Cold Weather Cars: Winter Driving Advice & Dream Picks! | Ep 80 | Drive Torque Podcast
Drive Torque Podcast
Cold Weather Cars: Winter Driving Advice & Dream Picks! | Ep 80 | Drive Torque Podcast
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69:52
Term
summer tyres
Summer tyres are made for warm weather and help cars grip the road better when it's dry or wet. But they don't work well in snow or ice, which can be dangerous.
Car
Subaru Impreza STI Type R
The Subaru Impreza STI Type R is a special version of the Impreza that is designed for performance and racing. It's known for being fast and having great handling, especially in snowy conditions.
Car
Porsche Panamera Turbo SE Hybrid
The Porsche Panamera Turbo SE Hybrid is a fancy car that uses both gas and electricity to go fast while being more efficient. It's designed for people who want a luxurious ride that can also be sporty.
Car
Lotus Emira
The Lotus Emira is a new sports car that is designed to be fast and fun to drive. The Clark edition is a special version with unique styling and is very rare, with only 60 made.
Car
Alpine A110R 70 anniversary edition
The Alpine A110R is a sporty car that is designed for performance and agility. The 70 anniversary edition is a special version that celebrates the brand's history with unique features.
Car
Alpine A110S
The Alpine A110 is a small, sporty car that is really fun to drive because it's light and quick. It's designed for people who love driving and want a car that feels exciting on the road.
Car
Lotus Amira
The Lotus Amira is a sporty car made by Lotus. It's designed to be lightweight and handle well on the road, and it has a powerful engine located in the middle of the car.
Term
V6 manual
A V6 manual is a car with a six-cylinder engine that is shaped like a 'V' and has a stick shift for changing gears. This setup can make the car fun to drive.
Term
AMG
AMG is a special division of Mercedes-Benz that makes faster and sportier versions of their cars. They add more power and better handling to make them more exciting to drive.
Concept
Indy 500
The Indy 500 is a famous car race that takes place every year in Indianapolis. It's known for being very challenging and is one of the biggest events in motorsport.
Car
Ford Cortina
Car
Lotus Cortina
The Lotus Cortina is a special version of a regular car called the Ford Cortina. It was made to be faster and better for racing.
Term
boot
The 'boot' is the part of the car where you can put your bags and other things. If a car has a small boot, it means there's not much space for storage.
Car
Porsche Cayman
The Porsche Cayman is a sports car that has its engine in the middle, which helps it handle really well. It also has more room inside than many other sports cars, so you can carry more stuff.
Term
supercharged
A supercharged engine gets extra air pumped into it, which helps it make more power. This means the car can go faster and perform better than regular engines.
Car
Skoda Fabia
The Skoda Fabia is a small car that's great for everyday driving. It's known for being practical and affordable, which makes it a good option for many people.
Term
Cup 2 tires
Cup 2 tires are special tires made for sports cars that help them grip the road really well. However, they don't work well when it's very cold outside.
Term
winter driving preparation
Preparing for winter driving means getting your car ready for cold weather. This includes checking your tires, making sure you have enough fluids, and having warm clothes and supplies in case of an emergency.
Term
preheating the car
Preheating the car means making the inside warm before you get in. Some new cars let you do this with an app on your phone, so you can start warming it up while you're still inside your house.
Car
MINI Cooper S (R59) John Cooper Works
The MINI Cooper S (R59) John Cooper Works is a sporty car that has a powerful engine and is designed for fun driving. It's part of the MINI family and is known for its unique style and performance.
Term
all-season tires
All-season tires can be used in different weather, like rain and light snow. They are not as good as summer or winter tires in extreme weather, but they work okay all year.
Part
winter tires
Winter tires are special tires that help cars drive better in snow and cold weather.
Car
Audi S5
The Audi S5 is a fancy car that is faster and sportier than the regular Audi A5. It has a nice interior and is built for people who enjoy driving and want a stylish car.
Term
homologated
Homologated means that a car or its parts have been officially approved to meet certain rules and standards.
Term
Pilot Sport S5
The Pilot Sport S5 is a type of tire made for fast cars, helping them grip the road better.
Car
BMW M3
The BMW M3 is a fast and sporty car that is designed for people who love driving. It's a special version of a regular BMW car that has more power and better handling, making it fun to drive on both roads and racetracks.
Term
summer tire
Summer tires are regular tires made for warm weather. They work best when it's hot outside and help your car handle well on dry roads.
Car
BMW
BMW is a car brand from Germany that makes luxury and sporty cars. They are known for their quality and performance.
Part
Michelin Cross Climate
The Michelin Cross Climate is a tire that works well in both summer and winter. It helps drivers stay safe no matter the weather, so they don't have to change tires every season.
Car
Volkswagen Passat
The Volkswagen Passat is a family car that is roomy and comfortable. Many people like it because it's reliable and good for everyday driving.
Car
BMW M135i
The BMW M135i is a sporty version of a small BMW car. It's made for people who like to drive fast and enjoy a fun ride.
Car
BMW M135Is
The BMW 1 Series is a small car that is fun to drive and has a nice interior. It's a good choice for people who want a sporty car that is easy to park and use in the city.
Term
rubber compound
The rubber compound is the special mix of materials that makes up the tire. It affects how soft or hard the tire is, which is important for how well it works in different temperatures.
Term
hot hatch
A hot hatch is a sporty version of a hatchback car, which is a car with a rear door that swings upward. They are designed to be fun to drive while still being practical for everyday use.
Car
BMW M5
The BMW M5 is a fancy car that is really fast and powerful, but it also has a lot of luxury features inside. It's like a regular BMW but made to be more exciting to drive, especially for those who enjoy speed.
Car
Land Range Rovers
The Range Rover is a big, fancy SUV that can drive on rough roads and in tough weather. It's designed to be comfortable inside while also being able to go on adventures, like camping or off-roading.
Car
Mini Classic Mini
The Classic Mini is a small, cute car that was very popular a long time ago. People love it for its fun design and how easy it is to drive around town.
Car
Porsche Cayenne
The Porsche Cayenne is a stylish and powerful SUV that drives like a sports car. It has lots of space for passengers and luggage, making it great for families or trips, while still being fun to drive.
Car
Fiat 500
The Fiat 500 is a small car that looks cute and is easy to drive around the city. It's perfect for people who need to get around town without needing a big vehicle.
Car
Alfa Romeo Stelvio
The Alfa Romeo Stelvio is a stylish SUV that drives really well and looks different from other SUVs. It's made for people who want a nice-looking car that is also fun to drive.
Car
Suzuki Jimny
The Suzuki Jimny is a small, tough SUV that can go off-road and handle rough terrain. It's popular with people who like to explore nature and need a reliable vehicle for adventures.
Car
Audi Quattro
The Audi Quattro is a special system that helps cars grip the road better, especially in bad weather. It's famous for making cars safer and more fun to drive, especially on slippery surfaces.
Car
Land Rover Defender
The Defender is a tough and strong vehicle made for driving in rough places like mountains or forests. It's built to handle tough conditions and is popular with people who love outdoor adventures.
Car
Audi A6
The Audi A6 is a nice, comfortable car that is great for driving long distances. It has lots of tech features and a smooth ride, making it a good choice for people who want a luxury car.
LIVE
One of those were in a ditch on an icy section, and then much closer to where we were going,
there was a, what's the one you had? The really capable one, the Defender.
Defender, yeah.
Yeah, Defender was also, had slid off the road into a ditch. I mean, the road, to be fair,
was completely icy, but it was a sheet of ice.
That's a really good segue there, because the amount of people who buy a 4x4 and think that
it's a fucking perfect snow car, but it's on summer tyres.
You know, braking and cornering, it doesn't matter whether it's 4x4 or not, you've got
two and a half tonnes of weight and no fucking traction, you're going to go off into a ditch.
Do you know the best thing you've got?
Yeeze now!
Oh, well, we're going to start, we're going to start.
Well, I don't even have to edit the clip in at the beginning now, I can just add the bit in where
Pete says, having a two and a half tonne 4x4, not on winter or all season tyres,
isn't the best in bad weather.
Oh, we always do that then, we have a chat about what we're going to talk about,
and it's a really good chat, and then we start talking about what we're going to talk about,
and talk about it again.
