. I don't have no idea what she thought, but I do remember

growing up, like he had a manual, uh, Toyota Celica, like a 1980 with the levers and stuff in the

back. And so she would like, let me, you know, like shift from the passenger seat. And then I'd be

like, mom, mom, get all Bert Reynolds. And she would like squirrel around a corner and stuff. So

you know, my mom always liked to drive. She was never into the professional part of it,

but she always liked to drive. And then dad was just kind of like a grassroots off-road racer.

That is quite the pedigree actually. I think it almost sounds like you're downplaying it.

That kind of sounds like a Netflix special or something. So that's pretty cool.

You should see how my mom drives now. It definitely has not kept up with her,

but she's in her 80s. So like, you know, you can't blame it. I can't blame her. And she's

still driving. So I'm really glad for that. And I still, and I feel okay with her driving. Like,

I don't feel like, oh yeah, she's going to like kill herself and somebody else. Like, she's still

doing pretty good. That's good. Yeah. She's about the Miata. Like, what was the attraction there

beyond like, it seems like all us car journalists like Miata is right. But what led you to it?

So I've always loved off-roading, right? Like, I mean, like I said, I've come from that world.

And I've, I started racing off-road in an air-cooled Volkswagen. It's called a Class 1600,

which is basically a 1600cc engine. You can have a bus transmission, but it's a rail. There's no,

like, you know, body frame to it. And that's really fun because it's a driver's class. You really have

to rely on momentum to get you through. Because, you know, you've got less than 100 horsepower.

But at the same time, like I've always loved Miatas. I've had four, I think, you know, I had my,

my first Miata was an NA. And then I've had NBs ever since. And like, I just, I love it for all

the reasons that you guys love it, you know, it's easy to work on. They're relatively inexpensive.

You, you can't really mess up too much because there's not a lot of power. And when it comes,

when you get out of sorts, like, it's really easy to bring it back. It's just, it's the best,

it's the best, it's the best freaking car on the face of the planet. So I was like, well,

why not combine these two things? And I had seen some things on Instagram where it's like,

oh, we've got like a lift on ours. I'm like, wow, that's pretty cool. And then when I finally got one,

I bought Buddy during COVID, Buddy's the name of the Miata. I bought him during COVID and he

already had like a little three inch lift on it. But as I started learning about the platform

and learning about what was commercially available out there, I was like, this is all great for like

fire road. Oh wait, did I lose? Did I freeze? Did I freeze? Where did I freeze?

Skip for a bit. We're all good. Audio is all good. Okay, all right. Okay. Okay, good. But when I

started learning about the platform and what was available commercially, I realized that it's,

it's really great for people who like want to do fire roads or rally cross or something that's

flat roads, but that's not what desert racing is. Desert racing is whoops and silt and sometimes

you've got some rocks and stuff. So I knew I needed to really strengthen the car. And it's

just been like this giant crazy learning process where it's like, I don't know, let's try this

and then let's go out and beat on it until it breaks. And some of the parts have been remarkably

robust and some of them have been really terrible. So safe to say you're not driving stock suspension

at the time. Well, well, here's what's funny. So I have custom upper front, upper controller,

upper front, control arms, front, upper control arms with a uniball. And then the lowers on the

front and the rear are all boxed. But I still have, but they're stock. And then I still have stock

uppers in the rear. And I have a set of adjustable ones that I'm like, I should probably like install

those and then I'm lazy and I never do it because nothing's broken. So it's like, why it probably

helped with, you know, with my alignment, if I put those adjustable ones in, but like so far,

it's been pretty good. But the shocks in the springs, like those are those are totally,

totally different. So the mounting points in the front have been moved out a little bit. So I just

get a little bit more angle on that for a bit of a smoother ride. And then I'm running Fox 2.0

smoothbodies with reservoirs, which really helps keep all that shock oil cool and keeping that

pressure up so there's less fade. And then I finally, finally, finally got my hyperco spring

styled in. I've got dual springs on it. And it's just been a hard, you know, because it's like,

no one's ever done it. And it's like, well, what rate do you use? And where do you do this? And,

you know, so hyperco's been really good at working with me and just trying a bunch of new things.

And, you know, usually when you do a shock testing or a spring testing and off road,

in general, if like, if you're doing it on a side by side, or even in something

that's OEM, like it's pretty easy to take the shocks on and off, right? It's just like, oh,

there's a bolt, and it's like super accessible. And this one down here, it is not that way in

buddy, like you need you, you have to have a little bit of patience and like the whole corner

has to come apart in order to get it out. Like it's not an easy thing. So it's hard to try to

make little different tiny little adjustments just because the preparation and getting that getting

stuff in and out is a little hard. And then I have these super cool 3d printed bump stops by Perry

Parts. And that's kind of awesome, because I can tell him like, Oh, well, I just, you know, I think

it needs to be a little stiffer, a little softer, and he can just reiterate really fast. And fortunately,

those are pretty easy to, to get in and out. But like, that's kind of awesome, like 3d printed

bump stops, like what's that about? And it's, it's pretty rad. So now he's like skipping over the

whoops, pretty good. You know, it's still not the fastest thing out there. And I don't have a

ton of travel because I'm working with the stock arms. But I love them. It makes me so happy.

