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Hello. Hello, Matt. How are you?

You look at it a days. I wasn't a days. I just got you know, like I was just started. I was just looking at my slight messages terrible.

Just you know, like, I think it's every day, you know, especially when you work in automotive and you know, like you've got cars and logistics.

I feel like you know, a hundred times a day, something you like happens on my slack. I'm like, oh, okay.

I know the problem to solve. You have to put your real job aside for a few minutes to do this.

This is this is like my little bit of light relief. You know, I like, you know, I'm kind of most of the time I'm dealing with problems that I'm a dad and this is my, this is almost, this is my vacation.

A little hour or 45 minutes of an hour a week. Where do you get to?

I just get to talk to you, Matt. Yeah, you know, and talk.

I've noticed some interesting things in the automotive news. We saw the Acura ZDX EV, which has been out for a couple of years.

Just like two years is going to be ending pretty soon in a couple of Lexus models.

It's been out for one year, the ZDX. I mean, this is, you know, it's kind of an interesting twist on, on the whole EV thing.

I mean, the ZDX was the Acura version of the Honda prologue, which it was in itself, the Honda version of the Chevy Blazer and all the GM products that the spun off that.

So, you know, one year and I think it's, you know, like less than 20,000 units later.

You know, they are, they are pulling, pulling the plug, which, you know, they probably done enough to honor the GM deal, whatever that look like on paper.

And now it's like, okay, we done with that and we're going to, you know, we're going to move on and, you know, a lot of people say, well, why, why they, you know, why they pulling the plug now is they spent a lot of money.

I mean, they did a concept car. I think there was a, there was a Pebble Beach at Monterey car week. They've, you know, all the marketing money, all the everything that goes into launching a vehicle today, you run it for one year and 19,000 units and then you're, you're done.

So, you know, it's interesting is this, you know, is this, is this a prelude, if you pardon the pun, is this a prelude to more to cut, you know, who, what are the reviews are going to be canceled as we, as we go forward.

I mean, we already seen it with the Ram electric truck. Now we're seeing with the ZDX. Are we, are we going to start reversing out a lot of cars, which frankly, you know, they spent a lot of money. This is a, this is a massive financial hit for Acura. There's no way it's not.

You know, it kind of wonder how much, how much of thought went into the whole life cycle of this. I think they ended a little bit early, but they were already developing that are standalone, you know, their own proprietary EV platform, which I think they talked about at Monterey car week.

Yeah, that was a CES this year. That was David. Yeah, the consumer electronics share. But and they, yeah, that's, that's Honda going its own way with EVs. The whole GM thing seems to have been.

I think the GM thing was about like we need to get a toe in the market. You know, we need to, you need to turn up at a Honda and Acura dealer and see an EV. We need, we need to be in the game and we need to take those learnings and GM needed, you know, it was probably a good deal for GM that they could get to, you know, cover off some of the capacity and batteries and everything else.

And they probably made a lot of sense at the time. And you know, Honda's done pretty well selling the prologue, but I think it's sell volume because it's pushed them, you know, and we talked about it for the show, you know, if you can rent one or, or lease one at 220 bucks a month, well, you know, what a surprise at the sale.

I think you're right that Honda and Acura needed to have an EV on the lot. So people can start thinking about them as an EV option. And even moving the prologue, maybe even the ZDX at a loss probably got people onto the dealer lots or into a few cars to say Honda and Acura does do an EV.

And maybe also got them some feedback as to what their own platform should should be like, not to mention everything else, how to roll it out, how to market it, just how to target that audience that might be EV ready, Honda's EV ready audience.

So experimenting with that and sharing some of that cost with GM, probably not a bad idea.

Yeah, and I think the what they probably tend to do a lot of time, you know, sell to Honda customers and Acura customers that, you know, maybe there's not such a, I don't have the data, but you know, the feeling that, you know, you can, you can communicate to that customer base that you to have an EV, you know, the dealers get up to speed with what it's like to sell an EV, they get the infrastructure in place.

So there's probably a lot of good stuff there, but I mean, you know, did they write the business model for it to last one year, sell 19,000 units and be done. No, you know, this very least one would have expected it to run for three or four years, so.

I mean, it could be worse, it could be a Dodge charger EV.

Yeah, well, that's another example. I mean, the Ram Trucks gone charge charge review, there are I think they're only now selling the scrap pack version, you know, what, what, what happens.

You know, what happens down the line, you know, how committed are you, it's difficult.

I mean, a lot of people understand it's like you can't just turn these things on and off, you know, you, you have to commit to things like batteries and you know, the supplier chain for for years out.

So I was talking to a very senior executive from an OEM at car, where you can this was kind of off the record, but he was showing that, you know, like, we've got to commit to batteries now for the next four years.

And we just don't know.

We just have no idea like how many we're going to sell these not just EVs, it's same with gas cars, nothing else, but that's why you get into these kind of weird wheels, where certain cars have got massive incentives attached to them because everybody has to take a punt on how many they're going to sell.

