An off-road course is a track or route made to test cars on rough, uneven terrain. It helps show which vehicles can handle mud and bumps versus which ones struggle.
Lucid Gravity is a luxury SUV from Lucid. In this episode it’s brought up to show that even a fancy, comfort-focused vehicle gets tested on rough off-road terrain.
The Hyundai Ioniq 5 is an electric crossover. The XRT version is the more rugged-looking trim, and they drove it as part of their lineup for the event.
The Subaru Outback Wilderness is a tougher, more off-road-ready version of the Outback. They included it as one of Subaru’s cars in their two-day lineup.
The Trailseeker is a Subaru vehicle meant for outdoor use, and the podcast describes it as an electric (EV) model. The “Limited” part usually means it has more features than the base version. It’s brought up because it’s another EV option for people who want to go off the usual roads.
The Outlander is a regular family SUV from Mitsubishi. The Trail Edition is a version meant to look and feel more suited for rougher roads. The podcast lists it with other SUVs that have similar “go anywhere” intentions.
Genesis is a luxury car brand associated with Hyundai. The cars are made to feel more upscale and comfortable than regular mainstream models. The podcast mentions it while listing different luxury vehicles to compare.
The Polestar 4 is an electric car shaped like a crossover SUV. A “dual motor” version usually means it has two electric motors, which can make it feel quicker. The podcast mentions it alongside other EVs to compare what they’re like to drive.
The Ram is a pickup truck, and the episode mentions a Ram 1500 Warlock version that’s described as an electric truck. That means it uses a battery to power the motor instead of gasoline. The podcast is grouping it with other EVs and trucks for comparison.
A “Hemi” is a type of engine design that’s often associated with strong performance. An “engine upgrade” here means the truck was changed to use a Hemi-style engine for more power.
Off-road assistance is the car’s help systems for rough terrain, like dirt or mud. In this story, they turned the help off so the driver had to manage it more directly.
Gravel is loose rock, so tires don’t grip as well as they do on pavement. It can make the car feel less predictable, especially when you brake or turn.
“Slam the brakes” means braking very hard and quickly. On gravel, it’s harder to stop without sliding, so it’s a good test of how stable the truck feels.
A “rag top” is a convertible with a fabric roof. “Automated” means you can open and close it with a button or switch, and this one can even be operated while you’re driving.
Launch control is a special mode that helps a car get off the line as fast as possible. It manages power and traction so you don’t just spin the tires when you floor it.
The Kia Telluride is a family SUV with three rows of seats. The host is saying it feels “premium” and comfortable, similar to more upscale SUVs and even some electric vehicles.
Hill descent control helps a car go down a steep hill without you having to constantly brake. It tries to keep the speed steady and controlled so the car doesn’t run away.
Mud mode is a setting that changes how the car behaves when the ground is slippery. It’s meant to help the tires keep traction so the car doesn’t just spin its wheels.
The Kia Sportage is a compact SUV. In this clip, they’re talking about how the screen and sounds behave when you turn the car off, and how the overall experience feels polished.
An off-road, on-road course is a mixed driving route used to evaluate how a vehicle behaves across different surfaces. It tests things like traction, suspension compliance, steering feel, and driver confidence when transitioning between rough terrain and normal pavement.
The Toyota RAV4 is a popular compact SUV. The hosts say it surprised them because it felt sturdy inside and it handled off-road driving better than they expected.
The Hyundai Palisade is a family SUV with three rows of seats. The host is saying it feels sturdy and comfortable, with a nicer, more premium interior than you might expect.
Autocross is a driving competition where you follow a cone-marked course as fast as you safely can. It’s useful for seeing how well a car turns and stops because you’re constantly changing direction.
Term
hardline braking
“Hardline braking” is an enthusiast phrase describing brake pedal feel and deceleration that feels immediate and firmly controlled, like the car responds sharply when you press the pedal. It’s often used to mean strong initial bite and predictable modulation rather than vague or soft response.
CVT stands for a transmission that can change ratios smoothly instead of shifting gears in steps. The host is saying the car still feels good even with that type of gearbox.
They’re talking about the Genesis GV80, a luxury SUV. The host says it felt strong and confident both on a track and on rough/gravel roads, with helpful off-road driving tech.
The Volkswagen Tiguan is a compact SUV you can use every day. Here, the host says the newer one feels really nice inside, but it has a slight delay when you first ask for power because of how the turbo engine responds.
A “turbo motor” is an engine with a turbo that helps it make power. Sometimes there’s a short delay before it feels like it’s really pulling, because the turbo needs a moment to build boost.
The SQ5 is a sportier, higher-performance version of the Audi Q5 SUV. It’s meant to drive more aggressively than a standard SUV while still being practical. The podcast uses it as a comparison for how another car feels.
They’re talking about how newer versions of a car can feel like a big upgrade compared with the older version. In this case, they think the newer Tiguan generation improved enough that it felt more upscale.
A manual is a car where you shift gears yourself using a clutch and a stick. They’re saying some Tiguan versions could be bought with that kind of driving setup, at least for a few years in the U.S.
Front-wheel drive means the front wheels do the work of moving the car and steering. They’re saying the manual Tiguan they’re talking about was only sold with the front wheels driving it.
They’re comparing this event to another similar car awards/testing event in the Rocky Mountain area. The point is they’ll compare which cars won where.
The Land Rover Defender is a tough off-road SUV. They’re saying they usually see one at these events, so not having it makes the comparison feel different.
The “CTR” is a rare, high-performance sports car model. The podcast is talking about it because it’s a very special, collectible car—especially when someone owns an early or first production example. It’s mentioned alongside other famous cars in a collection.
The Shelby Cobra 427 is a famous classic sports car built around a huge V8 engine. The “first” one they mention is an especially early, collector-grade car with major historical significance.
The Cobra MkIII is a classic, high-performance sports car. The podcast mentions it because it’s a rare model and the person speaking says they have an early, important example. It’s part of a collection of famous cars.
Hot rods are older cars that people modify to look cool and drive better. It’s a whole hobby and style of building custom cars.
Car
Ford 32 Ford coupe
The “32 Ford coupe” is a classic 1932 Ford two-door car. People often modify these into hot rods, and here they’re talking about one being driven on real trips and even fast-speed events.
Bonneville is a famous salt-flat speed location in Utah. Cars go there to set speed records, so it’s a big deal when they mention very high speeds.
Concept
windshield of glass all around
“Glass all around” means the car has a lot of windows around the cabin. It changes how open and visible the car feels, and it’s also part of the custom design.
Car
32 Ford Coupe hot rod
This is a classic Ford from 1932 that’s been turned into a “hot rod,” meaning it’s customized to drive and feel more exciting than stock. The host is saying it’s surprisingly enjoyable even in slow city traffic.
The G90 is a large luxury sedan from Genesis. It’s built to be comfortable and quiet, with lots of features meant for long drives. The podcast mentions it because it’s a major, top-level car in the lineup.
Singer is a boutique automotive brand best known for highly detailed “restomod” style rebuilds of Porsche 911s. In the segment, the host uses Singer as a reference point to explain what “Alpha Halux” is positioned to be for Porsche—i.e., a specialist that creates premium, curated builds.
Concept
pinch me moments
It’s just an expression meaning “this feels so amazing it doesn’t seem real.” Here, it means the host can’t believe they’re driving a very special car.
The pedal box is the structural area in the cabin where the accelerator, brake, and clutch pedals are mounted. It affects how much room the driver has for their feet and how easy it is to modulate the pedals without awkward movements.
The clutch is what helps a manual transmission smoothly connect the engine to the drivetrain. If you ride it too much or slip it, it can wear out—so the host is trying not to damage it.
The BMW M4 is BMW’s high-performance sports car. Here, they’re talking about riding in one during a fast lap on a race track so you can feel what it’s like when it’s driven hard.
On a race track, a “corkscrew” is a corner that feels like the track twists the car around. It’s usually a fast, dramatic section that makes you feel rotation and sudden direction changes.
“Profit per car” means how much money the company makes from each car it sells. The hosts are saying Ferrari tends to make more profit per vehicle than other brands.
They’re talking about how a car’s inside can change from nicer-looking materials to cheaper ones. Even if the car is newer, the cabin can feel less premium if the materials were downgraded.
The Model Y is an electric SUV, meaning it uses a battery instead of gasoline. Because it’s an SUV shape, some people notice differences in how it rides compared with other electric cars. The podcast is mentioning ride feel and how it can feel less smooth in certain situations.
The hosts are making a profit benchmark comparison: they relate Mazda’s required unit sales to Ferrari’s profit level. This highlights how a high-volume brand’s “sales numbers” don’t directly translate to profitability when pricing and margins differ.
The Mazda CX-5 is a popular small SUV. The point here is that Mazda still makes cars people like, and the CX-5 is held up as a good alternative to something like the Ford Escape.
The Ford Escape is another popular small SUV. They’re basically saying the Mazda CX-5 is a better pick than the Escape for the kind of buyer who wants this class of car.
Corvette is Chevrolet’s famous sports car. They’re saying GM sold a lot of Corvettes, and then they start talking about how Corvette pricing has changed.
