The Jeep Wagoneer is a big SUV with room for three rows of passengers. The episode is talking about how Jeep made several versions of it, which is why the names can sound confusing.
The Jeep Grand Wagoneer is the bigger, more upscale version of the Wagoneer. The hosts are pointing out that Jeep created several similar-sounding versions, which made it harder to keep track.
They’re talking about Jeep trying to market certain SUVs as a luxury brand, not just regular Jeeps. The hosts think Jeep may have tried to do it too quickly or in a way that didn’t match what buyers wanted.
The Cadillac Escalade is a very upscale, high-status SUV. The hosts are using it as an example of a luxury SUV that makes a lot of money, which Jeep wanted to compete with.
Four-wheel drive means the car can send power to all four wheels. That helps it grip better on slippery roads, and in this segment they say it’s one reason the price is higher in Canada.
“Trail Rated” is Jeep’s label for SUVs that are designed and tested to handle off-road trails. It’s basically Jeep saying, “this one can do real trail driving,” not just look rugged.
They’re talking about how Jeep is trying to sell some models as more upscale and comfortable, not just as off-road vehicles. The debate is which Jeeps should be luxury and which should stay rugged.
The Jeep Wrangler is the Jeep most people associate with serious off-roading. The hosts are saying it hasn’t really been sold as a luxury model the way some other Jeeps have.
The Model Y is an electric SUV, meaning it runs on electricity instead of gasoline. The podcast mentions air suspension, which is a system that can help smooth out the ride and change how the car sits. It’s being discussed as part of how the car handles different driving conditions.
Air suspension is a suspension system that can change the car’s height using air pressure. For off-roading, it can lift the vehicle so you have more clearance under it.
Ground clearance is the distance between the lowest part of the vehicle and the road surface. More ground clearance generally helps prevent scraping the underbody when driving over obstacles.
Locking diffs are a traction feature that makes both wheels on the same axle turn together. That helps when one wheel is slipping, so the vehicle can keep moving.
The friction coefficient is basically a measure of how grippy the tire is on that surface. Higher grip means you’re less likely to slip when climbing or coming down a steep rock face.
Quadra Drive 2 is Jeep’s specific 4x4 setup on some models. It’s meant to help the vehicle stay in control and keep traction when the terrain is tough.
Low range is a gearing mode that makes the vehicle move slower but with more pulling power. It’s used for tough off-road driving where you need precise control.
A locking front diff helps the front wheels work together when traction is uneven. Without it, if one front wheel slips, the car may struggle to move forward.
Brand
Tesh
Tesh is the person they bought the car from (or got it through). The hosts are talking about the car’s past, not a specific car feature.
“Hurricane engine” is the name Jeep uses for a particular engine design. They’re saying the Grand Wagoneer is now using one main version of that engine, instead of several different power levels.
Term
horsepower version
When they say “horsepower version,” they mean the engine is rated to make a certain amount of power. They’re comparing a lower-power version (420 hp) to a higher-power version that used to be offered (540 hp).
Car
Ram
Ram is the truck brand. They’re comparing driving feel between a Ram and the Jeep Grand Wagoneer, mainly talking about horsepower and what’s being offered.
Horsepower is a number that roughly describes how strong the engine is. Here, “420 horsepower” is used to compare different versions of the truck/SUV they’ve driven.
Pentastar is the name Jeep/Chrysler uses for a V6 engine. They’re saying that V6 is returning, which matters because it changes what kind of powertrain the vehicle will use.
EREV means an electric car with an extra system to help it go farther. It still drives like an electric vehicle, but it can use a generator to recharge the battery for longer trips.
A hybrid car uses both a gas engine and an electric motor. In some designs, the gas engine doesn’t directly push the wheels—it can instead make electricity for the electric motor to drive the car.
Here, the engine is used like a power plant. It spins a device that makes electricity, and that electricity runs the electric motor that moves the car.
A V6 is a gas engine with six cylinders. The “drive train” is the set of parts that normally send engine power to the wheels, but here they’re saying the V6 isn’t doing that job directly.
Honda is mentioned as an example of a different hybrid design. The idea is that Honda’s system usually relies on the electric motor, and only sometimes uses the gas engine to directly help the wheels.
Concept
early 2010s hybrid debate
The hosts reference an earlier period (early 2010s) when hybrid powertrains—often involving smaller engines like a four-cylinder—were debated about whether they truly qualified as “hybrids” in the way people expected. This highlights how hybrid architectures can vary, even if they share the same basic label.
This is an electric car that can go farther than a typical EV by using an extra system to keep the battery charged. Instead of only depending on charging from a plug, it can generate electricity when needed.
The BMW i3 is an electric car that, in some versions, can include a small gas engine to help recharge the battery. That extra engine and equipment add weight, which can hurt how far you can go on electricity alone.