I think that's always, yeah, that's the important thing. I think we've, we would all agree that,

you know, the, the car, whether or not it's the quickest or not, it's like the fun is just

being. Yeah. Yeah. And I love the joy that the car brings to other people. Like, if I, you know,

the car is still street legal. And I, that's, it's very, not really, but kind of sort of.

So like, if I go get gas at a gas station, like, everybody wants to stop and talk. And then when

I take them out to a race or something, like, everyone gets really excited about the car.

And then they're kind of surprised by the, by Buddy's capability. And I have a lot of people

say like, you need to put an LS in there. And I'm like, well, dude, if I do that, then a, why,

well, first of all, why would I do that when there's like eight inches of travel? Like, that's

just stupid, because I'll never be able to use it. And if I do put that in there, then like,

all everything has to come apart. It's new springs, it's new shocks, it's new arms, it's like new

steering rack. Like it's too much. I don't want to work that hard. Yeah.

You know, replace one part and you got to replace everything else is something I think a lot of

people don't remember or realize when it comes to a lot of fine cars. Yeah. Yeah. It's always like

some crazy domino effect where you're like, Oh God, it's never going to be okay.

Probably good for eBay motors, right? I mean, yeah, I guess the motors would love it.

If you want to talk about eBay motors, so I went in because Buddy's having a, like just some weird

electrical issue. I don't know, maybe it's because I've done a lot of the wiring and it's dodgy at

best. But like, sometimes it just won't start. And so I had, we did like a little bypass fuse for

the, for the ignition, like then that was working and now sometimes it doesn't work. So I was like,

well, I'll just get a whole new like ignition switch for it. And so I got on eBay motors and

I was like, okay, cool. And the part came to me. And for some reason, it was like in pieces. And

I was like, am I supposed to be able to put this because there's like little tiny springs and ball

bearings and stuff? Let me, I don't know what's going on. But the cool part was like, I just emailed

them and they were like, Oh yeah, here, send it back. Here's a free shipping label. And you have

like two weeks to do it. And I was like, Oh, this is really cool. So like, there wasn't any like

muster fuss when it comes to the return policy. And then I'll just go back and buy another one.

And, you know, and then I'll be able to like swap that out. But I was just really

excited about how easy the return process is. Because sometimes, you know, you buy a part

and you're like, I don't really know if this is going to work. And like, will I be able to return

it? But eBay motors was great with that. So yeah. All right, that's good to hear. Yeah.

So like Kyle was mentioning, you know, it's, it's, it's doesn't have to be the fastest car. It's

what makes you happy. And I think all of us being car people, it's usually the truth. Like,

my favorite cars that I drive, I've never been the fastest cars I drive. I mean,

there, I like them a lot too. But the ones that I look back on or the ones I like in the past,

they're all slow, but it's just what connects with people. Yeah, yeah. And it's, and it's how the,

how the vehicle makes you like makes you feel. I mean, the other day I had the new ND,

which is, I mean, it's great. They've kept the nannies out of it mostly.

And I took the top down, I went on to like a back windy road and I'm like,

man, I feel free. Like the sun is out, the wind is in my hair, this road is awesome. Like,

this car is just doing everything that I wanted to do. And you just, just kind of lets everything

kind of go out the wayside. And you're just like one with this amazing piece of machinery.

And you just, it just makes you feel good. Yep. I have a 30th, 35th anniversary one

parked out here right now for testing this week. And I just got out of a Lamborghini Revuelto.

Oh, nice. And I'm so relieved to be in them. The Revuelto is fascinating, but I was like,

oh, it's so good to be in a car where I don't have to worry about speed bumps or any more

flat holes because the Miata just floats over them. The roof is so easy to use because just so

friendly. I love it. I know, I know. It's so, it's so great. And listen, I have a Mazda speed and

B Mazda speed perk outside. And like, I do, I love that. I love them. I love that car so much

for them driving this, the ND. And I was like, man, there's nothing wrong with a turbocharger.

Like it's all naturally aspirated and it's so good. And how is it that there's only 151 pound

feet of torque? And yet like, I can pass anything pretty much. I don't know how it does. Like the

gearing on it is so good. I love it. I can't reach right there. That's a fantastic engine.

Yeah, I assume we're all talking about the manual, right? I'm sure someone has tested

the automatic and maybe the gearing's good on it, but like. I don't know. I don't know. I mean,

yeah, because the thing that I don't like about all of the NBs, and I don't know what the NC was

like, because that's like not really a Miata, but you know, you get it in the sixth gear and it's

not like that gear is any taller. You're just like, you're still driving an angry bumblebee at 4,000

RPM, right? And I love that in the new one, at least when you get on the highway, you'll drop

those RPMs a little bit so you can get a little bit better gas mileage. That part's really nice.

But then the way they just did, you know, first gear, like first through fourth or fifth is just

great, great, great, great. Yeah, I've had 35 years to perfect it.

Honestly, at this point, it's kind of just a class. Like, we have compact cars and large SUVs and

stuff. It should just be Miata as a class at this point. It's lasted longer than the cars it was

originally trying to be. I honestly, I haven't been in like a BRZ or anything lately, or the

GR86. I would love to drive them back to back just to see because I have no idea.

They're different. I just drove one this week because there was a Toyota event.