The Corvette is a sports car made by Chevrolet that’s built for performance and driving fun. People talk about it a lot because it’s a well-known model with many versions over the years. In the podcast, it’s brought up as a notable car that shows up often.
A service bulletin is a message from the car company to its repair shops. It explains what the shops should do—like what products to use—when something changes or there’s a known problem.
An oil substitute is an approved alternative oil used temporarily when the originally specified product isn’t available. The key point is that the substitute should meet the same performance/spec requirements so the engine is still protected.
Costco is a big retailer. The hosts are saying that Costco was told it may not be able to get certain packaged oil products, which could mean empty shelves later.
Walmart is a big store chain. The hosts are saying Walmart was told the oil companies can’t package and ship certain motor oil right now, which could cause shortages.
A “run on the bank” is when lots of people all rush to withdraw money because they’re worried. They’re comparing that to people rushing to buy oil, which can make the shortage worse.
Those numbers are about how thick the oil is. Thicker oil can protect parts better when things get hot, while thinner oil helps the engine start and circulate oil more easily when it’s cold.
“20 weight” is a thicker oil grade. If you use a thicker (or thinner) oil than your car calls for, it can change how well the engine gets lubricated, particularly when it’s cold or very hot.
An oil change is when you replace the old engine oil with new oil. It’s usually more involved than just adding a little oil, because it removes the dirty oil that builds up over time.
The e-tron is an electric vehicle made by Audi. It’s an SUV in the e-tron family, and some versions are built to be faster and more performance-focused. The podcast is mentioning different high-performance e-tron models and how they compare.
“Zero to 60” measures how fast a car can go from standing still to 60 mph. A smaller number usually means the car feels quicker when you hit the gas.
Concept
launches
“Launches” here means the host did hard starts from a stop to see how fast the car accelerates. It’s basically a quick test of how strong the car feels when you hit the gas.
“Hypercar fast” means extremely quick—like the kind of acceleration you’d expect from the fastest, most expensive supercars. They’re saying the car’s 2.1-second figure is in that league.
A platform is the car’s underlying “build” or foundation that different models can share. If two cars share a platform, they may be similar in how they’re built and packaged.
A carbon roof is made from carbon fiber, which is lighter than many conventional materials. They’re pointing out it’s a full carbon roof, which usually signals a more performance-focused car.
A coupe-like profile means the roofline is more sloped and sporty. That shape often makes the back seat or cargo area feel smaller because there’s less room overhead.
The Porsche Taycan is Porsche’s electric car. Here, they’re talking about how big it looks (and feels) compared to a Range Rover, even though the dimensions are similar.
Car designers can make a vehicle look bigger or smaller just through how it’s shaped and styled. So two cars with similar measurements can still feel different to your eyes.
The Super Duty is Ford’s heavy-duty pickup line, meant for work and towing. The Lariat is a more feature-rich trim, and “Tremor” usually means it’s set up to handle rougher roads better. The podcast mentions it while talking about special versions of these trucks.
LIVE
Let me tell you, you've not lived until you have driven in rush hour traffic
in a 32 Ford Coupe hot rod through Beverly Hills with Mr.
Bruce Meyer today on that car show.
Lindsay drives every new car available today in one afternoon and picks a
winner. Dan gets screwed in the passenger seat of an M4 at Laguna Seca.
And I check off a few enthusiast boxes of my own on the streets of Beverly
Hills and behind the wheel of a very special Alphaholics GTAR.
Plus, we divvy up condiments, insult the French and get all old timing.
Talking about the new swatch AP collab, you'll never miss the midnight train
to Georgia again, listeners.
It's the car podcast for people who actually like cars.
It's that car show.
Hey, folks, and welcome to this week's that car show.
It seems like I am the only one without a stalker right now.
So you need to change the name of the show briefly.
Feel free to stalk, stalk away.
We just single dance in the market for a stalker.
You heard it here first.
Oh, so before we kick off, I did want to give a shout out to the
original Porsche dealership car podcast.
I was listening to the boys at the first steps of the day.
And Justin, who is one of the two hosts mentioned that he was did
a test drive a while back of a 911 turbo.
And guess what road he quoted?
I have a hunch that it was a story.
This is a true story.
It was a toll road.
Ryan, any guesses?
Yeah, 470 for sure, because that is the best tarmac in the state.
If not the west of the Mississippi, it is such a good road.
It's the closest thing to an Autobahn.
I think that we have, although I know you 470 doesn't want to
hear the Autobahn part, but it's a fantastic surface in this
very much where you would want to test drive a 911 turbo.
So just saying.
So it was a strategic move on Justin's part.
It wasn't an in add placement for the record.
We didn't do that just to happen that he mentioned that that road.
So shout out to that podcast.
Check it out.
Yeah, we have been up to so much.
I'm not sure whether we can cram it all in to an hour, but
I think we'll try.
We may have to do our first ever two parter.
That's right.
Yeah.
Lindsay, I'll start with you.
Now you went to something called mudfest and in my head that's
Coachella meets Blastonbury.
Maybe meets the spa, but it wasn't was it?
Well, what was mudfest?
So mudfest and this year it was dry.
So dust fest would have been a more appropriate name, but
the event has traditionally always been called mudfest.
It's an annual thing put on by the Northwest Automotive Press
Association, which is NWAPA for those in the know.
And so it's an annual and cheese.
Did you want fries with that?
Yes, I love it.
So we got to drive 19 different cars and it was at the
ridge, which is a race track in Bremerton.
So it was a couple hours from Seattle, depending on traffic,
depending on where you were coming from out on the
peninsula here near Bremerton.
And they have a, they have a car track like their main big
track is for cars and motorcycles.
They also have a go kart track, which is a, you know, scale
version of the car track.
And that's actually what we took the cars on was the go
kart track and then they had, it wasn't autocross in the sense
of like we were racing, but they had a course coned out in
the parking lot.
So it was flat, but it had a lot of curves to it.
And then we had a zero to 60 acceleration and braking zone,
which was definitely one of the most fun parts.
So you go, you know, and it's a collection of automotive media
from the region and then like somebody came in from Denver
that knows Ryan and then we had a gal come down from Canada
who's part of the group.
So it was a good mix.
And then you drive all 19 cars both days.
So the first day was what I just described.
And then the second day we get to go on like an off-road
course with all the same cars.
And this was the outdoor activity vehicle like sort of selection.
That was kind of the types of vehicles we had.
So some are designed to go off-road and some are very
definitely not don't start life as off-road vehicles.
So that made it really interesting the next day.
But it's a great way to test the capabilities and there were
so many amazing surprises where, you know, I'd get in a car
and I'm like, I'm really not sure how this is going to go.
And it would charge through the off-road course.
And I'm like, well, I don't know if I would take this particular
car because it was a good mix of like luxury cars.
And then there was a Ram truck and there was a Jeep Wrangler.
Those are obviously designed to do off-road.
But, you know, then there was a Lucid Gravity like that's a luxury.
You know, they call it an SUV.
My when I look at it, I typically think it's like more minivan type.
But, you know, SUV crossover, minivan, whatever.
I don't think you look at that and think off-road, but it did
the whole course.
Yeah.
So it should have held onto that one.
Well, hopefully I will be getting it before too long.
But would you like to hear the cars that we drove?
Because it was quite a mix.
And just so just so at the end of the two days, is there
an outright winner?
Yes.
So there are several categories.
And so you vote at the end of each day, which is it's cool
because the days like what you're doing with the cars is very
different on each day.
So you vote twice, basically, or vote early and joking, right?
We found this box of ballots and then they tally them up and
we find out the winner.
So I do have the winners also.
So we drove an Ioniq Honda Hyundai Ioniq 5 XRT Jeep Wrangler
Moab 392 Kia Sportage X Pro Mazda CX 5 Premium Plus.
And then Subaru had three cars.
They had the outback wilderness and uncharted GT, which I had
not gotten to see before.
So that was the new EV.
It is.
And I think it's the one Spike just got for his younger son
because they talked about it while we were at the event.
They talked about it on his show and the Subaru Trail Seeker
Limited, which is another of their EVs.
And when I was driving those three, I just kept thinking like
Subaru is killing it.
They were just yes.
So good.
You know, we love Subaru on this show, obviously, but yeah,
they I got out of it and told the Subaru gal that was there.
I'm like, you guys are just running away with it.
These are all so good.
There was a Toyota RAV4 hybrid woodland edition of Volkswagen
Tiguan, SEL R-Line, Honda Pilot Elite, Hyundai Palisade XRT
Pro, Kia Telluride X Pro, Mitsubishi Outlander Trail
Edition, a Genesis GV80 Prestige 3.5, and then a GV80 Coupe,
Genesis again, Lucid Gravity Grand Touring, Polestar 4 dual
motor pilot, and then the Ram 1500 Warlock, which is an EV
truck.
These names are getting out of it.
I mean, every time you walk and it says warlock on the back of
bed, like that's a male witch.
If you didn't already know, it was the best thing.
I mean, it just makes you smile and you're like, okay, I have
to drive the warlock again.
Well, and I love how this we have this, this, this need to
incorporate the word trail with some sort of suffix into these
cars.
And just when I think that they've all been taken, what was
the trail finder?