Yeeze now!
Yeeze now, I hate podcasts that start like that, I really do, but anyway.
Yeeze now, when it's mid conversation.
Well, yeah, I'm kind of like rubbing my eyes, and it's just like, ah, anyway.
John, Joe, you started like it's the, I don't know, I'm not going through that yet.
The Three O'Clock News by Joe Achilles, go on.
No, I've watched the news, I've listened to the news for five or six years, thankfully.
Let's not go there, God, the world is going to end very soon.
Anyway, one thing you will have spotted if you have watched the news is,
in the UK, we've got a bit of a cold snap going on.
I didn't have to watch the news for that, I just...
Really bloody cold!
It was minus eight here this morning.
Minus eight?
That, yeah, when Trace got in the car, minus eight, yeah.
Wow.
Very, very cold.
I suppose you get some of the, like, because you're near the coast, aren't you?
Relatively, so you probably, you get some cold streaks from that as well.
It's weird, yeah, because the Downs, they kind of have this little ecosystem of its own,
a microclimate, and in the summertime, what that means is,
the weather can be really bad 15 miles away, but actually okay here, and in the winter,
it can just get really, really cold.
I think that, I mean, it was just beautiful, clear skies.
The last few nights, big, wolf moon, loads of stars, but very, very still,
and I just think it settles down, and it was super, super cold, yeah.
Very, very cold.
And it feels, any listeners that aren't from the UK,
obviously we all, this time last year, we were all in Finland in what minus,
what did we see there, minus 20 or something?
Yeah, yeah, it was freezing.
But yeah, it was freezing, but yeah, I would argue that a minus one or minus two day in the UK
actually feels colder than minus 15 in Finland.
If, like, the initial feeling of, like, let's say 30 seconds,
it's only when you've stood still for a few minutes in Finland,
when you start realising that your bones have stopped working.
Yeah, it's the winter of factor we have, isn't it?
Yeah, the winter of factor we have here in the moisture in the air and stuff is,
is, yeah, the Finnish weather, and that weather we've experienced before is always...
It's probably worth saying as well, because in the UK, for our non-UK listeners,
but I'm sure the UK listeners will kind of go along with this one,
when it's hot in the summer, all we do is moan about the fact it's hot in the summer,
and hot for us is like 25 to 30 degrees.
And there's people like in southern Spain or the Middle East going,
that's like not hot, 45 to 50 degrees is hot.
And it's the same in the winter, if it gets anywhere near zero,
people start dying and moaning about their fuel bills.
The problem is we, our infrastructure just isn't made for it.
In the summer, none of our houses have air conditioning, so it's a nightmare.
And in the winter, we're just crap when it gets cold.
The roads gets icy, you know, all the public transport stops working.
Everyone's kind of, you know, just goes into meltdown.
Well, not meltdown, freeze down.
Freeze down.
I think we're a country, we're a country built for about 10 to 20 degrees Celsius.
That's the window.
You've got this very narrow window in the middle of what is an ever-expanding range of temperatures.
Yeah, 10 to 20 degrees.
If it's a cold side of that window, we are stuffed.
Yeah.
Yeah, I even saw, I mean, this morning, it was minus four in London.
And London's another, you know, microclimate of his own.
It doesn't always even snow here.
It did a little bit this morning.
It wasn't, it wasn't a lot.
It settled and then kind of disappeared.
But yeah, it's been snowing here as well.
Yeah.
Well, that's when you know the country's cold, if London's minus,
even if London gets below zero, which it rarely does, then that's,
yeah, that's impressive.
What are you guys been up to in the last, in the last week or something?
Apart from trying to make YouTube videos with a car that's frozen solid and roads that are
impossible, just, just kind of getting back into the swing of things after the Christmas
and New Year break to be honest.
Yeah.
I went up for a small trip to Wales to try and capture some content in the snow.
Ironically, I was about a week early because snow fell in the last few days and I was there
last week.
So I got my, yeah, mine is one, two, three degrees in the post out on my lovely cross
climate two times, which were perfect for the conditions.
But yeah, it was actually like Pete, you said about the night sky being super clear.
It was actually perfectly clear during the days as well.
I had sunny days, which unfortunately on camera, it just makes it look like the summer.
So that content might not, might not be fit for purpose.
But yeah, fingers crossed, there's a bit more snow near me or I can get out to some snow
in the next few days and hopefully make some more content with those cross climates.
That's like going skiing and there's no snow.
And when you're on the flight on the way home, you look at the weather forecast and
there's like a dump alert the next day and you're like, don't.
Yeah.
Typical.
So we thought, oh, well, yeah, I'm sorry.
Oh, yeah, no, I forgot to get Joe.
That's all right.
No, it's, yeah, I mean, as with all of us, I think Christmas was seemed like so far away
in the year and then it comes, it goes.
And then all of a sudden we live near a big school and you know, when things are back
to normal, like this morning when they got 50,000 parents taking their kids to school
and suddenly it's like, oh, that's it.
Like that pause button that you've been looking forward to is just suddenly lifted.
And in a way, it's nice to get the year going.
But yeah, as Ted said, it's not, I'm glad I haven't got too many things booked in this
month to film because it's just, it's not much fun.
It's not much fun out there.
Also the low, there's all these, there's all these filming issues that unless you do it
for a living, you don't realize the cold weather.
If it's cold and bright, it's in some ways lovely.
But if you're doing external stuff, sometimes I don't know about you,
but sometimes I can't talk if I've been out the car for more than five or 10 minutes.
I can't.
The mouth stops working.
The mouth stops working.
And the other thing is you get in and you're like, oh, it's a lovely bright,
crisp winter's day.
And that's sometimes all right.
But if you're in a car and you're driving towards the low sun, it's impossible.
You can't see let alone film.
So a lot of the roads that I use, it's like in one direction I'm talking.
And then you have to turn around and go all the way about the other way, not talking
because you can't see or talk to the camera.
And there's all these things that, yeah.
And then obviously the short daylight hours and all the rest of it.
And then you're outside cameras as well.
The batteries will die very quickly because they don't like the cold weather as well.
So that's always a problem.
It's the bright low sun that gets me, I think.
And I did a bit to camera.
It's actually a film that goes out on Friday.
And I normally just give my lenses and my cameras a little white with a cloth before I start.
And I forgot on this one occasion.
And because the sun's so bright, there's just a couple of little bits of dust on the lens.
And you can just see it.
And it's like, oh, I kept it in because I couldn't be bothered going and filming it again.
But anyway, I mean, they are first world problems to be fair.
Well, the biggest challenge at the moment is just dirty cars or icy cars.
So I've had a white press card delivered on Monday.
And the guy was panicking because he was trying to get it clean before he dropped it off.
And he rang me up and said, look, don't worry about it because it's freezing cold.
And the second I run you to the station and back, it's going to be dirty.
So he kind of got you and cleaned it with some, you know, some,
what, what you look at my teeth in waterless wash spray, you know,
and it was filthy within 10 minutes.
And then half an hour later, frozen solid.
I'm intrigued for you guys.
Is that, do you feel that's a YouTube thing or a personal thing about cleaning cars for content?
Let's say you're reviewing a car, you want those opening shots?
I kind of understand that they're clean then.
But is that, is that YouTube being OCD?
Or do you really feel like there has an impact there on YouTube viewership or how the audience perceive it?
It's a really good question, actually.
Yeah, I'll go first.
Oh, no.
Yeah.
No, no, no.
Go first.
Yeah.
I mean, I've, over the years, obviously, you know, I'm not a great cleaning cars.
And over the years, I've had a lot of internet,
what would you call it, internet heroes, warriors, whatever, that just go,
oh, you've got to clean the car first.
And it's like, if you knew the logistics behind just getting the car to this location,
you know, it's sometimes it's like, it's just impossible, but you can't explain it to everyone.
But what I try to do with most press cars is if they're delivered, I'll usually try and like,
if I'm getting a, unless the Audi Volkswagen group are great with logistics and delivering a car,
because they'll say it'll be here between nine and 11 or whatever on the first day.
So you can, you can like, you've got to be at home to collect the car.
And then you can pencil in, I always pencil in a couple of hours after that car's dropped off,
just to go and take it to, to a restaurant or somewhere to get some detailed shots of it,
whilst it's as clean as it will ever be.