And then your ability to scale production up and down is pretty modest.

Yeah.

It's a rubbish business.

It's just a rubbish business.

It kind of is.

And I don't know.

I guess we just keep talking about it for some reason.

I don't kind of enjoy it, I guess.

We enjoy it.

It's a, you know, you look at like big use car retailers, obviously, Edmunds is owned by carmax and this is, you know, this is public domain and everything's, oh, you know, you make a fortune on every use car and, you know, you, you're making a couple of grand profit.

It's not, you know, this is not, you know, this is not fashion.

You're not making like three, you know, there's not like a three-fold markup on it.

What I am curious about, and this is a little, you know, selfish on my part.

The end of this month, the EV tax credits are gone.

Things are going to start to level out price-wise, you know, EV compared to gas engine cars.

EV is probably more expensive because they're more expensive to make these days.

We'll use the EV prices go up in value.

And obviously there's a bunch of us that lost our, our, our butts on the purchases.

And I don't think we'll review all of it, but I wonder if used EVs will go up a little bit.

There is an argument that use car prices generally could rise as the terrorist thing really kicks in.

Everybody's like, the new car prices are rising by stealth at the moment.

So there is an argument that use car prices will go up.

But only really if consumers can stomach the cost.

You know, cars are already really expensive.

And then use cars are also expensive.

You know, interest rates obviously come down a little bit.

That might help.

But, you know, you've got to have a, you've just got to have a market for these cars.

So, you know, and yeah, maybe if you can't lease, I mean, if you can lease a new car at 200 bucks a month,

why would you buy a used one?

It doesn't really, it doesn't really make a lot of sense.

So, you know, will we see these creep up?

Or will we just see people not, you know, not buying them full stop?

I mean, there's a lot.

There's a lot still to be worked out.

We're like a few days away from the end of the tax credit.

You know, if you talk to GM, I was talking to spending time with,

with their execs, they were basically, yeah, you know, you'll get to October.

It'll fall off a cliff.

But then when you look at the economic models of any similar situation,

it then slowly starts to climb again.

And eventually you, you know, you climb beyond where you were.

And that's the, you know, that's kind of the nature capitalism.

But, you know, we, we will, we will see, I think there's a lot of people

going to lose a lot of money in the meantime.

I mean, certainly the car companies are looking at their EV inventory and saying,

you know, we still need to sell cars.

So, if, if in October things change, you know, tax credits gone,

tariffs are in place, things like that, we need to still find ways

to sell these cars.

You know, correct.

And not only the ones that are already made or, or in the process of being made,

sure, you can halt production, slow things down.

But that affects, you know, a year from now.

It doesn't affect, you know, a hundred cars on a deal or a lot.

And that's the problem.

And that's the prologue argument that we, we talked about previously,

220 bucks a month.

Yeah, you can say you get people are going to lease them happy days.

Take away the tax credit for 50 a month.

You're going to lease a prologue for 450 a month.

You're going to buy a CRV.

Yeah.

What do you do if you Honda?

You got a choice.

You either then have to further incentivize the prologue to shift them

because you've done a deal with GM and you've got certain units that you've got to hit.

So then do you just put more money against it?

So you maybe bring the lease deal down to 300 or whatever,

whatever price you feel you can actually shift the metal.

Right.

All you're doing is basically supporting your dealers who are also probably making their money.

And it's just, it's just a bad business.

Yeah.

I think the car companies would look at it and go, we would like.

We would prefer to make less money or zero money on our inventory.

Then not sell it, lose it and get stock with a bunch of cars.

Yeah.

I mean, this was if you look at where Dodge or Stellantis got into a load of trouble.

You know, last time I looked on the Stellantis website on the Dodge website,

there was one, you know, a Hellcat charger from 2024 to 2023.

And you're like, there's, there's a lot still out there.

And these cars are just sitting around.

So you've got to, you've got to shift the, the shift the metal.

So it's, that's where it gets, that's where I think it gets really, gets really tough.

So it's going to be, you know, an interesting few months.

And obviously some people, some brands are better prepared to weather the storm than others.

You know, it's Nissan or in a, you know, Nissan also like the Arya.

I mean, Aryas have been so cheap recently on the lease deal with that.

So that's gone.

And the Arya is actually like a decent, you know, a decent car.

But they were having to incentivize it so much just to shift them.

Because, you know, it's not like our favorite EV.

But if you say, look, would you like an Arya for like 180 bucks a month?

Well, actually the whole proposition changes.

And actually for 180 bucks a month, it's a very nice car.

Thank you very much.

Anyway, that's dead.

So, you know, that's, that's the already forgot about that car.

The Arya's gone.

It just didn't get any attention.

Well, I think we are going to see a shift.

And it's, I think, you know, potentially swings the market back a bit.

We are seeing more cheaper EVs.