Was that trail seeker trail seeker?
Okay, that's, that's, you know, so good on them, you know,
but it's definitely a thing.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So I have, you know, there were a lot, obviously 19 cars, but
it was pretty much my like perfect couple of days because
I'm like, oh, I have to drive all these cars.
That sounds awesome.
Sounds amazing.
I'm trying to think of like a few of the kind of notable
notables in a field of like 19 really good cars.
So the uncharted was incredibly quick, super cool interior.
It was just one of those like got in it and just instantly
went like, yes, I could drive this and it had really good
traction off road.
Like it did amazingly.
The Outlander had a really intuitive interior, lots of
drive modes, very comfortable seats, super capable off road.
And one of the coolest things about that one is that it is
in a class of like two row SUVs, but it actually has a third
row in the back.
You would never know it's got a great cargo area, but you can
pop up this kind of, they call it the just in case third row
so that if something happens and you have to take more people,
you can stick a couple of kids back there and then it folds
back down and you're good to go and it's not an oversized car.
Yeah, that's kind of a surprising car.
They're big rental fleets currently and I think it's
the only model that Mitsubishi currently makes.
Check me on that.
But I actually see a lot of them and I hear they're pretty
decent and yeah, that's good to hear.
I mean Mitsubishi, I thought they were, you know, they were
goners and it's good to hear their back.
No, it was, it was one of many like pleasant surprises.
It was very nice.
You would definitely, you know, enjoy it on a trip at a minimum
or go buy one.
The Ioniq five had really responsive steering and it
felt luxurious.
The Polestar felt very at home on the track, which was fun.
Interesting.
The Ram, so it was, it had a Hemi engine upgrade, which I
was surprised is only $2,500 and I would say worth it for the
exhaust note.
Who's not getting that?
I know, right?
Well, and I think I may have misspoken because I think
it's a hybrid.
It's not an EV obviously if it's got the Hemi engine.
And it was super confident off-road as you'd imagine.
They had me stop it at the top of one of the big hills with
one of the tires in a very deep rut.
And they said, okay, we're not, we don't have any of the, any
of the assistance on and I want you to just slowly accelerate
out and the truck just like right up the hill.
Not a problem.
Let's see the Jeep.
Obviously, that Ram last one I drove had an amazing ride.
Did you experience that?
I think it's an E-Ride.
One of the best riding vehicles I've driven in years.
Well, and we were on, you know, grass, dirt, like they did
make some mud later in the day for so the event could live
up to its name and like gravel and you're going back and forth
at high speeds with the different road surfaces and the truck
was one of the most confident like, you know, slam the brakes
on on gravel.
That's the surface obviously and it just was solid as a rock
as a warlock one might even say.
Yeah, that's a vehicle that really surprised me.
You know, just not on my radar, not anything I'd ever buy
for myself is just too much of everything, but it was really
impressive makes it so great.
Yeah, yeah.
It was really fun.
And they like, you know, I got to Florida a couple of times
and that was pretty intoxicating.
Sounded amazing.
I would definitely, I would definitely drive one of those.
Nice.
Yeah, the Jeep obviously was great off road.
The interior was lovely and it had a fun automated rag top
like convertible that you would I think up to 55 miles an hour.
You can open and close it while you're driving if the weather
changes or something.
Um, the CX five had a really nice interior.
It was like simple and restrained and I was surprised how
capable it was off road.
Like I don't typically think of those as off road cars, but
you could definitely do some light off roading with it.
So I'm going to tell you a secret.
So Chubbachetta, long time editor of car and driver guy
local to me now guy that I've gotten to know a little bit
through our map are equivalent of the whopper or whatever.
Of the supersize.
He's got one of those at home.
Yeah, he actually bought one.
So that's got to mean something, right?
It's always interesting to me to find out what the automotive
journalists are buying with all the cars that you get to drive
like for them to pick one and commit to it themselves.
That always makes me go like, okay, there's something there.
The gravity was really fun to experience.
We got to drive that together.
I think at the auto show last year, you know, and I've said
a million times when we got in the air two years ago, I was
like, I'm home.
This is the best thing ever.
You know, it's a very pleasant space.
It is very like it just feels very welcoming and I got to do
launch control in the gravity, which was super fun to the point
where like you feel it in your eyeballs.
It's just the whole thing was great and they had really nice
storage in the console too.
Like just, you know, a little creature comforts.
The, um, the telluride actually reminded me of kind of a Range
Rover and also Rivian ask super comfortable seats had a squared
off steering wheel, which several of the cars had.
So the first day that took a little getting used to, um, but
it had a bunch of different drive modes had great hill
descent control.
The funny thing was when I put it in mud mode, it stiffens the
seat under you and so I was like, what is happening?
So, you know, it's a, it's an immersive experience.
Be careful with mud mode.
Um, you know, we were in LA when they launched that thing.
If you recall, yes, it was quite a, you know, very Range Rover
like, you know, and I've yet to drive one, but I was, I was a
big fan of the previous one.
I thought it was a lot of vehicle for the money.
They're hugely popular here in Colorado.
I think for good reason.
Um, and some excited to drive, drive that new one.
Yeah.
Well, and this one was, uh, it was kind of a matte gold.
So I think that added to the Range Rover look of this one
because every time I walked by the back of it, like, especially
out of the corner of your eye, like, I see what you were going
for.
Um, the Honda pilot was super confident on the go kart track.
I think those are great vehicles.
It was great.
The interior was nice.
Uh, and then the Sportage was comfortable and it had really
nice exit graphics and music, which was like a nice little,
you know, send you on your way.
It was funny.
There were a few of the cars that had when you would turn it
off, this graphic and this little tune would go, you know,
would play and the graphic would go across the screen and it's
like, well, I didn't know I needed that, but I'm talking about
it.
No, but you better like it because if you don't, it's going
to be five years.
I know.
I thought about that.
I'm like, but can you turn this off?
And I mean, and that applies to anything, you know, not, not
picking on that car, but it was a nice touch and it was like,
Oh, it kind of sends you on your way with a smile.
Um, and it did the whole course, like off-road, on-road, all
of that, did it just fine.
The RAV4 surprised me.
It felt very solid and had an impressively nice interior.
The controls were intuitive and it did fantastically off-road.
Yeah, they finally have good seats in those things too.
Yeah, they were super comfortable and it had these nice little,
um, it was, I think because it was the EV or a hybrid, it had
these little like rose gold touches, which I think is one
of their, um, you know, design designators, but it gave it a
luxurious feel.
Um, the Palisade was super solid under heartbreaking.
Felt really solid overall.
Had some cool details on the seats, great cameras, went up
the hills effortlessly.
Um, the trail seeker, I could not stop smiling.
It was just so good all around.
Um, did have a squared off wheel that was like took a little
bit of getting used to, but had a really sleek interior, fantastic
acceleration, super solid, hardline braking, great handling
on the autocross and the go kart tracks, super precise steering.
Like that was the one where I'm like, okay, Subaru is just
killing it these days.
The, um, outback again, good handling, solid braking, like all
three of the supers were great and that was a wilderness.
So it made me feel like I've spent some time in that.
That's one of those cars where, you know, it doesn't, um, really
scream in any way, right?
But when presented like that in a, in a line of others, at least
I found myself coming back to that.
It was kind of familiar.
It was just kind of a glass.
It was just, you know, it was just kind of felt like home.
I was going to say, like, you feel like you're coming home in a
way and we've been lucky to have other Subaru's.
And so there is an element of like, Oh, I know this one, but in a
good way where you're like, Oh, I'm happy to be back here.
And it was nice.
Even with the CVT transmission, it's a good care, right?
But it was nice to get in that, you know, because there was a lot
like I always test, you know, you try to make all the adjustments
like adjust the mirrors, adjust the climate, get your seat adjusted
the way you want it.
Inevitably you'll forget one of those every so often.
And like how intuitive is it to fix that while you're driving?
So it's nice to know like, Oh, I know where the controls are and
all the super is for the most part, or you know, generally their
framework so you can figure it out.
So it was nice to drive that.
They, the two Genesis, the GV 80s were just so good.
I mean, Ryan, as you know, you've gotten to have some experience
with those and it has like a beautiful interior, the acceleration
and braking were great.
They sounded really good.
Great on the go-kart track, super confident on gravel, good ground
clearance and the hill descent control is great.
That was another one where when I was partway done with the off-road
course in the first one, because there were data black and then a
coupe and I was like, Okay, this is really good, at least for
this light off-roading that we were doing.
I don't know that I would take my own if I went and got a brand
new one just because of this beautiful wheels.
Yeah, like it's such a nice car, but it's, it was a really
interesting thought process to kind of think about that throughout
the day.
Like none of these cars are cheap.
Some are more expensive than others, but you know, like they're
also really fun and what especially car enthusiasts love to do is
enjoy the cars.
So it's like, where's the fine, like where's the happy medium of
you want to be able to enjoy the car, but also have something
nice for every day.
And it's, you know, especially cars that you don't typically
think of as being off-roaders.
So it was an interesting thought experiment.
What are you taking home?
So believe it or not, the Tiguan.
I think that car is great.
The new one is great.
It's got a wonderful interior.