And then I don't need to worry about that aspect of it for the rest of the week that I've got the car,
because if it's dirty, you're not really going to see that any intro, not so much even,
like you can get away with it.
That's how I tackle it. I don't know about you, Fred.
I mean, I'm, I'm really lucky because I do most of my filming at home.
So if it's dropped off, if it comes in a truck, it's great because it's clean as, and you,
but I, I give less of them. I don't care so much anymore, if I'm honest.
I used to get really stressed about it and I'd wash cars before I did my exterior static bits,
because I thought it made the car look better and showed the car off more.
But the logistics of doing that, you know, often the last thing I want to do is spend
another hour washing a car when I could spend that hour making the content.
And, you know, as soon as you take it out for a drive, it's covered in crap anyway.
And a lot of my films, I try and do a living with style thing, but it's way worse in the winter.
And at the moment, the challenge you've got is it's freezing.
So if you do wash a car, if you can actually get water through the hose pipe into your jet wash,
you've then got wet driveway that freezes overnight and it's dangerous the next day.
So, or you, like I did with my mini, I washed the mini long-term at the weekend.
The next morning, I couldn't get in it because the door shuts are frozen.
Oh, I put it in the door and it froze and shut.
I've heard that's meant to be an issue with the YAMI. Now, I'm fortunate, mine's parked
downstairs in an underground car park. So it gets cold, but it doesn't,
doesn't have the same kind of atmospherics as being outside.
But yeah, I've heard that the door locks just free shut and then you can't get into them.
And then you just have to wait for them to thaw out or we'll do something about it.
But yeah, fingers crossed it doesn't happen to me.
I mean, I must say, I mean, I know we're moaning about, I mean, I'd much rather have cold and
sunny than any kind of rain. So rain is the one weather format that you just can't do anything.
The only thing you can do in rain, if you absolutely have to, is do driving stuff.
You just can't put cameras on the outside. You can, if you run out of time with a press car,
because it's being picked up the next day and you've waited a couple of days for the weather to
get better and it still hasn't, you can still do your driving bit. It just doesn't look as good.
But you can't do outside stuff unless you've got someone holding a camera over the,
an umbrella over the camera. And you're holding an umbrella, which I've done before.
But yeah, it's first world problems.
Yeah, but it is, yeah, you say it's, but it is, it's always a challenge that people don't
understand or see. And especially this time of year, when you've, even if you've got a car for
a week, which isn't always the case with like, say Porsche, when you've got it for three, four days,
you really got to look at the weather and, and sometimes all of those days look tragic.
And then you're left with, you know, it's, it's, it's tricky because you want to produce a video.
That's why you got the car. But, and then you end up with something and you look at it, you're like,
man, look at the lighting and that, or isn't it miserable?
A Panamera Turbo SE hybrid that I had, I think in November, early December, I had it for,
I did have it for five days, I think, and every day was pretty much rubbish.
But I, there was one window of half decent weather where I tried to do the intro.
And, and it was actually quite a nice looking day. And I set the car up in my filming position.
I was like, great, let's just get this intro in the bag. The driving bit will be in the rain.
And every time I, I'd start talking about something, I'll take 15 of my initial intro
and then the rain would come down, but out of nowhere, there was no clouds in the sky.
So then I'd get my, and the car was quite clean. So then I'd get the cross out and I'd be like,
right, okay, let's just start this all again, clean the windows at least. So it looks like
it hasn't been raining, the car looks dry and then start again. And then the rain would come
and it happened three times to me. And that was like an hour and a half of getting absolutely
nowhere. And I'm just swearing and cursing at the camera. And I'm like, what are you,
like, just, what is this achieving, Joe? Just get on with it.
I'd love to know if people spot things. So the, what, the one that gets me is when you do your
static bits, the camera, I normally do all of that first and then I do the B roll afterwards.
And when you do, you start doing the B roll, it starts raining. So you can see rain coming down
in the B roll or there's rain on the car. And I get really stressed about that. But I'm sure
most people watching the video simply wouldn't care. No, by the time it's through YouTube
compression and then up on someone's 40 inch TV at 1080p or something. I don't even even notice.
No, exactly. Exactly. Talking about press cars, Pete, what do you have on the drive at the moment?
I saw in your Instagram stories, you had something just leave and then you've got something new that
sounds like that. So I got sent a Lotus Emira Clark edition over Christmas by Lotus, which is
really unusual because normally press teams shut down at Christmas and you can't get press cars,
but they, they, I've done a thing about it when it came out in the summer. And that was a mega,
I love Emiras anyway. It's a very special one off 60 units in the world. It's like 20 grand-ish
above base just for what is effectively a paint and interior styling pack. But it was a cool car.
That went back today, actually. And it got replaced by an Alpine A110R 70 anniversary edition, which
bearing in mind, one of the cars in the last episode I raved about last year was an A110S.
This is like the next one up in the pecking order. No more weight, sorry, no more power,
but more weight. And it's got carbon wheels. Less weight, I hope. Less weight, sorry. Less
weight, yeah, yeah. It's got carbon wheels, people, carbon wheels. And I imagine that came on
cross climates or something you were sensible for this summer year? Yeah, it did, yeah. It's on,
yes, on cup twos, yeah. Well, don't take that to Bedford. No, no, no, you wouldn't want that,
you wouldn't want that to happen, would you? So how much that Lotus looks amazing. I'm not sure
about the, I love the Alpine A110, but I'm not sure about that, the one you've got in terms of
visuals. It looks a bit too much. But what was the Lotus, so what, that must be 95 grand or something
then? 115. Oh, so the Lotus 115 and the Renault? The base, the base, the normal Amira, the normal
V6 manual Amira, it's like, I think it's about 95 grand. So it's like 20 grand. 95 grand now.
Yeah, yeah. I thought they were like 60 something and then they went up a bit. No, no, no, that's
when they launched, they said they were going to be that, I think. And there's only like three
grand difference between the six pot and the four pot. Yeah. I mean, I'm sure you could get a deal.
Yeah. Is the manual a premium or is it? That's a very good question. I'm not sure,
it's the only one I'd go for. Yeah. Having driven all three, it's one of those cars.
In V6 manual form, it's a stunning car. It's a real driving occasion. It sounds great. The gearbox
is tricky, but really good once you get your head around it. It's light, the steering's hydraulic
and lovely. It's just, it looks like a super car. Yeah, probably does look like it. Yeah.
Down a bit every now and again. I have loads of sunshine coming through my back window,
haven't I? So I put my blinds down. I think it looks quite cool.
Quite cool. Whereas the four pot AMG one, they have sorted the software on the gearbox out,
I believe, and it's better, but I just, it just loses a whole bunch of its character.
But yeah, the Jim Clark edition has special paintwork, yellow stripe. It had an asymmetric
interior. So a red driver seat and a black passenger seat. Wow. Oh, that's quite cool.
I like that. And on all the trim on the dash and on the steering wheel around the driver's
compartment was all red leather and red Alcantara and then on the passenger side was all black.
And that's, if you look at the car that Jim Clark won, the Indy 500. So it's quite a cool
feat actually. In 1965, Jim Clark won the Formula One World Championship and the Indy 500 in the
same year. Wow. And an F2 championship and the Tasman series in Australia, New Zealand,
and a whole bunch of touring car races in a Lotus Cortina all in 1965. Wow. Just wicked. So they did
that. That's where they've done it with the Jim Clark Trust. So it's a really cool car. And if
you kind of, in my video that goes out on Friday, I kind of talk through the Indy 500 car. Because
if you look at that, the road car makes sense because the road car's got like a milled aluminium
cap with like a blue cover on it. And it looks a bit weird. But when you look at the racing car,
that's what the racing car had. And it kind of all starts to, it's got yellow exhausts.
Oh, wow. And then, but you look at the racing car, the racing car had crackle, yellow exhausts. So
it kind of all makes sense. But it was a wicked car. I drove it a lot.
So seeing as they're both similar sort of price point, which one, which one are you taking,
the Amira or the... Oh, you can't do that to me. I've only just had the
A10 delivered. I'd probably go for the Amira actually. But if it was a choice literally
between those two, and it wasn't my money, I'd have the Amira because I just think the Amira is
a very special car. If it was my money, I'd probably buy a used V6 manual Amira and hope
it didn't break down. Yeah. Do we know how much a used V6 manual Amira is these days?