A range extension engine is a small gas engine used to make electricity for the battery when it’s running low. It helps the car go farther, but it also adds weight, which can reduce efficiency.
The Ford F-150 Lightning is the electric version of the Ford F-150 pickup. Here it’s mentioned mainly because its weight is similar, so the hosts are questioning whether the new system would be dramatically heavier.
The Chevrolet Silverado EV is an electric pickup. They mention it to make the point that fully electric trucks can be extremely heavy compared with other vehicles.
The Hummer EV SUV is a big SUV that runs on electricity. The podcast is pointing out that it’s a full electric vehicle, not a gas hybrid. It’s mentioned alongside other electric vehicles in the same general category.
A kilowatt-hour (kWh) is a unit of electrical energy storage, and the battery pack’s kWh rating is a key indicator of how much energy the vehicle can use. A 92 kWh pack is considered large for a plug-in hybrid, which typically translates to more electric-only capability (though real-world results depend on driving conditions and how the hybrid system is calibrated).
Driving range is how far the car says it can go before you have to recharge or refuel. The real distance can be different depending on how you drive and conditions like weather.
A plug-in hybrid is a car you can charge from a plug, but it also has a gas engine. The idea is to get electric driving when it’s convenient, and gas power when you need extra range.
Max tow rating is the highest weight the manufacturer says the vehicle can tow safely. It’s there to prevent overheating, brake fade, and other towing problems.
The Yukon is a large SUV, and the Denali is a higher-end trim. The podcast mentions it while comparing how much space you get versus other large SUVs. The point is about interior room and how it stacks up.
The Armada is a large SUV with three rows of seats, meant for carrying more people. It’s brought up because it competes with other big SUVs in the same general category. The podcast is grouping it with similar full-size options.
The Expedition is a large SUV with three rows of seats, meant for carrying more people. It’s often compared to other big SUVs because they’re similar in size and purpose. The podcast brings it up as part of that comparison group.
Super Cruise is a GM system that can help drive the car hands-free in certain situations. The host brings it up as a major selling point for GM compared with competitors.
Blue Cruise is Ford’s hands-free driving assist feature that can steer the car by itself in certain situations. The host uses it to show Ford is catching up to GM’s Super Cruise.
A hands-free system is tech that can help steer the car without you gripping the wheel all the time. It only works when the car is in the right kind of driving situation, and the host says Jeep doesn’t have that in the 2026 Grand Wagoneer.
Engine replacement is when a shop swaps the whole engine instead of just fixing one part. The hosts are saying this is happening often enough to be a noticeable reliability problem.
A sunroof is a glass or panel opening in the roof that lets in light and sometimes fresh air. The host notes a dedicated sunroof for the third-row passengers, which is unusual because many SUVs only provide roof openings for the front or second row.
A powered sunshade is a cover that you can move automatically to block the sun. In this case, it doesn’t move by itself, so you have to adjust it manually.
A rear-seat entertainment system is the screen-and-audio setup meant for passengers in the back seats. The goal is to keep kids or passengers entertained without taking over the main screen up front.
Four-zone climate control means the car can heat or cool different parts of the cabin separately. So people in different seats can each pick a temperature they like.
Massage seat functions are built-in seat features that use motors and air bladders or rollers to provide vibration or kneading sensations. Here, the host points out that the massage controls are integrated into the vehicle’s screen-based “creature comfort” panel.
Haptic buttons give you a physical “feel” (like a vibration) when you press something. That way you can use the controls without constantly looking at the screen.
Stellantis is the company that owns Jeep and other car brands. The host is basically saying the company did a good job designing how the controls and layout feel inside the vehicle.
A 3-row SUV has three rows of seats, usually for bigger families. The speaker is saying this kind of design often prioritizes carrying people over serious off-road driving.
The Land Rover Defender 130 is a rugged off-road SUV with extra length for more space. The speaker’s comparing it to the Jeep to argue the Defender is made first for off-roading, not just looking luxurious.
To tow a trailer means pulling something behind the SUV, like a boat or camper. The speaker is saying the Grand Wagoneer is built more for that everyday utility than for hardcore off-roading.
A three-row SUV is a big family SUV with extra seats in the back. The point they’re making is that these vehicles are usually bought for carrying people and gear, not for serious off-roading.
Towing is when you pull something behind your car, like a trailer or boat. Hauling is when you carry heavy or bulky stuff, and they’re saying that’s usually why people choose a big SUV.
The Toyota Sequoia is Toyota’s full-size, three-row SUV that competes directly with other large family haulers. Here it’s used as the benchmark “three-row SUV alternative” to the Grand Wagoneer, with the key comparison being that the Sequoia is more expensive and less luxurious in the speaker’s view.