But they do feel noticeably bigger and heavier and quicker. I understand the appeal, especially

because with a missing coupe, you're like, oh, I get more space and technically a back seat. But

yeah, they're a different proposition in my mind. Yeah, and I get it too, like with

you're right, like with the hardtop, because sometimes if you want to take your Miata out racing

and you don't have a hardtop, like that's a huge thing. And I don't know if you've seen

it, but the hardtop market right now for like NAs and NBs is out of control. People are going to

$2,000, $3,000 for a hardtop. Yeah, bonkers stuff. Yeah, it's crazy. It's crazy.

But yeah, the Miata, all these people tried to compete against it and they all failed

early on and they just haven't tried again. And it's sort of like, well, it's completely changed

this year, but what the Outback stood for. So many competitors tried to make their own Outbacks and

it never worked. Yeah, the Outbacks, the SUV, but yeah, it's good when a car comes along and

it just nails the formula so well. Yeah. Well, speaking of Subaru out in my driveway right now,

I have a Crosstrek wilderness that we're taking on the Rebel rally in a couple of weeks.

Fine. I've done a couple of modifications to it. So I did wheels and tires. So we got some

BFG K02s that are about, they're 65s instead of 60s and then method wheels and I put some skid

plates on it, like front diff and transmission. And then we put a two inch lift on it. And you

guys, every time I look at this thing, I'm like, I kind of love it with the lift. It looks so badass.

It's so high off the ground. I just think it's great.

Is this a press car or like a donor car? I got it probably a month ago. And so we,

like I've beat on this car already, like we've been out to the desert. We've been out to

Glamis to do some testing on it. And then we drove it up to

Washington and my navigator for the Rebel rally is an instructor at Dirtfish. So like she hooned

it around on the Dirtfish track and stuff. So slow. But it was really fun. So I'm excited to

get it out there and just really see what the platform can do. I've always really liked the

wilderness platform. I think the suspension is set up really nice. It really did need the lift.

Even in Glamis, we were chucking it into some dunes already. And I was like, if we're doing

this in soft sand, it's going to be way worse when we get to the hard pack stuff or to the rocky stuff.

Do you want to maybe preview, like just since we're talking about the Rebel rally,

like who you're driving with? Yeah. Why do you do it? Oh, it's so, I don't know why I do it.

It's the hardest thing. So for your listeners that don't know, the Rebel rally is,

it's an eight day competition. It's a navigation rally that's all off road. And

there's no GPS. So all of your navigation is done with a compass and a map. And it's not about

speed. It's about navigational navigational accuracy. So there are three kinds of checkpoints.

There are green checkpoints that are really easy to find. They're marked with a giant green flag,

and they're just designed to like move you down the course. Then there are blue checkpoints that

are a little bit more difficult to find. They're marked with a smaller blue flag or like a piece

of blue rebar. And then there are black checkpoints that are not marked at all. And so you have to

plot it on your map, drive to where you think that is, do like triangulation with your map and

your compass and stuff and then go, Oh, okay, I think we're here. So it's really, really hard.

And the competition is really fierce. It's only for women. So it's just, it's just a way to keep,

to get women into motorsports. But it's not like pink washed at all. Like it's one of the hardest

things I've ever done, because it's, it's eight days of competition, you're up at 5am plotting

checkpoints, you're 10 hours in the car, like you're set, you're, you're camping, you're setting up

your own stuff, you don't have access to your phone, you don't have access to computers or

anything like that. So you're like really, really focused on this thing. And I've been involved in

it in one way or another, every single year, this is the 10th year. So I was in it with,

I won it twice, once in a Jeep Wrangler, and then once in the crossover class in a Rolls-Royce

Cullinan, which I can't believe they let me take, but they did. I was like, okay, that's cool.

They say that they're always talking about like the desert capabilities of the Cullinan,

like in their press releases, they reference like Lawrence of Arabia and World War One. So

more power to you. The problem that I had with it was that it's, you can't really find a wheel

entire package for it because the brakes are so giant. So you have to have a specific diameter

wheel. And then the way the suspension is, it's got like that little top knuckle. So you only have

a certain amount, your, the wheel entire package can only be a certain amount. So they were like,

I was really close to finding a Nitto thought that they had something.

And then Rolls-Royce was like, well, we really want you to do it on our winter tire package. And

I'm like, you out of your mind. It was so bad. I got three flat tires. By the end, I was running

with a plug in the sidewall for like four days because it was the only thing I could do. But

other than that, there's a ton of power and you've got the air suspension that lifts you up. I mean,

the approach and departure angles are really bad. So you got to stack rocks and do stuff like that.

But I mean, you know, for what it is, and you have massages, like, come on.

I'm sure you're the only V12 in the competition. Right? Yeah.

Yeah. And that was a thing too, because we really had to watch, you know, you can only refuel at

base camps. So we really had to watch our mileage and not be stupid with that kind of stuff. But

end of the day, there's probably people who have like open top wranglers that are all

dirty and sweaty, and you're just rolling up in your rolls of rice.

Like the wonderful like leather seats and everything. We're like, oh, we're so fresh and clean.