I think you'd pick one up for 55, 60 grand maybe. I'm checking. I'd be surprised if you
don't get on the 60 grand. Yeah, that would, I think that would make sense.
Here we go. He's gone close to the screen. That means he's searching.
Yeah. Okay, so not the Amira. Don't go that one. No, no. Here we go. Right. How much was the
111R, the A110R? 106. Okay. Yeah. But I think the wheels on it are 20 grand.
It's got carbon wheels. The cheapest Amiris are all the V6s because I suppose that makes sense.
Yeah, they came out two years earlier or something. So I've got one here. So the bottom
of the market is 55 grand. Wow. 56 and a half wise view, a 22 car, really nice spec, the blue
that Sam Reynolds had. I can't remember what name that was. And that's two and a half thousand miles,
that one. Wow. That's a lot. Its weakness is usability because it's not got a very big boot
and it's got a storage shelf behind the seats. But it's got no front, no front boot like her
Cayman. So, you know, if you compare the two of those cars with like a Porsche Cayman,
you know, Cayman's got so much more space to put stuff. Yeah. Yeah. Very good car though.
Very good car. And it's sounded ace because it's a supercharged car, right? So it's just got this
whee, whee. It's just, whoa. Anyway,
it was a sad day when he went back to date. Yeah, yeah, I bet.
Now, you've got that A110R, but what are you going to do with it? What are you going to go with it?
I'm actually going to the Peak District next week. I'm going on a Skoda things,
the new Skoda Fabia drives, but I'm going to tie it in and take it up to the Peak District and
try and find some nice roads up there at the same time. Be careful. And hope it's not snowing.
Yeah. On Cup twos. We love Cup twos, but not when it's like minus four.
No, no. So the question will be though, if I was, this is a great Segway, by the way,
Segway man hasn't made an appearance for a while. He's about to smash it. If I was going to use my
car in the winter and the temperatures were quite cold, what kind of things would you recommend
that I do before I undertake my journey? Well, I guess there's a bit of a checklist,
isn't there? I'm sorry, brilliant Segway, by the way, Fred. Sorry. That was the first thing we
wanted to talk about on the podcast. Yeah. I mean, I don't know, where should we start? I guess
the first thing is preparing yourself. And I always say to like Lou, if she's going to work,
she leaves very early when she's heading into office. And this time of year, I always say,
make sure before you even think about the car, make sure you've always got like a warm jacket
and a hat or something in the car. Yeah. Because yeah, whether you have an accident or the car
breaks down or whatever in this sort of weather, it's not long before the car gets cold. And if
you're in the car or if you're out on the bank somewhere, you're going to get cold. So that's
if you break down the side of the road, the recommendation is get out of the car and stand
on the back. And if it's if you've got no jacket, that is mighty, mighty cold. Yeah. Yeah. Good,
good shout. And the one the one that always amuses me is when you see people kind of defrosting the
car in the morning. I mean, nowadays, it's easy with a lot of cars. If you've got the app on your
phone, a lot of cars, especially electric cars, they'll all be able to preheat the car from your
bed. So if you sat in bed, having a cup of tea, just go on to your app, preheat the car, get it all
nice and toasty for you. And then it's all defrosted when you get out there. If you can't do that,
it's when you see people up pouring boiling water out of a kettle. Oh, my God.
No, don't don't do that. You know, I've always, I never used the ICER at all, but use a scraper.
Yeah. Or but don't use hot water. Even that was going to be my my question, actually, what
you two were start with, Joe, what is your routine? Early morning, you come out cars,
cars firstly, like what are you doing? Are you going back in having a coffee whilst you wait for
the car to warm up? Are you scraping the ICER? Like what's your plan? Always do that. Well,
again, it's a bit like anything. It's where you're sort of where you live. And we're lucky
enough to live in a little close. And my car and loser like parked around the back of the house
next to the garage. So I'm happy to go out there, run the car, let it warm up. I'm, you know,
I'm in no war. If I lived it, still lived in London. Pat did that. Someone had nicked the car.
Yeah, exactly. Yeah, you couldn't do that in a lot of places. But yeah, I love doing that. And
yeah, it's at a point where I think I annoy Lou all the time. Like make sure in the morning,
when you get up, go outside. Yes, I know, I know I will. I've been doing it for years.
But I was out there in me in me pajamas this morning, ran out to start the car. It's bloody
freezing. You don't have an app on an R 59 JCW. No. And it annoys me when I see like some of my
neighbors or various other people. And you see them out there with the scrapers and all the rest of
it. And but you can see the cars not even running. Like it's like, at least start the car up while
you're out there scraping it. Like get, let the car warm up a little bit before you get in it.
Like, yeah, there's no concept to that sometimes. But yeah, yeah, I mean, the big, the big one for
me, because I don't know what your cars are like, a McCann is particularly thirsty on washer fluid.
Yep, it goes through washer fluid like you wouldn't believe. And my go to is the pre made
stuff that you buy in like the five liter cans. I was going to say, do you dilute it or do you
buy the pre made one? I don't know. I've got no scientific basis to say whether that's better
or not. It's just what I've always done. Because whenever I mix stuff up, I always get the, you
know, when it says all one part of this and two, but I always get that wrong. It's like when you're
making snow foam or whatever. So I just get the one that's already made and stick that in rather
than pouring water in. Yeah, so make sure that's topped up and just general all the things you
should be doing anyway, tire pressures, but probably best to check your tire pressures
in the colder temperatures, because if you've checked them in the hotter temperatures, they'll
be different because the ambient air temperature comes down, right? So yeah,
and tread. But I guess the big question, and I know we are a podcast that's sponsored by
Michelin and we haven't given them a shout out yet. So thanks very much for the continued support
guys is this whole summer tire, all season tire winter tire thing, because there'll be some of
our followers that are listening in, I don't know, Germany or in the Nordics, where it's a legal
requirement to run winter tires past a certain date in the year. And we don't have that in the UK.
And therefore I'd love to know what the percentage of UK cars are that run on summer tires all year
around. But you know, the question of when to and what tires to switch to, I think is a really
interesting one. Because both of my own cars at the moment, they're both on summer tires,
but they're in the garage and we're not using them. And the other cars we're using are press
cars and you're kind of at the mercy of whatever they come on. By no Joe, you're running,
you're running winters on your M5s? No, it's actually, yeah, I wanted to be running winters on
that. But because it's such unusual sizes, I've actually been talking to James all week about
it. And because it's one of very few cars, you know, like most tires, that there's a few numbers
and codes on the side of them, and XL has been around for many years now extra load, and that
tends to be on a lot of heavier cars or a lot of cars that weigh the same as the moon, you mean?
Well, yeah, but mine weighs as much as Jupiter. And so it's, I think there's eight shell, which is
heavy load, which is a new thing, basically stipulating that the tires on that are so specific.
And mission homologated the Pilot Sport S5 on that car, there's very few you can get that are
actually like homologated for it. So I don't have any winter tyres on that at the moment.
It was your M3 you ran winters on, right? I did, yeah, yeah, I had some couple of Alpin 5s on that,
and that was, I mean, that was brilliant with those winters on it. But it's a difficult one,
because I think we can have like, we've just been talking about winters in the UK,
and we can have winters in the UK, we can have back to back winters in the UK, where we very
rarely see temperatures go below, let's say six or seven degrees. And therefore, a summer tire really
is pretty fine, especially once you've been rolling on it for 10 minutes, it's got temperature in it,
fine, there's no ice and things like that. But then we can have an extreme winter like we're
having at the moment, and who knows, it might get much worse over the next couple of weeks,
where you really, really, really, really need some form of all season or winter tyre,
unless you want to go out and take a risk. And that's it, we can strangely legally go out and
take that risk, because we're not unlike France, where I think there's certain areas in France where
if you're, it's not a law that you have to run winters, but if you're involved in an accident
and the weather's under six degrees or something, then you could be at fault. And I think that's
quite a good, that would actually get people second guessing and thinking about what they're doing,
because a lot of people are either uneducated or just don't care. But I guess the sticking point
is the logistics of running two sets of wheels or tyres is a big one in not just in terms of
financials, because you need a second set of tyres and probably wheels, you need somewhere to store
them. And unlike, let's say a BMW dealer in Germany that has a massive storage unit in it,
where a lot of customers drive their cars in, in the beginning of winter, and then they store,
they actually store their summer wheels. So that's all part of ownership out there, whereas in the
UK, we don't have that. So there's a lot of logistical issues and a lot of time. And also,
the other, the flip side of that is, when I go to Europe, I know Patrick and I were out there
recently, but even in the middle of summer, there's no laws as far as I know about people
running winter tyres in the summer. And I'm seeing... Oh, that's a great game to play in Europe.