We've just driven the Nissan leaf, which is a huge improvement over the old one,

which had been around, you know, since, since God was a lot.

Now you've got equinox EV.

We're going to have cheaper, you know, there's going to be cheaper cheaper Tesla's, you know,

there's going to be a bunch of stuff hitting the market that's going to be hopefully

somewhere in the 30s.

And so, even without these big tax incentives, you know, that's,

if the average price action price of a car is 50 grand,

and if you've got a good EV in the 30s, then it's got a chance.

And, but is the, is the pitch for the $30,000 EV going to be better than the Nissan Central,

whatever, the new 30, you know, which is also looks quite nice, you know, quite a step forward.

Nice.

And, you know, probably sorted out and reliable.

Yeah.

Or, or, or, or used, or like a two-year-old RAV4 or Honda CRV or something like that,

you know, like, yeah, that, that's the, that's the decision.

I mean, for me, an EV for a lot of people will be a great second car.

Yeah.

But it's, you know, there's a lot of money for a second car.

I mean, most families in the US are two car households.

It's kind of a lifestyle thing, isn't it?

So, yeah, an EV plus a gas car is actually probably for a lot of people,

makes it, you know, makes sense.

You know, you have your long-distance car and then you kind of commuting car,

your school run car, whatever, whatever you want to call it.

Yeah.

But that's got to be at a price point that makes sense.

I mean, I was talking to somebody today and they're like, well,

would you get like a used EV?

And I was like, sure, if it's like your second car at 20 grand,

it's, you know, if you can get a Model 3 with, you know, 40,000 miles,

like low 20s, go for it.

Yeah.

Okay.

All right.

Let's turn the page for a second.

We talked on the past couple of weeks about the German big three and the future of them.

New design styles, new platforms coming out,

refresh, of course, the board.

And now it looks like we're starting to see something like that come from Lexus,

because Lexus hasn't really announced all the new cars,

but they did announce that the ending of several of their cars,

the Lexus LS, their flagship sedan,

which I always thought was a beautiful car, by the way.

I always liked the LS.

Yeah.

I think it's, I think it's kind of,

I mean, no, I mean, there's only Mercedes really is ever sold.

You know, the S class, if you want a default luxury sedan,

you buy an S class.

BMW's always struggles to sell a seven series.

Audi's always struggles to sell the AA like globally.

It's not even the US thing like globally.

They've got nobody else, you know, the S class out performs everybody else.

And they just own that market.

But yeah, the LS like you forget that that was the car that launched Lexus

that it came along in what 89 or something.

Was it late 80s?

Yeah.

And that was groundbreaking at the time.

That was seen as like a real step forward.

One of the LS launch.

I was like 89.

I'm going to Google it as we talk.

Now 90.

Yeah.

Now January, God, I'm good.

I'm January 1989.

Okay.

Yeah.

I remember because my uncle, my uncle bought one of the first ones.

This was in Northern England.

And it was because it was like it had BMWs.

And this was something different.

And it had all these gadgets.

And it was this.

And it was that.

And the local car dealer decided that, you know,

he'd have his little signature thing.

And so supplied it with gold badges.

So remember, it was a black car with gold badges,

which look, if you want like new, very rich,

you might as well just have like, you know,

it's the equivalent like the Gucci.

You know, the Gucci sweatshirt with Gucci written on it.

It's like, yeah, it was a bit.

Now, but I do remember it being a been a really good car.

So the LS is going to go out with a special edition.

And then I guess it's going to end in a year.

The IS, right?

Which I also like kind of a three series fighter.

Yeah.

It's always very pretty car.

Yeah.

ISF was a great little performer.

We had one.

We had like a long-term loner.

I say we was just like me and Adam Crowell

like kind of shared this thing for a while.

I took it on Laguna Seca.

I jumped the corkscrew with it.

I straighten that arrow right out.

Just.

With that car.

Yeah.

Got flag flag for that.

Oops.

My bad.

But I.

I guess we're making way for for some new things from Lexus.

Yeah.

I mean, it's again, it's just SUVs SUVs isn't it?

You know, they're not.

You know, they're very lukewarm into EVs as well.

You know, and they're all in on hybrid.

Obviously got the new super car, the LFR, which I had a good look at.

Good approach type at a good professor of speed.

That's on its way.

That's going to be a going to be a chunk of change.

But that's going to, you know, that's going to be an exciting car.

That's going to be hybrid as well, right?

That's going to be hybrid.

I mean, obviously Lexus is Toyota.

And I think it's just it's going to be SUVs hybrid plus this sports car

as a kind of an image leader.

But like a used LS.

You know, because they don't hold their value that well.

Like a used LS would be just a really nice way to, you know, to travel.

Just looking at the Lexus website.

I'm looking at this.

The LC.

I don't know how long the LC is going to be around.

It's the.

Probably got another year, right?

Yeah.