So it sounds like a fantastic event. It's the kind of stuff that I love to do too. So, yeah, yeah,

yeah, it's really fun. It's real fun. I assume there's a time limit, like you need to make it

there within a certain time. Well, yeah, usually, you know, it's a 10 hour day. So depending on when

you start, you have 10 hours to make it back to base camp. And we'll have like over 20 checkpoints

in a day. And so a lot of it is about like route planning and using your time wisely. And I mean,

like, there's no time for dobbling. Like, I don't like if you get stuck or you get a flat tire,

like that's a that's a major problem, because you're going to spend time getting taken care of

that stuff. And then you're not going to have time to get all your checkpoints. So it's all about

like real careful driving, not taking a lot of risks. It's not about going fast, but it is about

going quick enough to maximize your daylight time. Yeah, yeah. So we're going to do on the

cross track. I'm super excited. And for pretty capable, sorry, Carl, go on. Oh, I was just going

to say for listeners, when is the event happening this year? We start on, let me see, all I know

is I need to be up in Mammoth for tech on the 10th. I think competition starts on the

I see we got eight, the competition starts on the 10th. Okay. Yeah. So and that will be

rebel rally.com. There's a live show. And that's what I've actually been doing for the past three

years. But I wanted to compete this year in the 10th anniversary. But there's a live show every

morning where they talk about the course and they interview the drivers and the navigators,

they'll sometimes do an afternoon update. And then there's an evening show as well. And all

of that goes live on Facebook. We have a really, really good live show team. It's really fun.

So yeah, rebel rally.com. There's all that stuff daily standings. There's a lot of

manufacturers that are participating. Jeep is participating forward has like five teams.

And they're all in Raptor versions. So there's like, there's a Bronco wrap. There's a couple

Bronco Raptors. There's a Ranger Raptor. Don't know if there's an F-150 Raptor, but I'm like,

that's a lot. Like you don't need to go fast in this. Yeah. And the Bronco Raptor is so big.

Like the Ranger Raptor is the perfect thing for this, a perfect vehicle for this, because

you can go fast enough when you have the opportunity, but you don't sacrifice the nimbleness.

Yeah. We talked earlier on this episode, I had a Bronco heritage, and that's like more than

enough power and width. You don't need to, a neighbor mine has a Raptor and a base. Like

that's the his and hers cars in their driveway. And comparing this thing to those two is like,

yeah, this is the right in between with the SAS package. That's all you need.

Yeah. I mean, I love the Bronco Raptor is amazing. Like it's so much fun to drive,

I would never buy one. It's too big, too big. Yeah. Well, back to your cross-track. I mean,

that is a more capable platform than I think people give credit. I did the Wilderness launch

in Sedona and the Red Rock Park they had us going over. I surprised what it could do. The biggest

weakness was we were hitting bumpers. So you're kind of taking care of that by giving it two more

inches. So best of luck. Yeah. Thank you. We're really excited. There's another Subaru team as

well. Carrie Lando and Andrea Schaefer. They won last year in Carrie's personal Subaru. And then

this year she's in the Forester hybrid. And whereas I'm not doing a lot of like my navigator is

Kendra Miller and we're not doing a lot of modifications. We weren't even planning on

doing the lift. We were just going to do wheels and tires. They were like basically taking

everything from the outback and putting it onto the Forester. So she's got she's a lot of garage

time to get that thing ready. But we wanted to go like as stock as possible without the risk of

bashing in our radiator. That's usually important, especially in the desert. Yeah, I mean it happens.

You know, you think like just because you go out one day and you go out for two hours in your

cross-track and you're like, oh no, it's great. I didn't like I didn't have any problems. We're out

there for at least 80 hours of off-roading in a week. Like the cars take a beating and you really

have to you really have to take care of that third term mate that third teammate. And so I always put

like on the steering wheel or somewhere I put a message to myself like no flats. This isn't a race

car. Like take care of this vehicle because there's mechanics in the in the base camps every night.

And but you're expected to work on your car. And if you don't know how to do it, they'll help you.

But you can't just drop off your car and be like, oh, I broke it. Fix it for me. I'm gonna go to bed.

Like you have to either be an active participant and then you're losing sleep. And then that sucks.

Like I've done it before. I want to do it again. That's an important point you bring up because

I've had this conversation many times with people where the wildernesses are perfect examples. They'll

say like, oh, is that just like looks? I said, no, you wouldn't believe how capable this is. I've

done X and Y, but I wouldn't do that if I own this car regularly because it can do it. But it's not

something it's supposed to do regular. And that's what you're doing to that. So yeah, yeah, that's

why the Rebellas are really good. It's a really good testing proving ground. Yeah, Kia had been in

it for in it for a couple of years with their XRT things. Toyota has sent Toyota's got a couple

of teams this year. So I think we're the only ones in Cross Trek that are like factory teams.

But yeah, we've got a couple of Ineos Grenadiers this year, which is gonna be pretty fun.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, we had some last year too. So I'm always just like, oh, that thing's so cool. I

hope it makes it. Yeah, they have quarter masters because they don't like to maneuver.

I'm not sure. Yeah, that's what you need the compass for is to plan its turns.

Yeah. Yeah, I have a slightly off, off pieced question based on an event we were at. I want

to say earlier this year, I mean, but what sort of experience would you say crosses over to,

you know, doing things like the rebel rally that you learned from being a sports mascot?

Oh my God.

Is there is there crossover?

I mean, I guess that you just can't be embarrassed.

So okay, so yes, I was my high school mascot. I was a wild cat, Rar.