That's a fun game, isn't it? Like, spot the winters. Spot the winters. And it's like,
that is arguably as dangerous as running summers in icy conditions, because a winter tyre in
plus 30 on a heavy sports car is not good news. It's like chewing gum on the wheels.
Yeah. So, so it's like, but I think what is, what's, what, what, what suits the UK,
undoubtedly, is a tyre that Pat's got on his car. Well, now there's a newer version that
Penn and I went to the launch of in Switzerland last year, is the Cross Climate, Michelin Cross
so good, is it does a much better job in the summer months. It feels less wintery, let's say,
it moves around a lot less. And it, and it does an almost as good a job in the winter as a full
winter tyre. And for the UK, for the majority of people, like Patrick and his Passat, my old man in
his Prussia, that sort of, you know, person who just wants to get in their car, get for me to be
as safe as possible. A Cross Climate tyre is just a no brainer, like it's what you should have.
And they last forever. It's not like they just disintegrate in the winter, like a winter tyre,
sorry, in the summer, like a winter tyre would, they wear extremely well. And so,
yeah, if I had a normal daily that I ran all year commuted with, it'd be a Cross Climate 3.
Or, I mean, I'm in three sport. And that's what last, as you said, Joe, that's why I've got the
Cross Climate 2 in my car, I got them in March last year. So before the three came out, and they've
been brilliant. I haven't seen any like noticeable detriment to my mass per gallon either. Obviously,
they're much better in the wet as well, which is a weather, as we've said, the range in the UK is kind
of 10 to 20 miles an hour. Within that range is also mostly rain. If you looked at the kind of
weather we have as well, the kind of damp weather that we get, and those country roads that aren't
dried out, or you might even have a little bit of ice on them in the colder months. But if the
Cross Climates, they even have the three peak mountain snowflake symbol on it, which is the
thing you are required to have on ties in the winter in places like Germany and other countries,
isn't it? So they are capable across the board. Yeah, I love mine. There's been no downside.
There's been no, no negative benefit. I don't, as you said, Joe, about having to store stuff. I
don't have a second set of wheels for the Passat. I just have one set. I've even got Cross Climate
Pluses on the AMI. Oh, you talk about a car probably not needing all season tires.
Yeah, well, I don't think the breadth of use case is probably going to be as wide, but it has been
lovely in the temperatures that we've had in London, this kind of minus numbers. Going out in the
AMI, I felt very safe around town. Now, it's a car that doesn't have any safety features. It doesn't
have any ABS, traction control, nothing. So as much as it's front wheel drive and quite slow,
the ability for it to feel a bit more confident in it going around town and not having to worry,
it's been brilliant. So I think, yeah, it's, like I said, it's the perfect spot for 90% of UK
drivers or whatever that number may be, you know, people that have normal cars. And even now, actually,
with Cross Climate 3 Sport, you two can talk more about that because I was on the trip. But
the sport tie now allows you to have that on your hot hatches, right? So your M135Is or your
people think, I get it all the time, but I don't need a winter tie because it doesn't snow in the
UK. And there's two elements to winter driving. Yes, there's the snow part, and actually snow
tires are a whole thing in their own right and the way their tread patterns work and stuff.
But what we've got at the moment in the UK is really cold temperatures. And you look at a summer
or seasonal winter tire, and the big thing you see is the different tread patterns. What you can't
see is the rubber compound and how that reacts to temperatures. And the problem with summer tires
is when it gets really cold, below like, is it about eight degrees on a lot, most summer tires,
is that the compounds just, it doesn't get soft and malleable enough to dig into the tar mat. And
that's, that's the problem. That's where an all season tire has a softer, more malleable compound
in colder conditions. And then winter tires, even more so. And that's why winter tires in the summer,
they're really soft. So when it's hot, they wear and they don't grip so much. But that cross...
Sorry, yeah, yeah, yeah. No, no, no, no. Sorry, Ped. I think there's a bit of a delay. Sorry.
I was going to say, the going back to the cross climate three thing, when we drove that in
Switzerland, that was, we pushed on quite hard in that. And it was bizarre because we did a cross
climate three launch in a time of year where there was no snow or ice around. Yeah. Yeah.
But it was brilliant. Really, really good. Yeah. And I suppose, yeah, thinking back on it, it was,
yeah, it wasn't quite the right weather. But if that was a winter tire launch, the cars would have felt
felt predominantly bad, right? Because the winter tire would have moved around, whereas it was almost
proving that the cross climate tire actually feels good in mild conditions. And that's our
point. But yeah, the sport Patrick just touched upon when we, we did drive both of the tires out
there, but it was, it wasn't like the best test drives in the world, wasn't the best cars in the
world. So it wasn't, and we didn't know the road to anything. But the sport, from my understanding,
is, is, yeah, it's essentially the, the, the, the hot hatch version or the sports car version
of the three, which is a tire that really in my head doesn't make it's like how a cross climate
tire is almost is already, I guess you could call it a compromised tire because it's trying to take
so many boxes. And then you add sportiness into that tire, which is just, it's an ingredient that
you think you wouldn't think is possible to add into something that's already stuffed with all
these ingredients. But I love the idea of that because it just gives you a bit of a sportier
edge to those of you that do care and have got hot hatches, to those of you that have got 1.6
CDI Passats or like my, you know, your average. Hey, what are you saying about us Passat owners?
Oh, no, I'm jealous. I'm jealous of you. Do you want to turn my lights on? Hold on.
Or 320 or 320 D's. Yeah, perfect vehicle. And again, the weather on that trip,
it could have turned quite nasty because it was what in the November time. Yeah. Yeah.
As it turned out, we didn't really need any kind of winter tire, but just leaving the UK
and doing that trip and having no tires on the car, it was, it was like a bit of a safety blanket
first. It was like, if it does decide to snow, when we're at the Nürburgring seeing Misha or
whatever, then we've got, we've got tires that are fine and legal. So yeah, it's definitely
worth, I mean, I would definitely advise the majority of people that ask me what tire should I
go on or what tire should I use that will be good all year round. And, you know, it will give me
good wear, et cetera, et cetera. Cross climate, especially since the two has come out. And now,
yeah, when the two came out, what, four, five, six years ago, and now the three, which has improved,
it is the go-to tire. Yeah. Would I run it all year on something like an M5 or one of my daily
cars? No, because I, I like to feel, I like to get the most out of the car and the tire and,
like all of us, we're in a fortunate position, the mission that we can swap and change and try
all of them. So, you know, if, if, if money was no objects and you had storage, of course,
you're going to run a summer tire in the summer and a winter tire in the winter. But
the logistics and money of doing that, cross climate is just a brilliant all-round package,
I guess. Yeah, as Joe said about your dad as well, Joe, like it's, it's the perfect tire to
recommend to others. Like we're all car people. I have them on my, does that, does that through
working with Michelin and the use case of my car, not needing any kind of performance metric.
But most of the people that are watching this is family members, potential partners, parents,
whoever that may be, or friends that know they're into cars, it, it, yeah, again, it's that tire
you'd recommend. Most people don't even think about their tires. They just think about them when
they deflate or when they have a problem. That's it. They think about them at MOTs and they think
about them at servicing. They never think about them ever again. And so that, that is the sad,
that is, that is the sad reality. And that's the sad truth. I mean, I remember I spoke,
I was speaking to the guys and girls down at Elite Garages at the end of last year when I
spent a bit of time down there. And like so many tire fitters and garages, their biggest selling
tires to the general public are the cheapest tires, because people come in and they just ask
for the cheapest tire. And that's it. There's no other, there's no other metric to it. It's like,
I want the cheapest tire. How often do we go out and go, I want the cheapest pair of shoes? No,
I mean, it sounds like- I did it all the time. Yeah. Oh, actually, yeah, that would make sense
in some of your shoes. I got in there before you did. Right, it's like, that's, it's the equivalent
of that. And they, you know, they don't think, well, wait a second, a set of premium tires and not,
you know, any of the premiums, but especially Michelin, it's like, they're going to outlost,
they're going to give you better longevity. Of course, they are miles better than the eco tires.
