A twin turbo V8 is a powerful car engine with eight cylinders and two devices called turbochargers that help the engine make more power by pushing extra air in.
A plug-in hybrid car uses both gas and electricity to move. You can charge its battery by plugging it in, so it can drive some distance just on electricity.
A carbon fiber tub is the strong but light main part of a car's frame made from a special material called carbon fiber. It helps the car be safe and fast.
A road course is a race track that has different kinds of turns and hills, not just a simple circle. Cars race on these tracks to test their handling and speed.
Podium green is a special green paint color that Aston Martin uses on some of their cars. It comes from the green color they use in racing, so it shows the car's connection to racing.
Formula One is a type of very fast car racing with special cars that only race on certain tracks. It is very popular worldwide and helps car companies like Aston Martin become more famous.
The Ferrari F40 is a very famous and fast sports car made by Ferrari a long time ago. It's known for being very powerful and special because it was the last car Enzo Ferrari helped design.
Some cars are made in small numbers or very few are left, so they become rare. Because they are rare, many people want to own them, which makes them more expensive.
Radwood cars are cool cars from the 1980s and 1990s that people today really like because they remind them of that time. They have special styles that many people find interesting.
The Audi R8 is a fast sports car made by Audi. It has a powerful V10 engine and some versions have a special manual gear shifter that makes driving more fun.
The 300 SL Gullwing is a very old and special Mercedes car with doors that open up like wings. Many people love it because it looks cool and drives well.
The Cadillac Escalade V is a big, fancy SUV that is faster and more powerful than the regular Escalade. It’s like a sports car but in a large SUV you can use for family or hauling stuff.
Car
Mercedes-Benz G500
The Mercedes-Benz G500 is a fancy SUV that can go off-road but also feels very comfortable and nice inside. It looks like a box and is very strong.
But I find that kind of cool. Yeah, they're definitely resonating with you.
For sure. I mean, the Escalade V isn't just like an Escalade is already polarizing, right? Because
people think of it as like a, like if you're a successful rapper or like a Kardashian kind of
person, you know, a baller, exactly. And then you add the fact that this has a supercharged
6.2 liter V8, like they all have the 6.2 liter V8, but this one has a supercharger. So it makes
682 horsepower, makes 653 pound feet of torque. You don't really need that in a
truck that weighs, I don't know, seven, eight thousand pounds, right? Actually, I think it
weighs less than that, like 6,500, but it weighs a lot. But first of all, I like giant cars because,
like I said, I'm big. I have a lot of people to put in the car. I usually have dogs around,
you know, and I like to just be able to move around. And also in America,
you can't really drive that fast anyway. So it makes more sense to have a land yacht than,
you know, a race car in my opinion. Can I also say on to this point, did you see that Mercedes
just like unveiled their new Sprinter van or whatever? I don't know if you saw it. I didn't,
but I'm a fan. Okay. So, okay. You know, like the one use case for those Sprinter vans is arriving
at red carpet events like the Met Gala and also like the real housewives will take a Sprinter
van on their trip, et cetera, et cetera, which let's, I do not think is cool. I think that's very
lame to be arriving at some amazing event in a van. And I would argue that why not just get an
escalade? It's way cooler to be arriving in a real blacked out super butch beefy escalade than in a van.
I will say I understand the van. If you have a big gown and you actually need to stand,
then you go in the van because you can stand in the van and not have to sit down and ruin your
your gown. I understand that is why they do that sometimes. But arriving in a Sprinter van is never
cool and arriving out of an escalade is cool. I so I wouldn't want to do this Sprinter van thing.
No. In terms of like luxury, but I do know a very, very wealthy hedge fund manager who
has done just that. He took a Sprinter and he put in like a big screen TV and a bar and like a
luxurious couch and so people do. I get it. People do and look, they had like vans, similar vans
like that at this lone mountain ranch where I stayed and big sky, which I actually shout out
to lone mountain. I really love staying there and meeting with the owners, Jason and Ella.
It's a very cool place to stay. I highly recommend it. But they had that same kind of like really,
you know, posh van and I get it. I'm probably in the minority because your friend sounds like
your friend loves it too. But I just can't get past the fact that it's like a van, which to me
translates into mini van, which I'm just like, no, that's a full stop. I mean, I feel like it's
definitely better than a mini van, but it's not going to be as much fun to drive as an Escalade
and definitely not as much fun to drive as an Escalade V. And I feel like honestly, if I could
only have, you know, everyone plays that game. If you could only have one car, not for resale,
what would you get? And a lot of people that listen to this will probably say 911 and I know
it's the Swiss army knife of cars, but it's still a little bit small, you know? And to me,
I think this would be the car I would get. It's so luxurious. The stereo is amazing.