And yeah, that's so funny that you remember that. I mean, listen, for doing like the thing about

the rebel or any kind of motor sports at some point, and even in our job as car reviewers,

like, you're going to make a mistake. You're going to make a mistake. I turn in a story for

Greg where I rolled a Kawasaki and I was like, that was a mistake. You just you can't be embarrassed

about it because everyone is going to make those mistakes. And it's just, it's all a learning

process. You know, so just like, go out there and do it and do your best. And you might come and last.

Oh, well, like somebody has to do it. And hopefully next time you won't be last,

but hopefully you came in first and fun. And that's all that counts.

Kia used to do that other press trips. Remember, they would give out like prizes and things like

if you did this, you like got like a camera or a speaker. If you did.

Yes. I think Chris Davies from slash gear and I once we got Miss congeniality on a snow drive

in a it was Kia. It might have been Genesis, but maybe it was Kia. I don't remember, but it was

super fun. We did a lip sync battle once. I think it was the old Sportage. We didn't win, but we

got an honorable mention. They should bring that back. Yeah.

Yeah. So we've definitely covered your racing side of things. Where are you writing these days?

Where could people find you if they want to follow your

Yeah. Let me see. I've gotten some stuff lately in at auto week, mostly like Mercedes Benz stuff.

A couple of things for Overland Journal. They published my review of the new Honda

Passport Trail Sport, which was really fun. And like I said, a lot of stuff for Edmunds,

a lot of videos for Edmunds, which is fun. We just did a four truck video with all the levels

of Ford trucks, Maverick Ranger 150 and 250. And just basically talking about like how much

trucks you really need because people always over by on their trucks. That was pretty cool.

And you know, some stuff for Greg for atv.com, which has been really cool. It's tough to

sell those those power sports things. So it's nice that there's a few outlets for that kind of stuff.

But yeah, it's really just it's always a crap shoot. I'm just always like,

gotta pitch this thing, you know, and the freelance world lately has just gotten really

competitive. A lot of outlets are shuttering or letting go of people. And so the freelance pool

has just gotten bigger and bigger and bigger. So it's just like, oh, God, how many more years

can I keep this up? In my mind, I'm like, I only have to do this for five more years. But I'm like,

is that true? It's probably not.

Glad I'm not the only one counting down like how much longer could I do this? And can I do this?

Yeah, I know, because it's like I keep I keep expecting it to like just end, you know, like

with all the tariffs and stuff, I'm like, Oh, well, no one's going to have budget to like

do press trips anymore. They're going to pull cars out of the fleet. And, you know, like,

it's just I or people are just going to stop caring about cars, you know, but I don't I don't

know. I'm just trying not to think about it too much and just kind of, you know, look for

ancillary opportunities of stuff that I can write in and do and then just keep as much with the car

stuff as I can. I feel like in the car like journalism world, none of us ever like expect

like a true retirement. We're all just like, like, this is probably metaphoric, but like

dinosaurs just waiting for the asteroid to hit just waiting for it to end, as you said, Amy. So

I don't know. I know, like, like, I'm, I'm lucky enough to when my dad passed away, he was living

in Baja in Mexico. So like, I have a place to go, you know, I mean, like my, my, I got a, I got a

retirement place to go. Like, I don't have to worry about that. But like, it's not like that's

going to happen tomorrow. Like, I still got to live right now. I still got to buy car parts from

eBay motors for buddy. Yeah, buddy's got a life on his own. Body means his ignition.

You're covering all my eBay mentions. Thank you. This is great. Yeah.

Yeah, Greg, it's funny to say that because I've been saying for years, because I've been doing

this a long time as well, that when I quote, retire, stop to go full times, like, I'll probably

still like write a review once a month or something, like just do a little freelance work on the side

just to do something. So yeah, I always think, I mean, that's part of the thing too, is like,

there's a lot of people in this business who are part of a two income family, and their spouse

or significant other is like, I'm in AI programming, or I work at Google, or I do this or whatever.

And so they're making a butt ton of money. Well, like the car person doesn't have to worry about

bringing in so much money. But like, I don't know where you guys stand on like the partnered

status, but like, I'm single, and I can only rely on myself. So like a lot of times I want,

like I want to take that fun assignment, but it only pays $150. Like I can't use I can't,

I'm grown, I'm grown. So like, sometimes if it's a really, really great thing that I really want to

do, I'll take that hit. But like most of the time, I those little bitty jobs are just not worth,

they're not worth my, not worth my time. And that can be really disheartening.

Oh, yes, we talked about this last week a lot too.

Yeah, we did. And I think I think the other thing like tying this all together about us saying,

like, no one ever really retires is I think about so often growing up, I really wanted to draw

when I was a kid. And my mom told me that thing of like, Oh, find a job you love and you never

work a day in your life. I don't think she like, I don't think she realized that the flip side of

that is like, you find a job you love and you never stop working. And that's the thing is like,

all of us love this, the people who are in this industry love cars, we love driving

a Corolla as much as we love driving a Miata, like everything is interesting in its own way.

And so it means that you're never going to give up. You're like, well, just one more.

Yes. Just one more. Yeah, hook it to my veins. And it's so like, it's good for readers in my

mind, because you're getting this passion, but at the same time, yeah, there's no hard stop.

Yeah. Yeah, that's that was some good encouragement you got, Kyle. I kind of got the,

what are you gonna do with all this car knowledge when you're older? Like,

how's it going to help you in life? Well, I found a way that's what I did that mom.

I just heard that parents, that's what I took from that.