Anyway, I'm driving one next week because whenever you get a chance to drive one,

you should because it's gorgeous and it has a wonderful V8 sound.

And it's just a, it's just a nice car.

I drove the convertible for the first time.

We had one down the track.

I'm not sure why we had it in, to be honest.

But I just had to spend some time.

And it's just a, that's again, he's like a bit of a kind of think.

You know, he flies massively under the radar, but he's such a pretty car.

Yeah.

And the coupe particularly would just be, you know, if you don't need, you know, rear seats,

nothing else.

I remember like the control interface is a bit rubbish and things like that.

But just the noise and the look.

And I really like the idea of a kind of like thinking person's car, isn't it?

You know, it doesn't drive as well as a 911 or something, but it's super pretty.

And just as a proper fast, comfortable GT.

It's cool.

I mean, it's, it's Lexus's version of the Mercedes SL.

Yeah, I think that's fair.

Right.

But less, less obvious.

Yeah.

But you know, it has a good sound.

It's got great style to it.

There's a few things on it that are a little dated now.

And you're right.

The track pad is almost a deal killer for me.

I just can't stand the little track pad interface.

But yeah, it's, it's a gorgeous car.

I'm going to get one next week.

Drive it for a little while.

I was just looking here like, you know, like a 2018, like an admit in early car.

Like 27,000 miles, 66 grand.

You know, there are a lot of these, you know, if you can get a good deal on one,

they're a very nice way to, nice way to go around.

Yeah.

I'm a bit of a fan of like, I mean, Lexus is one of those cars that

it rarely wins, wins one of our group tests.

You know, it's, it's rarely, you know, we like the GX.

We bought a GX.

We like the, the TX isn't it, which is the Grand Highlander

with a slightly tilted up interior.

They rarely, they, they rarely like win the group test.

They're rarely outstanding, but they're just, you know,

they've got that Toyota build quality.

They're, you know, they're, they're a nice, they're a nice, easy car to live with.

They're a very kind of like low effort car.

But, but predictable.

Like you know, you're going to get something good quality.

You're going to get something well built.

You're going to get a nice car.

It's just like, it's consistently like a seven or eight out of 10.

And it's always that way.

And you're always looking for something that's like a nine or a 10 out of 10.

But it's, you're right.

It's always one of those cars that can rank number two in a, in a, in a test.

You know, maybe it's just, it's like it always will do well.

And recently, you know, they started doing, it almost feels a bit like what Alpina was doing in BMW.

They're like, they do the TX, I think the TX is in the Grand Highlander version.

All it really does is take the Toyota and it's got a bit of a nicer key.

And the leather is marginally better.

And, you know, you've got to buy into that to choose it.

The GX is interesting.

And that's a cool, we own one.

And get some mixed reception in our team.

There's, there's kind of, we got the, the off-road version of it.

And I took it up to Sequoia and it was, it was great.

And I think it's going to be a really good car if you want to go skiing in the winter.

But it's, it's got a bit of a mixed pressing our team.

It's not that spacious.

The fuel consumption is terrible.

It's, it's a bit hit and miss, but it looks cool.

I mean, again, it's like Land Rover Defender or Lexus GX.

And I think that Toyota reputation for quality reliability, you know,

it's what gets it across the line.

I know they, you know, that's the car that actually they can't build fast enough.

You know, if you look at Toyota, it'll go Grand Highlander, Lexus GX.

There's a ton of cars that, you know, they, they, they under, you know,

they, they're actually got, they actually could have built more of.

And then the new, the new supercar, the LFA replaced with the LFA,

LFA, absolutely wonderful, amazing sound, ten cylinder.

Do you know what?

I drove one.

Yeah, I was at the original launch of it.

I went around the Nürburgrini and everything else.

This is like donkeys years ago.

And he's become this cult car that they're all worth millions of dollars and everything else.

And I remember, apart from the engine, which is off the scale, this, the V10,

the rest of it, I remember like at the time, everybody was a bit like, eh,

it's all right, but it's not like epic.

And somehow it's developed this incredible reputation.

And because it sounds unbelievable.

And I got taken around the Nürburgrini Norge Lifer with their test driver

who spoke not a word of English at very high speed.

And, you know, when he starts providing quite serious correction,

you're like, oh, he's trying harder than the average press run here.

And you're the only one in a race suit.

And he was exciting.

And it's a cool car, but I don't, I don't get why they're worth as much as they are.

I don't why, I don't understand why they're worth millions of dollars.

The way like a GTR caught on, like people wanted a Japanese supercar.

And the sound was fantastic.

It was a good performer, but also it, it was, it was kind of a flawless in a sense.

Like I, I did track days with it.

I drove several of them.

And the, the engineers were just standing there.

They didn't want to check the tire pressure.

Like we don't have to.

It's Alexis.

That was what they kept saying to me.

I was like, we just did a bunch of laps.

You need to check anything?

Like, nope, it's Alexis.

Like, like, you don't want to check the tire pressure.