The only thing I don't like about it, at least your altitude,
there's a bit of a hesitation with the turbo motor until it
builds up boost.
That drives me nuts, but the interior is fantastic.
Very, I would like, I think it's a good looking thing.
The dynamics are great.
So I am glad to be seconded in that opinion.
I know.
Well, and I found this shirt.
So I was like, well, that's what I'm waiting for the show.
I loved it and I went into it without like no preconceived notions
one way or another, no expectations.
I got out of it and I immediately wanted to get back in it.
Super sleek, very elevated interior, like really high end
looking.
I think it has a nice graphic either when you get in or out
again, which is apparently the weight of my heart.
I don't think you've driven one of these, but it is much closer
to your Audi SQ5 than it is to, you know, my old 2017 Tiguan
that I had for years.
It's just, it's like, you know, that was a great car in its
own way, but this is just a much, much more modern, you know,
upscale interior, that kind of thing.
Again, much more like your Audi than, you know, the Volkswagen's
if you were.
So I'm just thinking the last cruise show, didn't we, didn't
we criticize VW for leaving their GTI brethren behind and in
actual fact, they've just changed to a different audience.
Yeah, I guess.
Yeah, I think you're right.
I mean, we have definitely had some thoughts about Volkswagen,
haven't we?
And that's, I was thinking about you guys and I was thinking
about Ryan, obviously you had a Tiguan of previous generation
and it's, you know, we've commented like you can tell when a
car between models makes a giant leap forward.
And I think this is a perfect example of that when you compare
it to the previous one.
I mean, it felt like a luxury car.
Interestingly, talking about changing for the audience, you
know, that, that version I had 2017, I think, I think that model
went through 18 or something, but it was, that was old when
we got it, right?
I think that had come out in Europe in like 2009 or something.
And interestingly, that car was available with a manual, at
least for two or three years here in the States, but only as
a front wheel drive, which is, you know, something that didn't
do it for us.
But yeah, I don't know how many of them they actually made,
but again, you know, they have, yeah, they've changed for
the times, I guess, but, you know, not that long ago, you
could get a manual on a Tiguan.
And that's pretty awesome.
How do I know?
Now you can't get an annual GTI.
I know, but yeah, press agree with you on the choice.
So we didn't really like everybody would kind of like we'd
sort of share throughout the day, like, oh, would you just
drive or whatever?
At least I didn't.
I kind of wanted to keep my, my votes pristine.
It's like, you know, the jury's not supposed to discuss the
case.
Oh, and I have to say that the massage seats in the Tiguan
were top notch.
Yeah, there is a difference between the quality of the
massage from one mark to the next.
Um, some are just kind of annoying, you know, and others
are quite nice.
Look, we're telling you it's a massage.
Yeah, yeah.
No, it was, it was really good.
Yeah.
So to wrap this up, would you like to hear the winners?
Yeah, I wouldn't not have predicted the
Volkswagen necessarily, but I hope that was so that was my
winner and that we have the official winners.
Okay.
Okay, so the two row family SUV was the 2026 Subaru trail
seeker limited.
The three row family SUV was the Kia Telluride luxury SUV
was the Lucid Gravity, the pickup truck because we only had
one, even though I probably would have won anyway was the
Ram 1500 block crew cab four by four.
The electrified activity vehicle was the trail seeker.
The extreme capability vehicle was the Jeep Wrangler Moab.
Best Northwest outdoor, best value Northwest outdoor
activity vehicle was the Toyota RAV4 hybrid Woodland.
And the Northwest outdoor activity vehicle of the year
grand prize winner was the Subaru trail seeker limited.
Interesting.
Yep.
Wow.
So Lindsay, I've got the R map, the Rocky Mountain Automotive
Press equivalent of the event you just did here in about
three weeks and I imagine it'll be many of the some many of
the same cars.
So we will definitely have to compare notes.
The problem is we always get like one Land Rover Defender
and that just like, you know, throws me off for the whole
I was thinking about that because we did not have one and
I'm like, had we had one?
That's an impressive line about it wasn't a bad one in the
bunch.
No, they were it was really fun, very cool variety and it
was really fun to drive those cars in that environment and
like put it put them through the paces in a way that you
wouldn't normally necessarily.
So yes, too wonderful.
You know, you are onto something special when you get
noticed for your work and then get commissioned to do new
work and I don't know if we're allowed to talk about it or not
Ryan, but you've been commissioned to write some new
articles. Are you allowed to say who for him?
I think so.
Yeah.
Yeah.
The good folks at Avants magazine have brought me in to do
a couple of features for the fall 2026 issue.
And so it was a busy week.
The first one I went out in your neck of the woods.
Dan got to see you briefly, but I got to spend the afternoon
with the legend that is Bruce Meyer and I know Bruce a little
bit. He was on my previous podcast, the steering committee
a few years back and I know him through the Colorado Grand
and seemed to run into him a lot and consider him a friend,
really nice guy and he was so kind to spend the afternoon
with me and a photographer by the name of Brandon Faith.
You should check out his work.
He's a great follow on Instagram, begging.
I think underscore photos.
He's got a really interesting backstory as well.
I don't have the time to get into that today, but he and I
had a wonderful afternoon with Bruce.
The the idea was we're going to take out one of his analog
cars and if you know his collection, you know, you know,
he has some of the best cars in the world, right?
He has the very first roof yellowbird.
He has the very first Cobra 427, right?
Shelby Cobra production one.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
He's CSX 001 or whatever.
You know, he's got Carol had the first one.
The first was at 0 0 0 or something.
Right.
But it wasn't a production one.
Bruce, right?
Yeah.
And it has a one on the hood, right?
It does.
He's got some really significant Ferraris.
He's got this beautiful Bizzarini.
He's got hot rods and and I even wore my yellow Adidas hoping
he'd take out that damn roof yellowbird.
But when we showed up, the plan was to take out one of his
32 Ford coupes.
And now he's got more than one, you know, he I think drove a
32 Ford coupe at Bonneville, the 200 miles an hour.
This wasn't that car.
We took out this 32 Ford Coupe that he had driven to
Canada recently in back, which is really saying something.
So recently Ford Coupe chopped.
It's got about three inches of windshield of glass all around.
He and I drove this thing up, I guess it's Beverly Boulevard
to to Mel's diner, the iconic Mel's diner did some photos
with with Brandon, you know, pro tip.
If Bruce ever says you should go to Mel's diner and then
asks you what you ordered when you return, please don't
disappoint him like I did and say the smoothie.
Bruce is not a smoothie guy kind of guy.
No, but you know, you're working, you know, I mean, you know,
as much as I wanted to, you know, a smash burger or something.
It's just, you know, I had a long day ahead of me,
but like I have to be strong with an egg on it.
That's very little sauerkraut on the side.
Let me tell you, you've not lived until you have driven
in rush hour traffic in a 32 Ford Coupe hot rod, you know,
just rumbling away, you know, through Beverly Hills, right?
To Mel's diner with Mr. Bruce Meyer.
It's engineered for perfection.
Every contour sculpted for uninterrupted motion.
Wider, smoother, more refined and drives like a dream.
Introducing the 2026 E470.
Experience the difference.
He's such a great guy.
He's so generous.
Shout out to his collection manager to Tom Kenny, who's just a
hell of a nice guy.
And it's just so fun spending time in that space with those cars.
I mean, it's spiritual is not the word, but it's very special to
just sort of be in that share that air with those cars.
And Bruce is just such a neat guy as well.
And so we had a nice conversation.
Watch out for the fall edition of Vance magazine for the full article.
I think the photos are going to be spectacular.
All shot on film.
So I think it's just going to be a really cool look.
Very excited to, well, I've got to write the damn article first,
but I promise you it's going to be a really good one.
No, it's going to be great.
But it was just a great trip.
It was, it was quick 48 hours.
Got to see you, Dan.
Got to spend some time at the Peterson and always get the very
special behind the scenes tour, which I appreciate.
And also got to see our business manager slash fourth, you know,
Musceteer head, Michael Lasasso.
What's that?
Musceteer fourth.
That's right.
Yeah, definitely.
And we had a really nice lunch.
So Michael lives in El Segundo.
I've been to El Segundo a million times, but I had never been to,
I think they call it the old town part of El Segundo.
So, you know, every day is a school day.
Michael's got this really great house and sort of the older part of town.
So if you know, El Segundo, it's kind of hemmed in like there are the
office buildings on one end, like Mattel is there.
I think Boeing is there.
You've got LAX on the other side.
Then you've got like a big refinery from like 1912.
That's still there refining, I guess.
And then you've got the one side.
You can actually enter El Segundo in or buy.
And it was fantastic.
It's like a movie set or like this, like little town within, you know,
the middle of LA.
Yeah, it's got like a town square with like a gazebo.
It's got like an old movie theater.
It's got old corner bars.
It really, and apparently they do film a lot of movies there for obvious reasons.
Did you make a left turn and end up on the Gilmore Girls?
Totally.
That's what was eerie about it.
I've been here a thousand times.
But we had a really, can't remember the name of the place,
but had a great lunch.
Had a great dinner with you, Dan.
I don't want to call it taco joint because it was upscale dining.
It was funny dining.