Not my parents, like friends and random people like who like, why do you need to like,

cares about this? What are you doing with all this knowledge? I don't know. I'll find, I'll

find something. But I didn't even know this was a job when I was growing up. Like, I had no idea

this was a thing that you could do. And I mean, I didn't start in this business until like 2009

or 10. Like I was doing theater, because I have a master's degree in costume technology. Okay.

Essentially, I have a master's in sewing. So I was working at Ford's Theater in Washington, D.C.

and like spending other people's money and seeing good looking people in their underwear as part

of my job. Like it was fun. And then I just kind of, I met somebody who had, this was when YouTube

was just starting and they had a YouTube channel that had like 50,000 subs. Like that was a big

deal back then. And then started doing stuff for them. And I remember when he told me that

there were international press trips and I'm like, they just send you to Europe for free?

He's like, well, yeah, but like nobody gets like, that's a really special thing. And I was like,

oh my God, that's crazy. And then, you know, like six years later, I'm going to Europe for free.

Like what the, what the hell is that about? It doesn't, it makes no sense. I don't know

how it happened. But I'm glad that it did. Well, I'll not know. We'll let you get back to your

preparation for the rally. Yeah. Yes. Thank you. Thank you. I've, I've got a fixing buddy.

Yeah, I know, buddy. Well, but there's a little car show this weekend. Oh, here's a great thing.

Buddy is going to be at the Mattel headquarters in El Segundo on October 4th as part of the

Hot Wheels Legends tour. Oh, that's very, very cool. I'm so excited. I'm so excited. I don't know

who's judging it. I'm like, it's probably like Johnny Lieberman and Matt Ferrer or something.

Like it's probably, I'm sure, I'm sure it is. But, and they also, the one that in 2023, the,

the car that won was a Miata. So I'm like, they're not going to pick another Miata,

but who cares? I get to go and like have fun and show Buddy off. Buddy is not just another

Miata. You're right. He's not. He's not just another Miata, but, and maybe he could win

like a regional and then like go on a national because I, what, what I didn't realize about

Hot Wheels like in Legends is they do these regionals and they do a national and then they

do a world one. And the car that won last year was from Chile. Oh, cool. I know. Isn't that rad?

Yeah. That is cool. Yeah. So we'll see. We'll look, we'll look forward to seeing how Buddy does

and that and how you do in the, the rally and have you back on to tell us the results, the

finish at the rebel rally. Yes, exactly. Well, thanks for coming on. It's been great speaking

to you. And like I said, we'll definitely talk again in the future. All right. Sounds good.

Enjoy it. Thanks so much. All right. Welcome back. We have Colin Wood joining us once again.

It's race week, although by the time people see this, it will have happened, but we don't know

what's going to happen. But what other stories and news and issues are there for me to one right now?

There's, there's always lots, which is, which is nice. So keeps me, keeps me yapping. Maybe the

first news is, yes, Isaac Hager, who's sort of turned out to be maybe one of the surprise

stars of the, the rookies. Maybe not. I think I, if I remember correctly, I don't follow formula

to that closely, but I think he was actually the runner up in the championship there. So,

so the discussion, auto motor and sport from Germany, who was usually quite reliable is saying

that he will in fact be Max's teammates next year. So there's been a lot of rumors that he could go

there and a lot of Red Bull saying, no, no, Yuki staying put, but Yuki's not done great. And

Hager is overperformed. If I was Hager, I don't know, it sounds like a bit of a curse to get

promoted. That's going to say, Hager would never listen to me, nor should he. But if I gave him

some advice, run, look at Liam Lawson, Yuki, Gasly, they're just a history, Perez, that seat

stalls and or ruins your career. So I would get running bowls until someone else gives you an

offer. Yeah, I get the like signed letter of intent from Red Bull that they want to hire you.

And then I would walk down the street to Mercedes and be like, hi, just so you know, I'm worth,

you know, instead of like $2 million right now, they want to pay me $15 million or whatever to

go to the big team. I can be yours for 12 or something, right? Like steel and do that. So,

yeah, it seems like a, just it's, it's, it's a curse. I think it's,

yeah, I wouldn't, I wouldn't want to go there either. So Mercedes maybe won't work, but Ferrari,

they might have an opening if this whole Hamilton relationship keeps deteriorating. Or one of

the new teams who knows, I already might want a young new driver soon or Cadillac once they

kind of get themselves established. So who knows? If I said, yeah, I would, I would sit Pat for 2026,

because the other thing too is Red Bull could, they could be like, not Williams, but like,

even kick-solver, like they could have a terrible car next year. They could, yes. I doubt they will,

but they've lost so many key members of that team. So, yeah, well, speaking of the, what the

new regs and the new cars might bring you, the next slide. So, so here is a very recent interview

with Alonso with, now I can't remember where, who was with, but he basically came out and said,

look, if next year's car is bad, he'll likely stick on for yet another year because he's

want to sort of leave with a bad taste in his mouth. But he basically says that if next year's

car is good, it's probably his last year. So, so Alonso. So next time he's competitive, he's done,

unless he just gets to work. Yeah. Yeah. And that all changes, right? If, if, if you're competitive

and you're really good, like, and it's really close and you either win it, like, I'm sure if

you want a championship, he'd be like, you'd be like, that's it, I'm over. Or if you came really

close, you might be like, oh man, I got to stick around and see if I can do this again. But yeah.