They're going to give you better punch resistant. They're going to give you much better grip and
therefore be much safer for you and anyone that you have in the car. And it really annoys me when
you see, and again, going back to this school that's near us, it's a, it's a, it's a private school
and all the car, I mean, there's G wagons, there's all sorts coming up and down our road.
And when they're all parked up there in the morning, I walk past them and Peggy,
I obsessively look over cars as we all do on school.
You're that guy outside of a school. I thought you went on to do that.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I get away with it now. You're not, you're not, you're meant to obey the order,
Joe, not, not near schools. Well, now that I've got a dog, guys, I get away with it a bit easier.
But, but I look at the tires and you just, some of them, you just look at them, you're like out,
it's always the outside edge on the front tires of a lot of these big Range Rovers X5s
and they're all bald and knackered. And, and you just look at it, you just think,
like you spent all this money on this car, you've taken, you know, front lorry,
you're dropping off front lorry to your, to your private body school that's costing you,
whatever it's costing you and all these things. But even that demographic of people that have
clearly got loads of money, they're skimping on, on tires. And I just, I, I, from, from, you know,
from what we do, and I just can't get my head around that. And, and a little anecdote,
Lou and I went down to, there's a great cafe that we go to in the Cotswolds called Quinston
Clover. Big shout out to those guys, fans, best coffees in the world, best food on the planet,
but you've got to pay for it. It's not, it's not cheap, but it's worth every penny.
We get down there and treat ourselves to a coffee and a bit of cake every now and again.
And on the way down there on Sunday, which was a particularly cold and frosty day and morning
to wake up to, we're going down there and a couple of miles away from, from there, we saw,
there was a, I thought it was parked at first, but then there was people around it and there was
a tractor. And it was a Range Rover Discovery, the one with the weird five, yeah, the Tom Howard
special. There was one of those and it was, it had fallen off the icy road and into a ditch on a,
on a slight corner. So you could see what had happened, but it hadn't flipped anything. People
are fine, but so, and I slowed down enough to have a quick look at the tire and from what I
could see, it was definitely a summer tire, probably completely worn out, summer tires,
like the ones I was just talking about. And then literally a couple of hundred yards away from
Quince and Clover, which is in great two, which is quite a hilly little Cotswolds village.
There was another Range Rover, just, uh, uh, what's the really punchy one that you had, the
Defender, which we all know has some of the best off-road capabilities in the world.
But again, that had actually slipped off and the road was ice. It was pure ice,
but it had slipped off the road and into a ditch. And again, if it wasn't a Defender,
it would have probably been on its roof. And I had a closer look at that because it was right
next to me having a coffee. And of course, it wasn't on any kind of all season. It was like a,
not going to name the brand, but it was, it was a road-focused tire. And I just know
that the people of both of those cars would assume in their heads that because they're in
these big four-wheel drives that have got incredible potential off-road
providing they've got the right tires on, just assume that, oh, I'm all right,
and my big Range Rover in ice, you're not, you're not at all. It comes down to the,
it's a tire compound. And, and so when you see those at the side of the road,
you're like, well, if they're coming off, everything is coming off the road in these
conditions. But yeah, people just, I just needed to talk about that because it's like, yeah.
You've vented well there, mate. You've vented well. You've vented, yeah, yeah.
See, normally I would think, oh, Joe's just made up there. There's some great stories from Joe there,
but I think, because I know Joe has actually gone over and looked at the size of those cars,
like that's a very, that's a very Joe thing to have done, yeah.
He probably took like a rubbing of the tread and then went back to see what they had to.
Yeah. Oh my God. Yeah, I've taken, yeah, I've taken some tread from the tire.
He's got his tread depth out, his tread depth gauge out.
I can recommend Parla Alpen 5 SUVs, please.
Well, the new, I know New Defender OXO, one of the options is a Primacy All Season.
I've seen those on, so Michelin Primacy All Season tires. So a tire, I think,
built or at least designed for vehicles like that. And yeah, that gives you your,
your 3P grating and also, you know, works all season long, which is probably a great bet
if you've got a 4x4, which is our next subject. Oh, segue, man. I was about to say, look,
we're like 45 minutes in, we need to get onto the car challenge.
Well, it's quite a simple one, this one. I'll give a small intro. So yeah, with this cold weather,
we thought it would be quite interesting to see how we differ and what cars we can come up with
that we'd like to drive in this snowy, wintery kind of negative degree number climate. I think
it's always nice. I'll speak from a perspective of someone who used to daily drive a classic mini,
even in these cold weathers. And it was a terrible experience. Like it's, it's a good car on,
it's a weirdly good car on snow. One of the great things about your, your Alpen or whatever is that
if you do end up on a, on a little bit of a snowy surface, obviously, because it's so light,
it will be better on those, on those kind of, you know, snowy, snowy things. But the mini was,
the heater was terrible. And so there's nothing better now in my percent. I get in,
I put the heated seat on, again, it's got the cross climate, so I know I'm pretty capable. But
I think if we really, if we could all pick a perfect winter car, which is what we're going to
discuss, I think we're going to have some interesting options. I've definitely got three,
I'm not sure, I wouldn't to call them unique. I've had some experiences in some of them, but I think
I'm dead excited about mine. Because this, this is a brief hike and not even I can screw up.
Yeah, I did, I did say there was no rules. So hopefully, neither of you have gone for like a
two wheel drive sports car or something. And we'll be okay.
There's no rules. Joe, you go first. Joe, you go first.
All right. Well, firstly, I've got three very different. It is three, right? We've all gone
for three cars. Yeah. And then don't have to be in order. They're just three picks.
No. Well, yeah. Yeah. Okay. So first one, which BMW have you gone for, Joe? None of them are BMWs.
Not on the X530D. I thought that would be bang on one of your options. No, no, no.
So the first one is actually, and Patrick can relate to this one, because we were
spent some time in it together. The first gen Porsche Cayenne Turbo or Turbo S.
Yeah. Have you found one? Have you got one to put in the, in the chat?
Oh, I haven't. No. But that's why there's one on, there's one on the screen right now,
but we'll have to knock off one point there for not providing an example. Yeah, you've got to find
an actual car. Oh, okay. Yeah. Oh, yeah, I didn't. Yeah. Well, talk about the one on
the BF Goodrich trip, because that was a, I think that opened my eyes at least to those.
I mean, the car was mega, the interior, the spec, the quality, like that thing was built like a tank.
Well, that was, wasn't, that was one of the original Porsche experience of road cars that those guys
ended up buying. Yeah, it really had, but it still ran beautifully. Obviously, it had a big rumbling V8
in it. The interior was just amazing. It was way before any of the Germans cut any corners
with fit and finish. I mean, they probably spent more with a double sun visor on that car than
they do in the entire sort of infotainment system of that horrible UK and electric thing.
But it was just, yeah, what a car. I just loved it. But I think why it's my four-wheel drive
favorite is because what we did in that car and my appreciation of it, and also speaking to the
instructors and them saying that actually the first generation Cayenne was the best for off-road,
because it had, it had lockable locking diffs and all the stuff that I know a lot of Range Rovers
come with. But it was, it was really designed and built to be as good on-road as it was off-road.
A very capable car. And I just, I loved it. I was so close. I was actually quite close to
buying one when I came back, but it's the potential high running costs and things.
Yeah, when it does break. Yeah, when it does tell you that it's actually 25 years old.
But yeah, no, I really enjoyed that. And I think something like that with a set of
pilot Alpin fives on it. I mean, you could just drive that literally straight over the top of the
Alps and back home again. So yeah, that to me is, is like my sort of gangster retro choice.
Cool. Very cool. What about you? Do you want to go next? I'm like, okay. So I've gone for,
I've got three cars of very differing budgets. So I'm going to give you my cheapest first.
Oh, I kind of gone for the same thing, but mine are different scales, which is slightly different.