And it was nitrogen filled or whatever.

Like, no, it's Alexis.

I'm like, okay, guys, I got it.

They're like, it's flawless.

And like, that was their thing.

And you jump into so many like super cars, if you will.

You know, similar price range cars, half a million dollar cars or whatever was when it came out.

And you get this carbon fiber thing that's rough.

And the seats are terrible.

And you hear every little pebble coming off the, you know, like, you know, not quite center.

But, you know, GTR, just things like that.

When the, when the LFA came out, you're like, it's, it's got nice interior.

Like you could, it's comfortable to drive.

It doesn't beat you up.

But it just seemed like a nice all around crazy car.

I mean, and then it took off the value.

Well, then maybe there's an argument.

I'm like, well, I was just, I was just having a quick look while you were talking like, you know,

they're about 800 to 1.7 million now.

Yeah.

And I guess like a new Ferrari or a Lamborghini Rebelto is kind of like 7,800,000.

And they're not necessarily hanging on to the value.

So maybe like, you know, is it cooler to get an LFA then get the new Ferrari or the Rebelto?

It's not, you know, maybe I, but he's just, just not like, I just kind of imagine spending like a million books on a.

On an LFA, but then I don't have a million bucks.

Let me tell you.

And I, I think the value will, will hold it all in a plateau.

It will, it will, but like, yeah, I mean, F40, what they've met just every million now on.

They have me like, I don't know.

You know, but anyway, I don't know if the new supercar will live up to it.

I think, I think that engine and that sound that V10 is, is what really put the cherry on top of the cupcake there, if you will.

I just don't know that the V8 hybrid.

I'm sure I'll have the performance numbers and all that stuff and I will be great.

But are they going to get that sound?

They're going to get that.

It's like I'd love a like a hurricane like the old, you know, Lamborghini, Hurricane, Baffamante, or something which, you know, who is just that.

Yeah.

That noise.

Yeah.

I think it's cool that they're doing it again.

You know, Lexus has obviously decided that they need to differentiate themselves from Toyota.

They need a bit more, you know, they need a bit more glamour.

Yeah.

And, yeah, it's cool.

I mean, but there was a whole run with the LFA even if it didn't sell all initially.

I don't know if it did.

I mean, there was all sorts of talk with that car, though, when it came out that I think they, if I remember, serves.

They built a mid-engine prototype and the front engine prototype.

That was part of part of the legend that they basically just spent so much money that they built two cars and picked which was best.

And that something with the carbon fiber of the body or something, they had to use like one of two giant auto claims that are only available in the world.

And I think Lexus owns it.

And it's, it looks like the boring tunnel.

Like it has this giant round door, you know, like something you can see in a movie.

And that's where they have to put the car in to cure the body.

It's like it was so over the top.

So you get walked by the driver.

Yeah.

Right.

I think about it.

It's like everybody was asking for a new great NSX.

We got an NSX and it's, it's, it's not, it's not trading for a million dollars.

No, I think the NSX.

Nobody asked for an LFA and we got one and it was great.

And it's trading for a million dollars.

Yeah.

Right.

Like, so now Lexus is going.

Can we strike lightning twice?

Like can we.

Yeah.

You know, is there something there?

So.

And everything's, you know, if he's going to be a couple of hundred grand.

Well, like I was looking at the 911 turbo, that's going to be like 300 grand.

You know, we drove the, I drove us out in the test.

We had an Audi RS 3 in which I was a bit luke warm about, to be honest.

I think our whole team was a little bit luke warm about just the quality.

It is like the tactile stuff.

You just, you know, look to the price of that 70 grand.

And you can say, well, it's, it's the cheapest RS.

I don't care.

It's 70 grand.

For what is a very small, slightly plasticy car?

Hold that thought.

We're going to take a quick break and we'll be right back.

Hey guys, it's Matt again.

I just wanted to give a big shout out to everyone who's been coming out to our

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Okay, so the Audi.

I meant to ask you about that as well.

Yes, the RS, the little one, 70 grand.

Yeah, it's the cheapest over the RS is.

But you want it to deliver.

You want it to deliver the RS performance.

And he does from a performance like I just said.

The RS, the little one, 70 grand.

Yeah, it's the cheapest over the RS is.

But you want it to deliver.

The RS performance like I was just looking at the numbers we got to test drive.

0 to 63.8 seconds.

I mean, that's that's properly rapid quarter mile 12 seconds.

You know, one year of grip, 75 grand.

You know, something that's going to get it going to be 394 horsepower.

And I kind of pardon me liked it just because it's.

There's just so many cars now, which are massive and heavy.

And it is kind of, you know, it's was it three and a half thousand pounds or something.

It's not.

It's kind of lightweight.

You know, it's small enough that you can kind of throw it around a little bit.

It'd be a, you know, be a fun thing for like, you know, scooting around the city in.

But you just got out of it and think that he's not.