We'd sink at the mayo, wasn't it?
Sink at the mayo.
That's right.
Every shot.
You have to celebrate.
Genesis, again, was kind enough to provide me with a G 90 black.
So this is the big sedan.
This is the S class competitor while I was in LA.
And that's a lot of vehicle to pilot around Los Angeles.
But I wouldn't have wanted it any other way.
Supremely comfortable.
Again, massaging seats, you know, pumps out the perfume.
It was again, the very, very much the calming, you know,
sort of atmosphere that you want.
For 48 busy hours in LA.
Took it down to Palace Verde's by the, by the lighthouse.
I had visions of taking pictures of the car next to the lighthouse.
Then I realized you can't get anywhere near the lighthouse,
but it was a wonderful trip.
And yeah, it, you know, you spend time with Bruce.
And like I said, I've done a few things with him.
And it's one of the things you realize once you're gone,
how special that time really is that you spent.
We're so fortunate to do what we do,
to know these people that we know,
to have these experiences that we have, you know,
but it's kind of snuck up on me a little bit, right?
And, you know, I'm on the plane going home and thinking like,
I mean, how do I ever get into this, this situation?
Whose life is this?
Yeah, I'm in this car, this, this, this hot rod,
which is where Bruce really started his, you know,
automotive enthusiasm, you know, you know,
cutting through, through Beverly Hills, right?
You know, surrounded by, you know, exotic cars and Bentley's
and, you know, Porsches and all that.
And how badass that is in this black 32 hot rod,
just, you know, loudest thing around, right?
Pretty, pretty special, pretty awesome.
And, and I can't wait to try to encapsulate that experience
into an article.
So that was, that was a fun trip.
And then what sounds like, what was, what was John Childenko
saying he's giving up on being cool?
Like he said, like, it's, you give up on being cool.
It's like the definition of cool though.
Like you're not competing with the hypercars because
there's no competition.
No, that's it.
I mean, that's, I mean, I think I peaked, you know, it's,
I think the pictures are going to be pretty fantastic too.
You know, and then I came home and, and I had a few days off
before we did another photo shoot for Avant's magazine.
Again, I don't think I'm speaking out of class here,
but our friend Tom Horan, chair of the Colorado Grand,
has in his collection of many, many cool cars,
an Alpha Halux GTAR.
If you don't know Alpha Halux, it is very much what
Singer is to Porsche, right?
Alpha Halux is to Alfa Romeo.
And this is their top of the line car.
I think the waiting period on these is like 10 years.
This was one of the earlier cars.
It's all steel and aluminum, I think versus some of the
later cars, which are mostly carbon.
This is a 240 horsepower, 1800 pound car that is just gorgeous.
It's painted in this Ferrari blue.
I didn't get a ton of time to, to really open it up.
But, you know, we had, we were up early, 6 a.m.
for sunrise, this kind of thing.
Another wonderful photographer, Justin Chan,
got some amazing photos that I have seen because he shot
on digital.
I think, I think the film is probably still being processed.
That's how it goes.
But fun morning, shout out to Matt Hunter,
who drove our photo car as well.
And again, one of those pinch me moments,
I'm behind the wheel of this very expensive,
very special Alpha Halux, you know, car,
desperately trying to, you know,
maneuver my big size 14s in the pedal box in a way
that I'm not, you know, burning out the clutch
or anything like that.
And just, yeah, it's going to be a great article,
again, with some great photography and can't wait to share it
when that comes out in fall as well.
So Avans Magazine, I appreciate them throwing some work my way,
I guess, right?
They do, they do good stuff and they recognize talent
when they see it.
So I'm excited to read the articles.
Kind of say that, yeah, I'm excited.
And Dan, you've also been busy.
Yes.
So while you guys were having a boring time of it,
I decided to do a road trip.
So I went up to Laguna Seca a couple of weeks ago
for the IMSA Racing.
That was fine.
If you've driven from LA to Laguna,
it's about five hours, five and a half hours,
depending on who's behind the wheel.
So on the way up, I thought I would cut up the time
and I stopped at Morro Bay.
And I know if you guys, have you guys been to Morro Bay?
They know it's beautiful, but I've never been.
Yeah.
So it's a beautiful bay with a big haystack rock in,
you know, out in the, in the water.
What I didn't know was this was Friday night.
Saturday morning was the Morro Bay car show.
Surprise.
So I pulled up to my hotel,
and there was some beautiful muscle cars.
You know, we're talking really lovely muscle cars.
What wasn't so lovely was at 4 a.m.,
the...
as they started to place the bastards.
So I got a very early start the next day
to get up to Laguna Seca, which was
obviously not intentional.
But what it did mean is that I got to take the highway,
the, the coast road super early.
So I hit that road about 7 a.m.
And it was a perfect drive.
You remember these perfect drives, right?
Where you just...
It never happened.
Yeah.
Everything, everything comes together.
I mean, I was in my Audi's.
I wasn't in the sports car, but I was overtaking things.
I was just enjoying the view, enjoying the road.
And that was a perfect drive up to Laguna.
There was a great weekend, the racing going on.
Yeah.
I was lucky enough to spend some time with BMW.
They kindly said to me,
would I like to go on a hot lap?
So I'd never been on the track at Laguna.
Believe it or not, I've been there so many times.
Right.
You know, I know where all the good viewing points are
and everything, but I've never been on the track.
And now you know where all the actual good viewing points are.
That's right.
Yeah.
I know.
I think I saw your post about this.
And I really wanted to know what it was like.
There's a video on my Instagram.
And it was interesting.
So this was an M4 with a very professional driver.
I managed to get the front seat.
I did offer the rear seat.
I did offer the front seat to the two ladies that I traveled with.
They wanted to stay together.
They wanted to yell together.
And apparently they've created some Instagram moments as a result.
But I was in the front seat with my glasses on, my metal glasses.
No one prepares you for the corkscrew.
Nope.
The corkscrew is a climb to a blind corner.
A serious altitude.
You literally get to the top.
It's a blind corner.
It's a leap of faith.
And then you drop seven stories.
Seven stories.
So that's like two houses, three houses in height.
Yeah.
In the space of about a second.
You see the nose of your car pointed up.
Right.
In the air.
It's the most disconcerting.
You're just like, what are we?
All right.
Here we go.
So yeah.
So it was an amazing experience.
A big thank you to BMW North America for putting me in the seat.
And yeah.
Dan, I've only ever been a spectator there.
And I was shocked at just the geography as a spectator.
I someday I'll do it, but I cannot imagine what that's like behind the wheel.
They don't build tracks like that anymore.
They just don't.
And it doesn't translate in photos or video games or anything like that.
Nope.
It is just one of the iconic, I guess, turns in the world.
It's really special.
I'm so glad you got to do that.
That's so cool.
And you walk away with a better appreciation for these drivers.
Right.
I wish I could drive at 50% how good that driver was that took me around that track.
Like 50%, I'd be happy.
Yeah.
But yeah.
No, it was a fun weekend.
And yeah, it was a good event and good to see some few familiar faces at the track.
That's awesome.
You've driven that.
So I got to be a passenger in the Shelby.
I haven't driven it long story.
I was supposed to drive it a couple of years ago and it did not.
There was a series of unfortunate events, but I when in 1997, they were honoring Shelby
as one of the featured marks.
And so I had helped my dad get the rear end back in the car.
And so we got to do the parade laps and he said, all right, you helped.
So you get the front seat.
And I mean, like Dan said, like nothing prepares you for the corkscrew.
We got to it.
And you know, I'm obviously not driving, but I remember like kind of all of us at the
same time, just going like, huh.
And then down you go.
29 years ago.
And you remember it like it was yesterday.
I know you were six at the time.
Obviously.
I mean, I was really in utero, but neither here nor there.
Psycho Lindsey.
Yeah.
I mean, truly I can picture the nose of the car and just sky.
That's so.
And I think, you know, and I think about like my dad had his three kids and one of
my cousins in the car.
So I'm like, I know what it felt like as the passenger.
I can imagine what it feels like as the driver just in general.
And then on top of that, you're like, and I have all my kids in the car and somebody
else's child and whatever.
What's the line?
The line from standby me, my favorite movie and Dan's and possibly yours, Lindsay,
but we got to savor these moments, right?
I mean, it's, it's, I'm butchering that, but, but, you know, they're special, right?
Whether it's spending time with Bruce, whether it's, you know, the corkscrew at
Laguna, you know, whether it's.
Well, it's like a Subaru through the mud.
I mean, but I mean, just we're so fortunate to have these, these experiences, right?
Yeah.
Well, and you make a good point.
Like I didn't think about, I mean, that was coming up on 30 years ago and I truly do
remember it, you know, and I would imagine Dan's going to remember it forever.
I mean, because there is no way to prep either.
So it sort of compounds the, the impression that it makes on you.
Yeah.
Anyway, I've been away from Washington state for a year now.
Yeah.
And it sounds like the folks up there are making some crazy moves with their
planning of road and infrastructure just outside of Kirk.
Wasn't that the best link ever?
Come on.
The master of the segue.
Um, the, uh, the folks.
So there's a little town just outside Seattle called Kirkland.
And it sounds like they've got a bit batshit crazy with their road infrastructure.