It's so comfortable. You can fit, it's got three rows and still space in the back and it has this
mean sound. It just, everything works perfectly. It feels so solid. I can't think of anything
else I would choose over it. Unless you get to like, you know, if you're talking about like a
Rolls-Royce, like a Cullinan or, you know, a Lamborghini Aventador maybe, but like under,
for under $200,000, I can't think of anything else I would want if I could only have one vehicle.
So, you know how you said that you hated the Cadillac Escalade EV? Yeah, you didn't.
I didn't love it. I didn't love it. I didn't love it. You're saying this is like,
this doesn't have any of the stuff that you didn't like. It doesn't feel nearly as heavy.
Yeah. Okay. It's, I mean, it's not sporty, right? But it's much more fun to drive, I think.
Maybe it's the sound and the vibes that help, but it also feels more solid,
probably because of its relative lightweight, which is so silly to say about a 6,500 pound car,
but the Escalade EV or the Escalade IQ weighs like 10,000 pounds. So, that's just a totally
different ballgame. Yeah. I think I, I much prefer the gas version, even the non-V gas version,
I would rather have than the Escalade IQ. What color did, was the one that you were driving?
The one I have right now is like, I think I could call it tint coat red or something.
Red. Well, red. It's like a maroon, right? It's the Cadillac red. Yeah.
I don't know if I've ever seen a red one. Is it good? I mean, I always just recommend black,
but the red is actually like a viable option. Oh, yeah. Super nice. And the wheels, they're 21
inch, but they're like a gunmetal, very nice. Like the whole thing, it's got that sport look,
so the blacked out grills and everything. I mean, it is just a fantastic vehicle. This is one of
those where when I give it back, you know, last week I had a Buick something and I thought,
I thought, was it? Envista, I think it was called. I spent, I really wanted to give it a chance. So
after the first day, I was like, I don't want to really drive this, but then I drove it for a few
days to, and it really made me more depressed about life. Like it made me unhappy. Usually,
when I go to the grocery store, I'm psyched because I'm jumping in a fun car, my challenger, and I,
it's not, you know, a racetrack on the way there, but it's just, it's a good feeling to cruise down
the Boulevard. And in this car, it was like, I would rather just not go. But this thing,
this thing just, it will pay me to give it back. When it's the end of the week, I'm going to be
like, guys, are you sure we can't extend this loan? Like, I still need to test out the super
cruise function, you know, which it has, by the way. And you've got to do your due diligence.
Yeah. And you're, and you're, you also personally own a GLC, right?
A GLS. I have a Mercedes GLS. Okay. So this is another level. The GLS, the problem for me,
with all of those big SUVs that are unibody, so the GLS, the X7, the Q7, the upcoming Q9,
they all take an absolute beating on the roads in this part of America. And after a couple of
years, after the first lease period is over, their expensive, like high-end air suspension
is destroyed. And then it's going to cost you five, 10,000 or whatever to fix it and maintain it,
is going to cost even more. So these GM SUVs, and Ford has some as well, that are, you know,
body on frame that are ladder frame trucks, they are just far more resilient when it comes to
dealing with the Northeastern pothold, pockmarked, you know, disintegrating American infrastructure
roads. That's why I love them. Yeah, that's so cool. So are we saying this does it? We're saying
this is goodbye. Yeah, this is goodbye. Remember to follow and subscribe to Hot Pursuit on Apple
Spotify. And anywhere else you listen, you can also send us your comments, email us at hotpursuit
at Bloomberg.net. And check out Hannah's columns and stories on Bloomberg.com and the Bloomberg
business app. Go there for car reviews, events and stories that you won't find anywhere else,
including the review, her review of the Aston Martin Valhalla when it goes live. Find it all
at Bloomberg.com slash pursuit slash autos. I'm Matt Miller and I'm Hannah Elliott and this is Bloomberg.
And that's what I'm doing here on this podcast, speaking to people from Nigel Farage to tech
journalist Kara Swisher. And the tech industry is running wild. You know, they've gotten what
they wanted and they've seen a huge run up in their stock prices. This will be a place where
every weekend you can count on one essential conversation to help make sense of the world.
So please join me, listen and subscribe to the Michelle Hussein show from Bloomberg weekend,
wherever you get your podcasts. You certainly ask interesting questions.
About this episode
The hosts share experiences from Spain, including a helicopter ride with Aston Martin's CEO and insights on the Valhalla supercar. They discuss the challenges of Formula One's hybrid era and its impact on racing excitement. Eden Cooper, founder of Drift Capital, talks about running a fund that invests in high-end collectible cars like the Ferrari F40 and Carrera GT, blending passion with asset management. The episode also explores the appeal of large SUVs, focusing on the Cadillac Escalade V's luxury, performance, and practicality compared to electric alternatives.
Matt and Hannah talk about the impending Scout, the fight with dealerships and the want for electric cars. They also touch on the Cadillac Escalade-V. Plus, a conversation with Drift Capital's Eden Cooper.