Mine are two as well. There's budget and scale. Yeah, believe me. So this, this is a car,
you see loads of these in ski resorts, which is always a good thing. And whenever I do,
I always think, that's really, really cool. And my only worry is, I think it would be cool in a
ski resort. I'm not sure it's necessarily going to be cool in the middle of Chichester. But I've
actually found a car for sale. I'll put it in the, in the group. Here we go. Here we go.
Roll of a drum. It is a Fiat Panda. Oh, that's cool. How cool is that? And it's like 10 grand,
right? And it's only got 27 and a half thousand miles on the clock. 10 years old.
I just think it's cool on this loader. Is that what yours says, Joey? Fiat Panda 4x4,
unbelievable. Oh, no way. Have you got one of those? Yeah, that was my last, that's just,
I was going to, that's just short enough for that one. No, no, you have picked,
you have picked the Fiat 500 twin air engine. What? I'm not, I don't know how well that would
deal with. I mean, it's, I think it's actually a funny engine. I like the fact because that's,
that's the cross one, isn't it? I just like the styling of that one.
I love the interior. The interior is mega. It's just, it's just cool, man. And I,
that is cool. I just thought the interior is cool. I just, yeah. And for 10 grand,
I mean, literally that actual car, I'd be really tempted just to buy it because it looks amazing
condition. Yeah. Yeah, the cool interior as well. It looks like it's on, you know,
winter tires as well, or some sort of, it's ready to go. But yeah. But yeah, I thought that was
really cool. That is brilliant. I'm so, and the reason I also chose that, I was just talking
to Lou about it before, was we went to Livigno a few years ago, and we went through a really
mountainous region all around Livigno and, you know, Stelvio Pass. And we're staying in a hotel
one night. And every car that was parked around in the neighborhood or went past was a panda four
by four. So I got speaking to the hotelier, one of the guy that worked there. And I was like,
okay, I said, he said, in the winter months, when the snow comes, there is nothing else
that will survive and work as a car. And he said, honestly, he said, even the big, heavy,
range row, anything, these are the only cars and relates back to what you're saying about your
mini. They use skinny tires. So imagine a set of skinny winters. It doesn't weigh anything.
It's just, um, yeah, or maybe, oh, I could see a winter challenge coming on.
Okay, let me let me introduce my contender, which will absolutely compliment this skinny
tire winter challenge vehicles. There you go. It's in the chat. Oh, now this, there is a bit of a,
I don't think this should really remove any points from me, but this is an imported car.
These cars stopped being sold in the UK a few years ago. Because of their emissions issues,
I think that I imagine their fleet average for Suzuki was destroyed by this very basic 1.5
litre petrol engine. But this is a Jimny when it first came out in, what was it,
17, 18, 19, something like that around then. Before COVID. Before COVID, but I can't remember how
early it was. My worry with that is over. Yeah, I think it was before COVID. I bet they, I bet they're
really shit to drive, aren't they? No, but that's why there'd be any more shit than a Fiat Panda.
That's my point. They are, they are bad to drive like a Fiat Panda dynamically,
but again, skinny tires, lightweight, brilliant off road. I mean, the previous generation of
those, you could off road them anywhere. I mean, they're literally indestructible, these things.
And yes, so they came out in the UK. They sold like hotcakes. I actually tried to buy one when
they were brand new. They were like 17 and a half grand starting or 19 and a half with the
SZ5, which is the more premium interior pack. They immediately shot up in price right now.
And I thought this was really interesting. If you would like to buy a UK registered one,
exact same color and spec, but with 29,000 miles, it's 22995. If you'd like to buy a brand new
imported one from Japan, it's 23650 with 100 miles on it. So they haven't lost any money.
You're probably actually given it's 23 grand for one from 69. There's probably three grand profit
or at least you're not losing money on these cars. But yeah, from what I've seen, they're very,
very basic, much like the Panda. But yeah, they're perfect. What 1135 kilos is the Jimny
and the Panda is 1050 kilos. Oh, wow. No way.
So cool. Yeah, I think the Jimny's look mega. I know there's lots of people out there.
Oh, you can make them look like a G-wagon, can't you? There's some, yeah.
Yeah, I'm not, I think they're cooler. I like this green color that I picked. I think they're
cooler standard. I wouldn't want to do too much to them. But yeah, they're not big. They're not
special, you know, on a summer's day or on a dry day, you know, you wouldn't be
enjoying driving one around. But much like that Panda 4x4, when it comes to the winter months
and you want to just get somewhere, it's, yeah, it might be one of the best vehicles you could
do. At least thanks for that. That's brilliant. I didn't even think about those.
Yeah. Right, what's your second one, Joe? Well, ignoring the Fit Panda. There's only one left.
Yeah. I did, whilst we've been talking, I just, I found an example of one just because
it's nice for everyone, visuals. So I'll put it in the group. Just your average sort of
RS6, really. Oh, an RS6. Oh, you've gone for a bloody hell. Look at this.
You've gone for the GT, he has one of them. Yeah, RS6 GT.
So 170 grand. Yeah, but that's, so when I did my RS6 video at the beginning of 25,
the cheapest one on the internet off memory was 250 grand. So like so many of these special
editions that people obviously invest into, they have tank because that's getting down towards
what they were new. That spec is amazing. Look at that with the white wheels.
Yeah, so it was the IMPSR spec. It's an IMPSR spec car like the press car was, but Romans or someone,
the owner, have taken off all the stickers apart from the ones on the bonnet. That's actually
carbon clear, lacquer and the car. And I think it looks miles better than all the stickers on it.
Looks really unique. But yeah, I think again, hopping back to a trip that Pat and I did and
I've done a few in RS6s in the snow. And I relate to snow because to me that's off-road
because I don't do too much off-roading. I know it wouldn't be great. It wouldn't be great
off-roading off-roading. But in snow and off, you know, that sort of weather, I think I've had
so much fun in the RS6. It sounds great. The Quattro system is brilliant. It's, it rotates
really well. It's got a lovely central diff that just feeds the power to the right wheels all the
time. Feels very predictable. And I can only imagine the GT is going to be better than the
regular RS6. So to me, I just thought that on a set of final carbon fives.
That's, yeah, it's cool. Yeah, turn up to a ski resort in that. It's pretty gangster.
It's the kind of car that feels like, yeah, on those tyres also should be on like Swiss
plates or something. And you have skis on the roof and like, yeah, just, yeah, that's really cool.
Yeah. So that's, yeah, that's, that's my second. Do you imagine how dirty it would get though? How
quickly that thing would just be, but that would make it, in my head, that would make it cooler
when it's super dirty. Oh yeah. When it's covered in salt and crap. Yeah, the back would be black.
And then it would start white at the front and slowly turn black. Yeah. Very cool.
Yeah. Very nice. So I've gone old school. This is a car I've always wanted, always loved them.
But as they got newer and the generations went on and on and on, they got uglier and
uglier and uglier. And then they got really ugly and then they stopped making them. But this
this for me, this for me is the OG. Now there's lots of them. Unfortunately, it is quite expensive.
But it is four wheel drive. Oh, that's really cool. Yeah. That is really cool.
And 1999 Subaru Impressor. And this is the STI Type R. How cool is that?
Yeah, that might be that's just, that's the coolest on the planet. That is the cool. That is super
cool. That in the snow. Oh, can you imagine with that noise? And this one doesn't look like it's
been messed around with too much. No, it's got gold wheels, blue bodywork. It was before they
did the horrible froggy eyes and all that. I mean, I'd love a P1, but they're like silly money.
It's still £45,000, mind you. Yeah, let's not make out like it's cheap. It's an investment day.
It's only done 32,000 miles. And it's a, what's that, 27 year old car? Yeah, I'd argue that this is,
is this the best car that's ever had gold wheels? Like in terms of like how it looks.
Look how small they are as well. But this set the, this set the gold wheel trend, no? Was this the
first car with gold, but at least in my, yeah, my lifetime. Yeah, probably. I mean, the interior is
so basic, but cool at the same time. Yeah. But that says the law, isn't it? It is a simple,
like they were simple. Impressors weren't fancy, fancy cars to begin with. These, these are just
tuned up versions. 16 inch wheels. Yeah. Oh, that's cool. Have you seen the little, the little sunroof
on it as well. It's like a little like little porthole window on the roof. Look at it. Oh, right. Oh,
yeah. Oh, what, like the front facing one, like the rally cars had. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. It's
in the faders. Yeah. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. That's cool. Yeah. That's really cool. So yeah, no, I, I,
yeah, they sound amazing as well. I've always fancied those. That's a, that's a great choice.