This just doesn't feel like 75 grand with a car, you know, like the interior.

There's there.

It's a bit plasticky inside.

It's.

You know, Audi's used to feel.

Oh, the quality and just the fit and finish and the feel of them was so good.

And they've.

They've kind of lost their way a little bit.

I'd be interesting with like, we talked about the new TT, you know, TT concept and things like that.

And I think they'll they're trying to get back to where they were.

But yeah, I just.

This is a nice car.

I don't, I don't think I'd love the look.

No, it's a bit to kind of like.

Let's bolt another bit on here to make it look like an RS.

And we'll stick another bit here that make it look aerodynamic and it all ends up looking a little bit.

Aftermarket, but not in a cool way.

It looks a little Ford focus to me.

Like something in the front and I don't know.

It's just like it's, it's just missing.

Something.

Yeah, and the interior is a bit.

The interior is just a little bit naff for me.

You know, Audi used to be all about like clean, clean, you know, clean, simple lines, very elegant.

This is just a bit like kind of like fighter control.

Yeah, although looking at it looks like there's some actual.

Yeah, there was some buttons.

Yeah, there were some buttons.

Yeah, they're a bit plastic.

You can actually control the AC with with some buttons.

Yeah, that's kind of.

That parts nice.

But you're right.

This definitely looks like a, you know, give you that fighter jet feeling.

But that's intentional with these with with the Audi.

You know, what they're trying to do here.

Yeah, and I think they're trying to, you know, I think the next generation will start to step away from this.

And we'll actually see going a bit more minimalist and we saw that with the.

With the concept.

I'm just kind of fun to punt around the track, but, but only kind of only to a point.

Yeah.

I can't imagine spending 75 grand on one.

That's for sure.

You know, it's it's funny because we're doing this thing with these cars.

You're like, oh, it's good.

So functional.

And it's a fighter jet.

And it's got all these different things.

Like you, you get into something like the Bugatti.

And the Bugatti doesn't want you to do any.

It doesn't want you to fuss with any systems and push all these buttons.

And everything's just super clean and gorgeous.

And it just looks like an art exhibit.

You know, on the interior, it is like it's clean.

It's beautiful.

It's, it's posh, as you would say.

And, and it's just a beast of a carpet.

They were just like, just drive the car.

Just shut up and drive the car.

Well, like Rolls Royce had the same thing.

Didn't they?

That, you know, we're not going to share like rev counter.

That's unseemly.

Yeah.

You know, it's just, you know, how much power you got enough plenty ample.

And then what was the, and the same with audio, isn't it?

Like if you get with a really high end audio systems, you know,

they don't have all these like graphic equalizers.

And God knows what else it's like.

Here is the music.

This is what the artist intended.

This is what we'll reproduce.

And it'll sound amazing.

And Bentley too.

Bentley, I even like to like see that radio.

It's in there because you have to have it.

But it's ugly.

So we're going to go ahead and.

Yeah.

That's it.

That's a, that's a sweet thing.

So we could flip it and hide it so you don't have to stare at that damn thing.

And you could just, you know, hit your.

Steering wheel controls to change the volume or the radio station or flip to another station or skip to a new song.

But you don't have to stare at this big black rectangle.

This box on your dash.

You don't want to, you know, that's kind of nice too.

And when you're, you see it, you're like, oh, that's a neat trick.

Would I ever use it?

I'm like, yeah.

I would.

Yeah.

I do say it feels kind of cool.

It's not just a gimmick.

And this is like a big brand thing isn't like I'm dropped.

I know we're planning on talking about it anyway, but I'm driving the.

Cadillac.

Lyric.

V spec, which is the sports version of the at the Lyric EV.

You know, and Cadillac is obviously made a conscious brand decision that.

You know, we're a bit over the top.

You know, like we're a bit, you know, the Lyric V.

We're a bit, you know, we are a bit like I was going to say American.

That sounds terrible for him about, you know, but.

But, you know, we're not going to do like European understatement.

You know, we are a bit, you know, you've got a lot.

When you get inside, there's like the steering wheel is leather.

And then you've got like a kind of faux wood type thing going on.

This is a lot of design.

There's a lot of badging.

There's a lot of like every piece of badge.

You know, every piece of plastic has got some sort of motif on it.

I mean, I actually like it.

I mean, don't get me wrong.

I think it looks, you know, if you're going to do an American.

Luxury brand, then you should embrace the American, you know, the American.

I don't try and just do, you know, kind of European, you know, European aesthetic.

I actually, you know, it's, it's very in your face.

But I actually quite like what they've done.

Yeah.

Okay.

It's a bit like Genesis actually.

Genesis has done a similar thing.

They've said we're not just, you know, let's, let's lean into the Korean.

But in the Korean, but it is a bit more overstated.

And Cadillac is doing the same thing.

And actually, I think they've been a pretty good job of differentiating it from the, you know,

the Chevy products.

There's a lot of shared technology with things like the blazer EV.