Yeah.
Well, and I always tell people, you know, they ask about the weather and,
and the sort of geography and the scenery.
And I always say, well, we're on the same latitude as England.
So the scenery looks the same.
I remember when I first came here, I'm like, that's why you like it.
All the trees, right?
The weather's very similar.
Yeah.
And I think they've just taken the next logical step,
which is they're going to transform all the intersections into roundabouts,
apparently.
And so Kirkland is now the proud owner of and real Brits.
And Dan, I consider you in this group.
It's not a true triple roundabout in the sense that one doesn't feed
directly into the other, but in the States for all intents and purposes,
they just put in a triple roundabout in Kirkland,
which like people in the States have trouble with one single lane roundabout.
I mean, so they're like, we're just going to really mess everything up.
And it's the intersections that they have redone were functioning perfectly fine
in terms of like, it was something I drove multiple times a day, every day,
never an issue.
This project is probably going to be three years long.
I think we're a year and a half or two into it.
It's been like nonstop chaos leading up to this point where like the number
of times that my daughter and I would come back from the airport and the off
ramp was completely changed and it's dark and whatever.
I'm amazed there weren't more accidents while they were putting this together.
So they've now instead of just having, we used to have clover leaf on and off
ramps to the freeway.
They have taken those completely out.
They dug out under the freeway to put in these roundabouts,
taken out all the traffic lights as you'd imagine.
I just didn't realize this was part of the project.
And they've put in, there's a roundabout like under the freeway and then
there's one on either side of the freeway.
And it's just madness.
And the fun, I mean, and it's like to compound the absurdity of it.
The Kirkland city government is posting on Instagram.
They're like, great news.
The roundabouts are ready to go.
Just remember to follow the signs and pick the lane you need to be in.
And I'm like, no, but that's what people can't do.
That is the essence of why it's such a difficult thing here.
I mean, we just didn't grow up with this.
Right.
We didn't grow up.
No, I just said we didn't grow up with it.
And, you know, at Wisconsin where, you know, I was born and where my, you
know, family all lives, they've gone, you know, roundabout crazy as well.
And it's just, they take up so much land relative to, you know, the alternatives.
It's just, you know, if that's what you're used to,
if that's what's always been there, wonderful.
But incidentally, the only place here in Denver that I can think of that has
three in a row like that is the entrance to our Costco Kirkland.
Get it?
There's a conspiracy here.
We go through.
I know.
It's all part of a grand plan.
And we're going to glitch in the matrix as we figured it out right here.
That's it.
I think I'm a pretty good driver, but I was daydreaming the other day and I
stopped, you know, short in one of those because I just, I wasn't paying
attention and there was someone approaching it just the right time.
And I had to sort of process like, well, who gets to go and this kind of thing.
So it's just, it seems like make work.
It seems, you know, it seems like.
It's definitely busy work.
Like we're just creating, I mean, and, you know, obviously the contractors are
happy to laugh all the way to the bank.
But yeah, I mean, I went through it twice yesterday just because I'm like,
I got to go check it out.
I mean, I was, I was sort of morbidly curious because I'm like, this is a mess.
I mean, like we were talking about it at my house and it is a major, like it's
a major, you know, intersection with the freeway, major freeway access right
there.
It's a major road through town.
Like it's a huge part of getting around here.
And our gut reaction was like, well, I guess we have to find alternate routes
because that's going to be a nightmare.
And now we have to find alternate routes away from this, what used to be a
very convenient thoroughfare.
I can't even imagine what it's going to be like at rush hour.
I went through it in the middle of the day and there were people, you could
tell that had been stuck on the sides trying to figure out how to get into
the roundabout.
You're like, well, Dan, Dan, learn us a thing or two here about roundabouts
because isn't it in European vacation where they find themselves in a
roundabout that just sort of keeps going roundabout?
Is that in the UK or is that somewhere else?
I was going to say, so there's a couple of things.
Firstly, I think the next step in the master plan is that auto collision
repair centers are going to sponsor those roundabouts.
Right.
Of my words.
There is something in a place called Swindon called the Magic Roundabout.
That's right.
And we'll get Ryan to insert a picture of said Magic Roundabout.
It is one major roundabout with eight roundabouts on the outside of the one
roundabout.
That seems like an evil joke.
So even as a Brit, that's a nightmare for you.
Okay.
So that's a, a bridge or a roundabout too far.
Yeah.
You've got it bad, but you haven't got it really bad Lindsay.
Right.
Well, I kept thinking of, have you driven the silly Isles in London and
that's a double one, but that was all I kept thinking was like, we've got
our very own silly Isles with a bonus extra nightmare on the end.
But that's an actual double roundabout where the roundabouts are connected to
each other.
We do love our roundabouts thing.
I remember a few years ago, just outside where I grew up, there was a famous
artist and he would put different art in the middle of the roundabout at night.
So you would appear like the next day and suddenly be surprised because
there's a guy rowing a boat.
Maybe, maybe you and Tori can go and create tomorrow.
Well, it's funny that you and he had the same thought.
He was like, the only people that are going to win are the auto collision
repair shops here.
Right.
I mean, at least initially it's, it's just such a strange, you know, it's one
of those things where it's like, we've all been in companies or whatever where
they're like, ooh, the budget, you know, your budget's coming up.
We got to spend this money.
We're like, this feels like the most enormous public example of like, we got
to spend this money or we're going to lose it.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I'm impressed you called it a roundabout, not a traffic circle.
So that's 10 points to you.
Well, it was one of those things where it was very funny when I was driving a
lot of the SUVs at Mudfest and I kept being grateful for my like track
experience because I knew where, like I knew what a lot of the markers meant
on the go-kart track and I kept thinking like, this is not a way that I
ever thought I would be applying these skills.
And it was the same thing.
Like I'm, I was grateful for the time that I've spent in England when I was
trying to drive these roundabouts yesterday.
Like didn't think I'd be applying those skills here, but.
It's just steering wells on the correct side of the car.
Yeah.
Advanced training from England.
Can we talk about customer loyalty?
We can.
So this was a recent report I saw and slightly inspired by a conversation
I had with someone a few years ago.
So I'm going to say it's a few years ago.
It may not be current, but when I was talking to that individual, he had
recently left McLaren and he said the customer retention for McLaren.
So retention defined as a customer buying a second McLaren.
So selling the first one, buying a second was less than 5%.
Wow.
That is shocking.
Wow.
Even from McLaren.
On the flip side of that, I've got a list of the most loyal brands.
So.
Can I guess?
Yes.
So let's do this.
This is going to add insult to injury.
It's probably General Motors.
Do you know what General Motors isn't even on the top 20?
Oh no.
What is it?
Ford.
Ford are at six.
Okay.
And these are percentage numbers.
I'm wondering whether if you get above 60%.
So there's only two brands that are above 60%.
Does that officially become a cult?
Well, it depends.
Is it Tesla?
It's one of them, Porsche.
Tesla is at number one.
Okay.
Then yes.
So the cult of Tesla at 61.1%.
Wow.
That's impressive.
Pretty damn high.
Porsche made it in, but only at 17.
Is it top 20 or whatever?
Yes, this is a top 20.
Okay.
Where's BMW?
Porsche.
Well, I think you guys need to guess the top three.
And we've mentioned one of the top three a lot.
Lexus has got to be up there.
Nope.
No.
Toyota?
Toyota at number three.
Yeah.
So we have Tesla, something.
Who are we missing?
Honda.
Number five.
Okay.
Is it domestic?
No.
Okay.
Okay.
Mercedes-Benz?
Number 10.
We could be here all night.
Yeah.
Okay.
We need to get one more guess and then you have to tell us.
We've mentioned them numerous times tonight.
Subaru.
Subaru at number two.
So Tesla is 61.1%.
Subaru is 60.5%.
So that's about 60%.
Is there a cult of Subaru?
I think you could argue that there is like a healthy cult of Subaru.
Yeah.
And then Toyota is at 59.9%.
And at number four is an Italian sports car.
Ferrari.
Ferrari.
Okay.
Okay.
So the top five round out, Tesla, Subaru, Toyota, Ferrari, and then Honda.
Well, is that loyalty or is that some sort of forced loyalty, you know, if you want to
buy another, you know, if that's just, you can't just buy one.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Maybe.
Well, that actually brings me onto my second chart.
Yeah.
The Ferrari are the best in the world of making profit per car.
Right.
So known fact, they do two things really well and they're publicly knowledgeable about this.
The first thing is they always make two less cars than they have demand for creating a market
demand.
And secondly, they make the highest profit per car of any car company in the world.
So this second report talks about how many cars do a manufacturer have to sell to achieve
the profit levels of one Ferrari?
Does that make sense?
Yes.
Which other companies are masters of making profit over their costs?
Right.
Yeah.
So do you want to guess on the top three?
Yeah, I'll guess.
Okay.
I think Porsche is nearing Ferrari.
No in it.
Porsche isn't even on the list.
Okay.
Interesting.
Toyota?
Sorry.
I take that back.
Porsche is halfway down the list, so about 15.
All right.
Give them five years.
They're going to be number two, you watch.
There we go.
Lindsay.
They're doing their best to squeeze us.