Well, we've talked about it before with his, that Aston Martin that he like helped

not design, but you know, have input on how it was done. I think that is his next move

with Aston, either with the corporate side or running the team in some form or being a consultant.

So yeah, he's probably like, once the car is good, then I'll move on and, you know, make someone a

champion. But he probably only has two years of regardless. If there's two bad years, I don't see

him stick around much after that. And then maybe he can drive there. Maybe, maybe there you go.

I think it's a case of like, he would be great as I think a team principal or somebody like,

I don't know if strategy is quick, because he is a thinker, but there's, there are senior rules,

I think in formula one for, for Alonzo or, or even at Aston Martin, the car company, right?

Like he could be brought in to do something. There's, there's no end of sort of things he could do.

What a, you know, I think it's, everyone pretty much acknowledges that his

career numbers don't reflect his sort of impact in the sport, right? There aren't a lot of drivers

who, where that's true, he probably should have a lot more championships or something than what

it's in, but he just wrong place a long time, a lot, a lot of the time. So

I know there's obviously there's way more politics and money in the background, but imagine in a

perfect world with Nui designing the car, Stroll's money, Alonzo running the team and then having two

young up and coming really good drivers, like they could really be something, but

they got another driver that's kind of stuck there that's tied to the money from the team.

So, but they, they really could be a force in the next coming years. Maybe that's sort of what

he's hinting at. Like, if we get a really good year, I'll move on, you know, put some young

shoe in that car and help manage them. And that's, you know, become a dominant team. But

yeah, all this just makes 26 so exciting because as we just said in the last story,

some great teams could be terrible and some terrible teams could be great.

Yeah, the rumor, the rumor mail seems to point towards, I keep seeing things,

it's not really worth a story to talk about, but that Mercedes seems to have the,

rumors indicate Mercedes has the most powerful power unit for next year. But like, how do they

know any of that stuff? Who's, who's putting that like, nobody is like, yeah, it's just,

it's impossible to know that stuff. So I feel like it's just BS. People are just making stuff up.

Total drop in stuff to the media. Like, we don't even know what, what Audi has for power units.

So how can you say exactly so much more? But yeah, or Ford or Honda or like,

there's so many power units coming next year, just not yet. Yeah. Yeah. Not yet. Not yet.

Okay. So here we go. Yeah. So now the Formula One, they, they, they've hinted before they,

they like their sprint races. I think the, it's shown the fans apparently like them and the

sponsors like them. So we're going to have more. So next year we have six sprint races,

China, Miami, Canada, Silverstone, Zandvoort and Singapore, which everyone is kind of like,

what the hell? Like Singapore is the, you know, it's, it's often known as the most challenging

race of the year because it's so damn hot and then the drivers suffer. And now we're going to put

the drivers through two of those. Yeah. So, so I mean, the, you know, the sprint races isn't as

long as it won't be as hard, but still that sounds like a real challenge that they've put them up

for. So, but I guess we'll get one in Canada. Maybe, maybe another reason to actually go

to the race in person. No. Well, just quickly with Singapore, it's not just the sprint race,

like they're going to also qualify that day. And sometimes they even have them qualify for the

sprint race that day. So it's going to be a long Saturday and then Sunday, but to Canada, yes,

that's going to say the same thing. You know what? If there's any teams, manufacturers, sponsors that

want some dedicated coverage for this great new year with the sprint race also in Canada, I'm

ready to go. So let's call them. So just, you know, contact us. I'll be there. Otherwise,

we'll have to maybe rent a car, sleep in it and go to the race because it can't stay in the tunnel.

I'll reach out to, what's his name? There was a guy who, I've told you before, we tried to

get Matteo Bonanno on here once because a former contact from another life of mine,

he now handles PR for, for Kickstarter, which will be the Audi team. So,

so maybe maybe it's worth a little, little LinkedIn message to him to be like, hey,

you need some Audi love in your first year. I don't think Audi will have any trouble

getting the love. And if it's anything like the Audi, the car brand, they're going to be all about

the celebrities and everything else. So, oh yeah, we'll have all the Canadian celebs at the

Canadian race and whatnot. But yeah, it'll, it'll be very interesting. Maybe I'll reach out to some

conversion van place or carnival van place and just get a little bit of mattress for the back.

Yeah, or, or hey, if Honda's back in power units, we've got some decent Honda contacts,

although maybe it's different PR folks of Chuck's, the Chuck over at Honda is still doing it.

I was going to mention another, so motorsport.com is apparently reporting that not only,

well, we have these six, but that for 2027, there may be 10 sprint races. So yeah, that's,

that's going to be a lot. So that's pretty wild. And a final bit of just a little tidbit of news

that they, Formula One did release with, with that news, like the, the, not just the calendar,

but the schedule for all the races. And they confirmed that the Canadian GP will be at starting

at 4pm. So that it does not interfere with the Indy 500. Because remember that was a big issue

a while back that the Indy 500, if the Indy 500 has a ring delay or something like that, well,

they're going to overlap, but, but they actually Formula One of pretty much always starts the

Sunday race at two. And so they're going to push it to four Eastern so that they make a little,

make a, make a little space between themselves and Indy 500.