Yeah.

But yeah, I liked it.

I mean, 2022 inch wheels.

And I noticed I pulled up at the stoplight.

And there was a, there was an old boy in.

I forget what car it was like an old car.

Like around his window down and was like peering at the wheels to check see how big they were.

I could see what he was doing because they look ridiculous.

But it's almost like car tune issues proportions because actually quite a big car.

Let me ask you this.

Like I'm performance guy.

I love the performance variance of pretty much every vehicle out there.

But as I drive more EVs, I'm a little bit more inclined to say every EV is pretty quick already.

So do I need the high performance variant or do I go for the longer range?

And I just feel like these days for me, I'm more annoyed by not having the range that I am enjoying the performance variant of something.

So for me, it's range probably is my pick over high performance.

Although I get it though.

Like you're saying, if you're a two car household and this is your daily driver and you don't have to worry about range because you have a short commute.

Maybe you want the fun sporty version.

But for me, I have one car to drive.

I don't know. I kind of wish I had the range.

I mean, I wonder about this car, whether.

Yeah, because what we see in some of the range tests, it's not necessarily as clear cut because it's not like a gas car where it's like,

you know, where you constantly burning fuel even if you're not going quickly.

You know, actually some of the performance ones do maintain a decent range.

So it's a little bit of a different dynamic of the EVs, unless you actually drive them as they're intended.

And then of course, the whole thing changes and you just burn through the.

You know, you burn through the through the power, the power really quickly.

You burn through the battery, but like this is 600 plus horsepower.

You know, it has makes fake noises, which actually sound okay.

But I'm a little bit like again, it's another one is just go so fast.

It's like.

I'm not sure I care that much.

You know, how fast do I need to go?

How exciting is it?

Yeah.

It's I think it's a nice car, but it's again, it's like 90,000.

The one I've got's like 90,000 dollars.

And that's that's an awful lot of money.

There's a guy.

One of my neighbors has got the infinity QX 80, which is the huge.

You know, like huge seven seat infinity and he came and looked at the Cadillac and he's a bit of a car guy.

And he said, this is, this is cool.

So yeah, it's the same price as your infinity basically.

So the the range on the the lyric is like the single motor.

They claim the single motor is 326 miles.

Actually, I'll bring it up.

I'll bring it up on the screen too to begin to quickly look at it.

But so the lyric.

326 miles for the single motor 319 miles for the dual motor.

Honestly, not that much of a difference.

Yeah.

There's a couple of options on charging.

And then the V.

Is 285 miles.

So 285 miles.

Like we're under 300.

And of course you get into the issues with 80% and blah, blah, blah.

But are we looking at.

I mean, these things are heavy and you have to bear that in mind that, you know,

I don't know if it's a dual motor, but the single motor.

It's not a dual motor.

It's not a dual motor, but it's not a dual.

It's not allowed.

Or the single motor.

But you know, like the single motors got what you got there, like 365 horsepower

something which you.

You know, plenty.

Yeah.

And all right.

And then if you go into the standard all wheel drive, you know,

the dual motor, 515 horsepower, 450 pounds of torque, that's.

You know, it's plenty, isn't it?

Yeah.

Interesting.

I'm with you, Ma. I naturally gravitate to, you know,

TZS, I naturally gravitate to the performance stuff.

But yeah, there is a point where it's like,

if I can do zero to 60 and, like, four and a half, five seconds,

like a road car, that's, that's me done.

I mean, I guess we got to look at the numbers.

But if you said the single motor was zero to 60 and 10 seconds

and the V was four seconds, I'd be like, all right,

the V's going to be way more powerful.

Is, is it that much?

Is this like, still the single motor is zero to 60 and six seconds,

which still actually feels kind of quick?

Yeah, five to six.

You know, like, if you're under six seconds, it's going to feel quick.

If you like, probably moat, but a lot of people listening, perhaps,

haven't actually been in a car recently,

does zero to 60 and like, under four seconds, it's horrible.

You know, it's like, I don't get wrong.

Like, if you're in a race car, it's really exciting.

If you're like pulling out of your driveway to go to school,

frankly, everybody's going to hate you.

It's not, you know, it's, it's exciting to a point,

but it's not like real world excite.

You know, it's exciting, like, you try to get home on your own

and you're having that bit of fun or whatever.

But, you know, it's not, it's a pretty brutal experience,

especially in EV where it's all that wallop of torque.

It's not a, you know, it's not a, it's not particularly good.

So, you know, you don't have that old gas thing of like,

the engine roaring and the tires go, you know,

the wheels, but they're like, hey, you know, it's not that,

it's not that visceral.

So, it, it seems strange to save a moment like, you know, okay.

I was at Disney Land on Tuesday.

The schools were off and we took the kids to Disney Land.

There was like a rollercoaster.

I'm believe we're like zero to 55 miles and did 55 miles an hour

in like three and a half seconds, you know,

feel the incredible G-force.