Well, I think just let me clarify.
I think the thing with Porsche is it's not the manufacturer that's making the profit,
it's the dealerships.
Yeah, good point.
Because they're putting the aftermarket cost in.
Yeah, that's a good point.
That's a good point.
So who would that be?
So Lindsay, your guess was?
Toyota?
No.
Okay.
So the top three are all, well, I guess two, I would say are luxury.
Okay.
And one is not luxury.
They're good on the list.
No, I'm curious.
Okay.
So number one.
Yeah, did you want one more guess, Lindsay?
Are you less of a garlic eating surrender monkey?
That might be my new, instantly my new favorite insult.
There we go.
It's a new episode of Nothing Else.
It's what ground people willy calls the French.
Garlic eating surrender monkeys.
We are here for you.
Let's see.
BMW.
A few moments later.
Yeah.
They came in at number four.
So BMW have to tell.
Not too far off.
55 cars.
They have to tell 55 cars to achieve the same level of profit.
So that gives you an idea of the sort of volumes we're talking.
So number one.
It's our friends at Jaguar Land Rover.
Oh.
They have to tell 12 cars in order to...
Well, that's all they sold, Dan.
So I think this is thrown off the numbers.
Well, no, this is Jaguar Land Rover, not just Jaguar.
That's right.
We all know Defender skill in it.
Yeah.
The majority of that will be Range Rovers that are highly specced
and everything else.
That's right.
So at number two, and they have to sell 38 cars.
And I don't really believe this.
It's Tesla.
Okay.
But you know why?
Have you been in like a 2026 Model 3 versus a 2012 or 15
or whatever it is when they first came out?
No, go on.
Quality difference.
I was going to say have they streamlined your efficiency?
Do you remember getting into one of those early cars?
I'll never forget the first time I drove one, flew into LAX,
got one from Hertz.
I was so excited.
Had that beautiful interior.
All the materials were great.
Had the wood across the dash.
Everything just felt like a luxury car.
Fast forward to now.
And I got in a brand new one.
We were very excited to see one come up as a lift.
And what used to be wood, what used to be fabric,
cheap shiny plastic now, right?
It was shocking.
It was jarring.
You know, how far, you know, the Tesla Model 3 had fallen.
And so I think if they're finding such profit,
that's why they're finding it.
Yeah.
There's gold up there.
They're up there in the plastic hills, Dan.
Well, here's your that car show top tip by Shares and Tesla.
Here you go.
Right.
And at number three with 45 cars.
So you have to sell 45 cars to achieve the same level of profit
as a one Ferrari.
It's Mercedes Benz.
Interesting.
So it's super interesting.
But I think we need.
Sorry to interrupt.
But is this, should we look at this list as sort of
inverse to the cars we want to buy?
Because, you know, you mentioned Mercedes Benz.
And you think of, you know, a 124, right?
From the 90s or whatever.
Really 90s and just what a tank that was versus
much more modern, but much less tank like modern Mercedes Benz.
Should we be looking at the bottom of the list for cars that we
want to actually buy ourselves?
I'm curious.
Like what's just a good.
I was thinking more is like, is there more room for negotiation?
Based on the fact that they're making more profit per car.
I don't know.
I think we need to pour one out for Mazda.
Because Mazda needs to sell.
Is everyone sat down?
Mazda needs to sell.
And this is probably their annual sales figure.
They need to sell 3498 cars to achieve the same level of profit as
one Ferrari.
Poor Mazda.
You know, they're the real Japanese enthusiast brand.
You know, have always been as you know, they are now, but they just,
I don't know how they compete because they're just
exponentially smaller, right?
Then the domestic competition and, but that's a shocking number.
I didn't realize that things were so bleak for them.
I mean, are they going to be okay?
Mazda?
Like, I mean.
People buying their cars still, aren't they?
I mean, they're great.
They're really wonderful cars in many, many ways, right?
I mean, it's give me a CX-5, right?
Versus a Ford Escape or something.
CX-5, you know, all day long.
I think the interior design is great.
I think they, man, that's really, what can they change to?
Maybe sell themselves to Tesla.
Yeah.
Right.
You know, they don't have a lot of EVs, Dan.
Right?
I mean, right.
And so I would think that the profit margin on an EV is naturally going to be
much greater.
Less moving parts, right?
Right, right, right.
Yeah.
Do they have an EV?
Does Mazda have an EV?
I think just hybrid.
Yeah.
I think Porsche had to sell 176 cars.
Well, that's considering, you know, they're the closest thing probably to Ferrari
and price and, you know, compared to most of the others, right?
Yeah.
But Volkswagen were 126 cars.
Okay.
They're doing all right.
General Motors, 74 cars.
Really?
So that's a lot of Corvettes.
Yeah.
Well, now that in Corvettes, you know, they've really bumped the prices up in the Corvette,
right?
Yeah.
Which I think was smart, this perceived value too, which, you know.
Right.
Unless they're going over the hill at Laguna Seca without the brakes working.
We've all seen that video.
Yeah.
We have.
So anyway, that was the list.
I think it's time for some consumer advice.
Okay.
Lindsay shared a new story with us that was a bulletin announcement internal at Toyota.
So do you want to tell us a little bit, Lindsay, about what that was all about?
So they sent out a service bulletin telling the service departments which oil they could
substitute in the short term because the shell refinery and cutter is completely offline.
And what is it?
Shell and maybe mobile.
I'm not remembering both correctly, but two of the oil companies had let Costco and Walmart
know that they have no product packaged to send.
So they're likely will be empty shelves in the future.
So, you know, I was thinking about, and then I know Dan, you shared, you had bought some
oil.
I have a car that's going to need an oil change before too long.
And I started thinking like, should we go stockpile?
But I feel like, I feel like then you could create like a run on the bank, basically,
if everybody runs out and buys oil, you know, just in case it could be like is motor oil
the new toilet paper?
Yeah.
So are these weights specific to Toyota or?
Yeah, it was just the idea that Toyota knows that like they are anticipating a significant
shortage.
And so they've looked at it and said, like, okay, we obviously want to keep servicing
people's cars and we want people to be able to keep driving them.
So temporarily, here's what you can substitute.
Yeah, it was like,
That's, you don't want to substitute an oil like that's not a, that's not something
you want to do, you know, in a modern engine with the tolerances.
And yeah, that's
That's why it was like, it's got to be pretty desperate if they're like, okay, so on a
temporary basis, I want to say it was like eight weight and 16 weight.
And they were saying you could substitute 20 weight for it.
Doesn't that depend on where you are and other factors?
I think you have to think that Toyota are masters of global supply chain, right?
Obviously, they probably sell more cars than pretty much anyone.
So if they are thinking ahead and potentially, yeah, I'm going to do a road trip in the
Audi again.
So I just bought a quart of oil, just thinking ahead.
But yeah, maybe it does make sense to just get in your favorite brand of oil just in
case, especially if you have to do an oil change, obviously, because there's a lot more
consumables required for that than there are just to top up.
Yeah, I had this moment of like, oh, that oil change that I maybe wasn't going to schedule
right away.
Maybe that goes to the top of the list and is done more quickly than I was anticipating.
So much winning these days, guys.
So much winning.
Yeah.
Yeah.
But it's interesting because also there's been a significant uptake in electric car sales.
Which is not what I want with a lease on an EV coming up.
Right.
Coming due here in a couple months.
I was hoping for another discount like in the days of you.
Help the guy out.
$200.
Yeah, leases.
You can go back into a tick one.
Perhaps we, you know, we will.
It seems like.
I'm just here to answer that question for you, Ryan.
I went and did the research and the answer is back to Tiguan.
You go with a stage one tune.
Now we're talking.
Yeah, some sort of cock tune on it.
I'll lend you one of my SK five badges.
You can stick that on the back jobs.
A good one.
Yeah.
Well, real quick, I got to give a shout out.
I drove an Audi that I had never driven before.
Is it the, so we have a friend of the show named Jaden, who's a
listener who I had lunch with a couple days back at a really nice
lunch, but he rolled up in a, is it the e-tron RS or the RS e-tron
GT?
E-tron RS.
That's zero to 60 in 2.1 seconds.
I got back in my Polestar and it felt slow.
Hell of a car really impressed and apparently they can be picked
up used for about 45 or $50,000.
So when this, I think they look, I love those whenever I see them on
the road, they really do.
Every time I see them, I'm like, that's the way to go.
Really cool car.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Get yourself one of these e-tron GTs.
Hell of a thing.
I mean, I did all the, all the launches in that car.
It was a fun post launch test drive.
So anyway, launch.
Yeah.
That's right.
That's right.
You were launching and launching with the best of them.
Absolutely.
Absolutely.
Wow.
Good car.
Well, thank you.
Never driven one before.
You made Ryan's week, which was, or last week.
It's been a pretty good week.
I was going to say, yeah.
Seven days, right?
Very good.
Very good.
Do you think Molly would take one for the school run?
It's, it's very wide, right?
Yes.
Compared to, they're, they're quite, they're, they're,
what do I want to liken to it's, you know,
this one is in white.
So from a distance, it's kind of like, you know,
a bar of soap after used a few times.
I mean, it was just kind of had the curves and it was low.