That is okay. Well, I can't, I'm gonna have to, we're gonna have to dip here on the momentum
and the positivity because I'm not sure. Well, I had an experience in one of these in Scotland
early this year, September, October time, went out into the, kind of into the
north coast for a hundred areas, did some off-roading, also further around for other people
with me at all times with luggage and stuff. And I never was a massive fan of the Defender 110,
the new one, until I drove it. It even had, it was a rental one, so it even had like the
ropey engine in it as well. And as much as they might melt on you, it, it was actually really good.
Like everything was nice in it, all the touch points, how rugged it was. I was pleasantly
surprised by my experience in one. And I think looking at this one here in a lovely colour,
with not black wheels and not gangstered up for 35 grand, with 50,000 miles on it,
I think that's a, if you wanted to just put your family in something that is safe and comfortable,
albeit at some point, it might have some sort of like catastrophic failure. But if we ignore that
element, I think that's a, that is a great car just to get in and go. And it will,
all of its systems and stuff, it will get you anywhere.
Look what my third choice is, it's the same, it's exactly the same car.
Yeah. I knew it. As soon as I saw you said that, I watched Penn's face and it dropped.
He was like, oh, he's fucking good. Oh, no, Ben, you picked an octa. You picked an octa.
Look at the price. It's 153 grand. Oh, my God. I mean, it's lovely. I mean, it's a beautiful
colour. But yeah, I went for the, yeah, I mean, it has been, it has been reduced a little bit.
Yeah. It's like 10 or not half grand.
Well, even, even me, who is not a JLR fan at all, in case you didn't notice.
I must admit, like the one that you had paid, but also the one that we,
what do we do? We're up in Scotland for something.
That we were, yeah, we were up in Scotland for the BF Goodrich camping trip. And one of the
guests brought a Defender 110 that wasn't on prescribed tyres, let's say. It was on
kind of your, the kind of tyres that should be able to do everything that come on the Defender
from standard. And it, yeah, it didn't, it didn't miss a step that it was amazing.
It didn't. And it was very impressive to drive. But yeah, I think I'll make a bit of a kick.
But talk about price bookings of the scale. But yeah, from my understanding, that two litre,
that's the Ingenium, I think, as an absolute one that you wouldn't pay five grand for, let alone
35 grand. The three litre that Ped had, there's the pick of the five.
The three litre diesel's the one to go. And the plug-in hybrid, definitely not.
Rubbished. No. Because as soon as it runs out of battery, you're on that two litre Ingenium engine
and it's pumped. Yeah. Yeah. I have one of those in a, in a Range Rover one point that we borrowed,
and it, the MPG and stuff was dreadful because yeah, once the battery ran out, which was quite
quick because they weren't like the super modern, this was five years ago or something.
Yeah. You're just running around in a huge heavy car. I mean, like I said, at the time I had it
in Scotland, it was fine, but I was happy to give it back. I think I'd have the spec and
I'd find maybe a nicer engine option. We drove the 110 plug-in hybrid to the Alps and back
a couple of years ago, and we averaged 17 miles to the gallon.
Yeah, that's not, it should be managing 30, like 30. But it's got all the aerodynamics of a house
brick and it was basically running on a two litre four-pot as soon as the, and it can't charge the
battery upon its own as it's going along with the one we had. Yeah. It's funny that I just watched
Harry Metcalf's video on the G63 and he said that'll also do 15 to 17 MPG. So it's kind of like
two ends of the spectrum. You've either got an engine too small or an engine too big and
both of them give you the same MPG result basically.
Angle Pete, does that, does that mean you've done your, you've done your final car?
Yeah. Well, I'll just put it up there because it was the same as yours. So it's just opposite ends of
the pricing spectrum. Joe, you didn't have a final car, did you?
Well, no, it was a panda.
Yeah. Okay. So, so I've got one more. Oh, yeah. Well, I think, I think this might,
this might take the biscuit. I know Pete's going to win the internet.
I think this is the one you would have money no objects, particularly if you lived in a ski resort
or something like that. Oh, look at that. Wow. A unimog and it's on the right tires.
Exactly. So Michelin do a tire for, well, they do tires for lots of big vehicles, but
the Mercedes unimog, they have recently unveiled, and this was only December last year,
so only a few weeks ago, a luxury version. So if you don't want, you know, the kind of
the commercial version of this vehicle, they haven't said that means there's a lot. I think
they start at like $250,000 a unimog. So let's assume that the luxury kind of G wagon equivalent
one is you're into heavy six figures. This is not a car you're buying unless you do have unlimited
money. But as an experience, it's mega. And I saw one of these unimogs. What was it? It was the
Pistone's annual service. It was also on the Michelin X Force Zedel tire, which I'm not sure
where or how you buy one of those. I can't imagine they're on black circles. But as a thing, it's
absolutely huge. And there is nothing that this car would not be able to do. Absolutely. I mean,
even a four by four panda or a Jimny would, which struggled to get where this thing would struggle.
I mean, look at the ground clearance. I don't know anything else. Yeah. And all the underbody
protection. I love it. The headline. Sometimes even a G wagon isn't quite an extreme.
It's even got the VA found in the G wagon as well. Wow. So that is cool. Yeah. That's I mean,
and that's like nothing stopping that, but you're definitely not getting more than about eight miles
to the gallon. No, no, it's for when you want to go to your favorite restaurant whilst you're in the
Swiss Alps somewhere. And you've also got like a 20 million pound penthouse flat that you use
for two weeks a year at Christmas or something. You want to bring the family, you know, go to
your favorite restaurant, come back and yeah, feel causes it and safe and from bring anything you
like with you. Wow. That's cool. Well, you win the internet pack. I thought I might be the case.
As you saw, I said it might my efforts were in scale. So you got Jimny, which is the smallest
four by four, then you got Defender and then you've got Unimog at the end of it, which I don't
think you can really get anything bigger. It was a great, it was a great varied selection. I was
just thinking as we've been doing this, it reminds me of like the old top gear challenges when they
all turn up in whatever it would have been nice if we all had like, if we all suddenly won the
lottery overnight and we could play this game, but actually play it for real. We all just,
it's like we all turn up a good would entrance tomorrow morning with our picks and we all turn
up in like the most ridiculous things. So much fun. But yeah. Well, yeah, let us know. Let us
know to anyone that's watching this, especially what your favorite is or none of those. What would
you have? We must have missed one. Yeah, I missed one only because I wanted to do the scale thing.
I realised the Unimog existed, but it was the Audi A6 all road. It's a more sensible choice
than Joe's, but I've always loved one of those. Oh yeah, that was that Joe's favorite SUV, isn't it?
Oh yeah. Well, I'm surprised you haven't forgotten that bed. That was, that was a while ago.
Hey, I'm not that old. I'm in a senior moment. It's your short-term memory. Your long-term memory
is all right. It's the short-term memory. Oh yeah. Tell me about it. Nice. Wicked. Well,
guys, if you've enjoyed that one, please make sure you hit that subscribe button. If you're
watching on YouTube or follow us on the podcast platform, give us a rating, share it with your
mates and tune in for the next episode of the Drive Talk podcast. Massive thanks to Michelin
for their continued support. Boys, I'm off to go and buy myself a Fiat Panda all before.
Me too. He is an R. He is an R.
About this episode
Cold weather driving presents unique challenges, and the Drive Torque Podcast dives into essential winter driving advice and dream car picks for snowy conditions. The hosts discuss the importance of proper tires, with a focus on winter and all-season options, while sharing personal anecdotes about their experiences with various vehicles in icy conditions. They also engage in a light-hearted debate about their favorite winter cars, featuring picks like the Fiat Panda 4x4, Subaru Impreza STI, and even a Mercedes Unimog, showcasing the diversity of vehicles suited for winter driving.
Original notes
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Drive Torque Podcast
Joe Achilles and Peter Greaves (Petrol Ped)
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69:52