So you're right. If there's the, the rain delay will overlap. So that means F1 is overlapping

with the NASCAR Coca-Cola 600. At least that's what it usually is called, the one that starts

right after, which I guess you're not getting much crossover. I mean, hardcore racing fans,

it sucks for them, but I don't think the average fan watches both those. So that's a little,

just like, I don't know how much Indy F1 crossover there was, but it is the 500,

which is the one like many, many casual, if not even casual fans will tune into.

So May, May 22nd, I think it's earlier this year, the, that weekend.

I think so. Well, I'm just, I'm just doing some time of year math, but that's pretty much when

it's almost daylight to 93010. So I have a big window gap if there's rain, because this is a

good chance it's going to rain a Montreal at that time. That's very rainy season up here in Canada.

So yeah, that gives it many hours to try to still squeeze it in before it gets dark, because I

think it's dark. I'm pretty sure that track has no lights, so you can't race once it gets dark.

No, no. And that, well, sometimes they just do the thing where they cut it short and they,

you know, it's like, how long you race before you get so many laps in, and then if it counts as

a full race, it counts, you know, even though it's kind of lame. Remember when Spa did, what was it,

two and a half laps? In Formula One, they did like two and a half laps and they counted that as

like a half points race, and they sent everybody home, because it was pouring rain, and it was

like the motions. They didn't even hit the green flag. Remember, it was, they just paced those

two and a half laps. Yeah, yeah. That was a travesty. That wasn't quite the six cars running at

the Indianapolis back in like the nineties or whatever. Oh man, the tire issue. Yeah, that wasn't

quite as bad as that, but it was pretty, pretty crappy. And especially because it was all those

fans at Spa sitting out there in the pouring rain, like every time I watched that, I think,

what a great race. Don't I want to be there? And then I, I sit there and I look at it. I think

I would be miserable, just cold. And you got like, there's no way you're not soaked through your,

you know, your underpants, just like, so someone who went to the Montreal race on a

Saturday during qualifying, when it rained and it was cold. Yes, it sucks. Luckily, I had a place

like a infield area I could go wasn't inside, but at least it was like tended. But yeah,

if you're out out there, yeah, no. Yeah, yeah, no, thanks. Well, as we were watching the FP2

just finished before we were recording this and Hamilton's actually fastest in free practice too.

So surprising to see that. So maybe Ferraris will have a good weekend at Baku. We'll,

we'll discover that soon. I've heard the story before where Hamilton

and Ferraris look super fast and qualify and not qualifying in practice. And then when the

qualifying and race comes, there are nowhere to be found. So yeah, so true.

All right. Well, thanks for joining us. We'll be back next week with the results of

this weekend and to look ahead. Plus, I'm sure there'll be many more new crazy rumors,

especially as the year kind of winds down and we really start ramping up for 26.

Don't get even crazier. Yeah. All right. See you later.

Thanks, Mike. Bye.

All right. So this just about wraps things up on the AutoGuy show brought to you by

eBay Motors. Kyle, we talked a little bit about what you've been up to,

but what have you been up to this week? Yes. So I was in wine country in California. I was in

Sonoma to go to the racetrack, which is one of the best ones out there, and drive the entire

2026 Toyota GR lineup. I can't talk about all of it quite yet because, well,

it'll be on the next episode. But yeah, it was, I mean, that's what those cars are made for,

right? So that was a illuminating experience. And also, it was to drive the 2026 Toyota Corolla

Cross, not on the track, because it's seen its mid-life or mid-cycle update.

Mid-cycle update. And so yeah, I will also be talking about that on the next episode. So that

was a productive trip. And then I came home and am driving the Mazda MX5 Miata 35th anniversary

edition. It's classic soft top. It's the dark red with the brown top and brown interior.

And it looks fantastic. And I will gush about it on a future episode.

But I think we should refer to these mid-cycle refreshes as mid-life crisis is now,

because it's when the cars have to change, just like, yeah, like crisis.

Yeah, they don't want to, but they are going to. Yeah, they need to. So I was here all week,

and I am driving the Mini Cooper S5 door or 4 door, depending on which country you live in.

It's the one that has doors behind the front doors. This, I think, now completes my mini

set. You haven't driven the JCW, I don't think. No, but I'm talking body styles. Oh, yeah,

yeah, you three door at a rally. I've had the Countryman electric and gas in for review. I've

had the convertible. Now I have the five doors. So guess what? It drives like a mini. There's

actually, there isn't much difference in how it feels from this to the convertible, probably because

although my wheelbase is probably a little longer, the weight's probably very similar,

because they don't have all that complexity of the roof in this. So yeah, I mean, they're good

cars, my same complaints, but I'll get into that in a future episode. And then next week,

I am off on a trip to drive Jeeps on a proper off-road course, not too far from here,

in a town that I'm very familiar with. So I'm excited about that. And Kyle, we will be

doing a comparison that I know you've been looking forward to and I as well with the

yes Ionic nine against the EV nine. So the all electric three row, I mean, they're siblings,

but they're not in usual Hyundai Kia fashion, direct siblings. So it'd be very interesting

to see how that goes. Yes. Also, since you pointed out you're doing the jeep thing, I am also doing

an off-roading trip next week, but in a very different vehicle, which we'll talk about next week.

Yes. And yeah, we'll talk about that next week. We'll save it. Yeah. All right. Well,

that wraps up the Auto Guide show brought to you by eBay Motors. Until next time, see you later.

So long, everybody.

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