And it was, it was just, so it might be too much car for us,
but I was impressed.
I'd get into so much trouble with that car.
2.1 seconds, guys.
That's, I mean, that's hypercar fast.
Yeah.
Crazy.
Writing, isn't it?
It's funny if it's exactly the same size as the Taycan,
because they're based on, they're both based on the same
platform, right?
If it's the same size, that is the same size as a current
Range Rover.
Wow.
Footprint, like.
Yeah.
Yeah.
It's a lot of car.
And I think because they're so low, they may be seen bigger.
This one had a full carbon roof, no, no sunroof or anything.
So, you know, but that's, yeah, it was not a small car.
And yet you give up a lot of room in the back because of
that coupe like profile.
Yeah.
That soap like profile.
Yeah.
So, I don't know if it's going to be for us.
You just know that in the designer meeting, they're like,
okay, guys, just imagine.
Bar of soap.
Very good bar of soap, but maybe, maybe too much vehicle for
the barky daily.
Wow.
So is it the same wheelbase as a Range Rover?
I don't know.
I just know that the size, the physical size.
Like that.
I had one of the very first Taycans to review for the
Porsche magazine many years ago.
And it was, yeah, I did my research.
It was the same size as a Range Rover.
So it's wild.
Well, it just tells you how much design impacts your
perception of like size.
And we've talked about color and how that impacts how you,
you know, experience of design, but like those are such
different designs to find out they're the same size visually.
It doesn't look like that.
Yeah.
The Taycan does seem smaller for some reason, but I don't know.
Very good.
Was your assistant tonight, Dan?
I think we've given them the night off, haven't we?
Obviously.
I think we've lent them to Jorge so he could use them on
his show because apparently that's what he used and said.
So, hey, Jorge.
I think we'll stay clear of the controversy tonight, but
maybe it's a question for our audience.
Is it ever okay to cut the mustard?
There you go.
Leave a comment.
Yes.
There was an update posted today I saw.
Yeah.
So the mustard is the double yellow lines that run in the
middle of a road.
And technically it's illegal to cross them.
Spirited drivers sometimes see a straight line from point A
to point B versus a set of restrictions.
But let us know, audience, maybe we'll start a poll.
Is it ever okay to cut the mustard?
And I did want to make an ask to our audience as well.
So we get lots of feedback every week.
Great feedback, very constructive feedback.
But one of the things that Ryan noticed is quite a small
percentage of our listeners are actually subscribed.
What was the number?
Eighty-five percent of our listeners are not subscribers,
which shocked me.
And I just think of how many listeners we'd have if those
people were automatically getting force fed our show each week.
Please do follow or subscribe or whatever the term is on your
platform of choice because it makes a huge difference.
If we can double that to, you know, 30 percent of you who
subscribe who listen, it would make a huge difference.
We're going to send Ryan back to math school because 25
double does not equal 30.
Fifteen.
Fifteen.
Did I say that wrong?
Eighty-five percent of people.
Eighty-five, yeah.
No, I am a product of the American public school system.
So, you know, it wouldn't surprise me if I screwed that out.
I've been too busy cutting mustard.
Well, now we know what your answer would be in the poll, Dan.
That's right.
It's funny because it's different in Europe.
In Europe, you know, it's allowed.
So as long as it's not like completely solid,
but it's not frowned upon in the same way, I don't think.
So what's the sensibility about it there?
It's just if it's safe.
Yeah.
Right?
So if you can see a clear line from point A to point B,
it's actually potentially advanced driving by taking a straight
line versus cornering.
Right.
And that's going to create more debate, I'm sure.
I'm saying that's for Europe.
I'm not saying that's for the U.S.
So let us know.
Do you cut the mustard and when is it appropriate?
We are here to create controversy, if nothing else.
Consumer advice, controversy, car reviews.
What else do you want from a podcast?
I know.
Well, I think, did you guys notice this caught my attention
because we've talked about it a lot lately with the fashion brand
collaborations of, you know, yesteryear.
Don't get me started.
I've got one for you in a minute on this.
I've got one.
Okay.
So obviously Subaru and LLB and used to collaborate and Ford
and Eddie Bauer.
So Ford has come out with a new one.
They are partnered with Carhart.
And you're going to be able to purchase starting the 2027 model
year.
You'll be able to get the Ford Super Duty Carhart edition.
I am not mad enough for that.
Carhart is now fashionable, right?
With young people.
Yeah.
It's, I think it's like hipstery, you know, that's all.
Yeah.
I wonder if it's like that suede type.
But there's a room that's going around in Formula one right now
that Gucci are coming in with the Alpine team.
So it would be Gucci Alpine 2027.
And I just, you know, what do the driver's suits look like?
What does the, you know, the race team look like?
Amazing.
They're luggage.
In a word, fantastic.
But they're missing an opportunity.
They were very famously was the Gucci Cadillac collab of 1984 or
whatever that was, right?
Right.
You know, I mean Cadillac, you know, F one team.
I mean, you know, and that artwork wouldn't be AI generated.
No, but the Gucci Alpine team, everything is Gucci in that
team.
Like if it happens, you heard it here first.
If it doesn't, we'll deny ever saying it.
That's right.
We never created it.
Yeah.
I love it.
Well, I mean, so really that's the two car solution as you get one
of the Gucci Alpine F one cars and then afford car heart and you've
covered all your bases.
You're winning at life.
Winning at life.
Did anyone find oil?
The new swatch collaboration.
Yeah.
Oh, is that the one?
It was pink turquoise and yellow.
They've they've gone with a new brand.
Right.
Okay.
And I think it's, is it all to our PK?
Yeah, it's AP.
Yeah.
And they're pretty cool.
They're pretty cool.
They're not a wristwatch.
They are a pocket watch.
Well, you can pop them into a band.
Can you?
Because I looked on the website and there weren't any bands available
at purchase at launch.
Okay.
I have seen maybe, maybe I've seen renderings, but I mean,
that's one way to bring back the past.
I know.
I'm like, I feel like this is aggressively throwback.
When's that train coming in?
This is the steamy.
That's that's that's that's bold.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I don't know.
I like the idea and I think it's fascinating that they're doing
it and I know that swatch brand owns, you know, some of this, you
know, these bands they're labbing with.
How'd you pronounce it?
Blop on.
Yeah, I believe so.
That's the one I want.
That's the one that was 50 fathoms tribute.
And now all of them are PK.
I think Sheffield watches should do a pocket watch.
How classy would that be?
Yeah.
Jay, if you're listening, we're happy to beat a test.
Yeah.
That's true.
I would rock a Sheffield pocket watch.
That'd be that'd be amazing.
Yeah.
With some tweed.
That's right.
Sheffields are showing up on at award ceremonies now.
You saw the picture.
Celebrities.
Yeah.
Celebrities.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Which is, I don't know what ceremony that was or event, but, you know, they
do this watch check.
So it's like Rolex AP, you know, it's, it's, you know, it's all the good stuff.
I'm a watch guy and apparently I can only think of two brands.
But then there was the comedian, what's his name?
Fluffy.
Oh, Gabriel Iglesias.
Gabriel Iglesias had the Sheffield Jay Leno watch on, which was really cool.
That's awesome.
Jay, you've hacked Hollywood.
That's fluffy and that most of that car show.
That's celebrities.
They're just like started here.
Well, watch check.
Yeah.
Oh, I love that one.
Yeah.
I screwed up tonight.
I've never seen you without a watch.
So yeah.
We're on that pocket watch guys.
Yeah.
We're going on.
What time is it?
Right.
When is the next train?
And you have to start calling people doll and like speaking like they did.
Nice.
I think we are probably at a show.
We better, we better stop now.
The wheels are coming off.
So thank you everyone for listening.
As Ryan said, please, please subscribe.
And if however you do that, it does mean a lot to us.
And we'll be back next week with an interesting guest.
That's right.
That's right.
Yeah.
And on that note, remember always be driving.
Wear that car show and we'll see you next week.
About this episode
Beverly Hills hot rods kick things off, from a 32 Ford Coupe rumbling through rush-hour traffic to a collector’s early Shelby Cobra and Porsche “Yellowbird.” The show then shifts to track and road testing: Laguna Seca’s corkscrew (a climb into a blind corner followed by a steep drop) and a BMW M4 hot lap. Later, the hosts compare EVs and SUVs in mud and on courses—praising Subaru EVs, Subaru’s “wilderness” trim, and even launch control in “gravity”—before wrapping with road-infrastructure banter and brand-loyalty/profit talk.
Today, on That Car Show… it’s a crew show. Lindsey drives every new car available today in one afternoon and picks a winner, Dan get screwed in the passenger seat of an M4 at Laguna Seca, and I check off a few enthusiast boxes of my own on the streets of Beverly Hills AND behind the wheel of a very special Alfaholics GTA-R.
Plus, we divvy up condiments, insult the French, and get all old timey talking about the new Swatch + AP collab. You’ll never miss the midnight train to Georgia again, listeners.
It’s the car podcast for people who actually like cars. It’s That Car Show.
Do us a favor and follow, subscribe, rate, review, and tell your friends about That Car Show.
And visit our friends at E470: @e470tollway and e470.com!