I was like, huh?

So, I drove here in as faster than that.

Yeah, but when they, when they blow air on you

and maybe miss the little water on you,

it makes it feel like you're going way up there, right?

Don't they do, but like when they built the rollercoaster,

that was a big deal, right?

Zero to, you know, zero to 50 and three and a half seconds.

Like, space mountain goes like, I don't know,

22 miles an hour, but they, it's dark and they blow wind on you

and it makes it feel like you're doing 80, you know,

but you're, but you're not, you know,

because they're like, how do we simulate the speed,

the sensation of speed?

But you know, you're right, I drive a big truck

and it's zero to 60 and like four, four point two,

whatever the hell the lighting is like, it's fast.

And I do love that the power is there,

but because it's a truck, I often have stuff in there.

You know, there's a few things in the back seat,

the bed of the truck, I've got, you know,

stuff back there and every time I want a jam on it,

I'm like, oh, how much stuff is going to go flying around the cabin

or the back of the truck, you know,

so I have to make sure things are kind of fastened down

and stored in companies and stuff before I do it almost every time.

And I drive an old 911 that sounds,

there's got two and 85 horsepower to zero to 60

and these days probably about five and a half seconds

or something if I ever did it,

which I wouldn't.

Sounds incredible, feels marvelous.

Happy days.

Yeah, but when you get mad,

you just keep your phone in your pocket, right?

You just, you know, now it's that cool.

Wireless car play we're talking about.

Yeah.

Well, yeah, that's good.

But yeah, for me, every time I jam on the accelerator,

I hear my phone flying somewhere through the cabin.

Maybe the voice on the dash or near the dash.

And now it's off the dash or the dogs don't like it.

Something something's flying through the air.

All right.

So the verdict on the lyric V.

The verdict, nice.

I mean, you know, I think Caddy's generally doing a pretty good job

with their EVs.

You know, they and I think they've got a job of

differentiating them from the Chevy's.

It's a nice thing.

It's a nice thing at a price.

And you know, this is one of the cars we talked about.

The ZDX is almost bringing the show full circle.

Like what will what will that look like in six months time?

You know, how how many they're going to be selling in six months time?

And that'll be the that'll be the big question.

But in isolation, you know,

it's a nice it's a nice way to go around.

Yeah.

Yeah. Okay.

I mean, again, when we looked at it, we looked at those numbers.

You know, still a big heavy vehicle,

but not an escalade.

And certainly not the range of the escalade,

the weight of the escalade is of the escalade.

But what's an escalade?

The EV, it's like $150,000 now.

So yeah, and it'll weigh

nine thousand pounds plus, I think.

Don't get hit by one.

Do not get hit by one.

Okay.

So before we wrap things up, I'm coming up in the next few weeks.

What do you guys got on the docket looking anything you're looking forward to?

Yeah, we've got it.

I have a couple of things I can't talk about.

Off down to drive something at the end of next week.

We can talk about probably in a couple of weeks time.

We're just prepping for a new season of Edmunds you drags,

which is very exciting.

We haven't done that as the first one this, you know,

this year we had a bit of a break.

But you know, part of it is just getting all the cars together.

It's a big effort.

We managed to get a good lineup.

So that's week after next excited about that.

Came back on the, back on the road.

Got a, you know, get the reflexes going again.

Yeah, it's a really busy,

really busy couple of weeks, but you know, it keeps fun.

You know, we're heading into Q4 in the last quarter of the year.

So how much work do you guys start when you start

focusing all on the end of the year award the best of?

That's also coming up.

We, we start, we're judging for that sort of.

Judging is already kind of underway.

We launched that beginning.

It's going to be beginning of next year before we launch it.

But obviously we create all the assets and go through all that this year.

So yeah, our run up to, our run up to holiday season is always crazy.

Because we have, we've got the UJs coming out.

We've got all our awards stuff to do.

We've got the LA Auto Show.

You know, it's a, you always get to kind of, you know,

that Christmas period and, and you just, you know,

we try and give people a break and we always have this deal within the team

that we weren't like crazy to give ourselves, you know,

a little bit of time off and everybody can kind of recharge,

but you need it by then.

Yeah.

All right, I guess we're going to wrap things up for today.

Yeah, enjoy the lyric.

Next week, yeah, I'll have the Lexus, the LC, I don't know which one.

500, LC 500.

Yeah, that's the V8.

That's nice.

Yeah, it's going to be nice.

All right, guys, thanks so much for listening.

Of course, go to Edmunds.com.

You can check them out on YouTube as well.

And yeah, we're still on social media, I think.

I'm still on there.

You're still on there.

Yeah, weaver on coals.

You picked a couple of followers this week.

Yeah, yeah.

All right, guys, thanks so much until next time.

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CarCast+Edmunds - Audi RS3 and Cadillac Lyriq-V first drives. And discontinued vehicles from Acura and Lexus.

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