TRD is Toyota’s performance/off-road brand. A TRD Sequoia usually has extra features or styling meant to make it more capable or more “sporty” than a regular trim.
The Defender is a large SUV built to handle rough roads and off-road trails. People talk about it when comparing expensive, capable SUVs and when checking the price of bigger versions. The podcast is referencing it while trying to match it to other vehicles.
The Land Rover Discovery is a three-row SUV known for blending family-friendly practicality with a more upscale, capable character. In this segment, the hosts compare it to the Defender 130 and describe it as being “closer to crossover territory,” meaning it’s positioned more like a mainstream family SUV than a rugged off-road-only vehicle.
The Grand Cherokee L is a longer version of Jeep’s Grand Cherokee. The hosts are basically saying the Wagoneer looks similar in size and shape to this longer Jeep.
The Hornet is a small crossover SUV. In the podcast, they say it’s no longer on the list because it’s “gone,” meaning it’s not currently being sold or considered. The mention is about availability rather than driving details.
The RX-3 is an older Mazda sports car. The podcast is using it to make the point that an older design can still be a good choice. It’s mentioned as part of a discussion about whether “old” automatically means “bad.”
MagneRide is a suspension system that can automatically adjust how soft or firm the ride feels. It helps the car stay comfortable on rough roads while still handling well.
The 2026 Subaru Crosstrek Hybrid is a Crosstrek that uses both a gas engine and electric power. The hosts are saying the newer hybrid system is different from older attempts, and they’re focusing on how it affects power and weight.
Concept
hybrid vs plug-in hybrid (power delivery and charging)
They’re comparing two kinds of hybrid cars: one you mostly charge through driving, and one you can plug in. The difference matters because it changes how much electric power you get and how the car feels to drive.
A four-cylinder engine is an engine with four working cylinders. They mention the size (two and a half liters) to explain why the power and torque numbers make sense.
RPM (revolutions per minute) is how fast the engine’s crankshaft spins. They’re comparing where maximum torque happens—nearly instant versus around 3,700 RPM—so you can understand the difference in “low-end” versus “high-RPM” pull.
A spare tire is the backup tire you can use if you get a flat. The host is saying this version doesn’t come with one, so a flat could be more of a hassle.
Car buyers don’t always get the exact same hybrid options in every country. This segment explains that Canada and the U.S. have different hybrid trim choices, so the starting price ends up different too.
A turbocharged engine uses a device that pushes extra air into the engine. That usually helps the car feel stronger and quicker, especially when you accelerate.
CVT means the transmission can adjust its “gear ratio” smoothly. The host is saying that on the gas Crosstrek, the engine can end up sounding buzzy because the CVT keeps it in a certain rev range.
In a hybrid, the car constantly switches between gas power and electric power. If that switch happens abruptly—like right after a cold start—it can feel rough or shake the car.
EV mode is the setting that tries to make the car run on electricity instead of the gas engine. If the battery or conditions aren’t right, the car won’t let EV mode turn on and will warn you.
A mild hybrid is a hybrid where the electric system mainly helps the gas engine, not fully replace it. So the car may only be able to run on electricity in limited moments, like when you’re coasting or stopped.
Fuel economy is a measure of how far a car can go on a gallon of gas. The hosts mention the usual U.S. categories: city driving, highway driving, and an overall combined number.
Hybrid Synergy Drive is Toyota’s name for how it combines a gas engine and an electric motor in one hybrid system. The goal is to make the car use electricity and gas together efficiently.
EV power means the car is running on electricity from its battery. The hosts are saying you can’t always rely on it—sometimes the car switches away from electric-only driving.
The Crosstrek is a small crossover SUV meant for everyday driving. In the podcast, they say they can’t use a certain feature or setup because it doesn’t work with the car’s “cross track” setup. The mention is about compatibility, not performance specs.
“Real world” refers to how the car performs in everyday driving, which can differ from official test results. The segment argues that the Crosstrek Hybrid’s improvement over a gas model is smaller in practice than the marketing numbers suggest.
Term
mid trim
A trim level is a specific version of the car with a certain set of features. The hosts are implying the hybrid price difference might be different on a mid-level version.
This is the hybrid version of the Subaru Crosstrek. The hosts are basically asking: does the hybrid really save enough gas in everyday driving to justify the extra cost?
This is a way to measure gas use: how many liters it takes to drive 100 kilometers. Lower is better, and they’re comparing that number between versions of the Crosstrek.
A “two liter” engine is a way to describe the engine’s size. In this discussion, it matters because it was tied to the base version, affecting how people compare costs and fuel savings.
Fuel efficiency is how far the car can go on a given amount of gas. The hosts are saying that if you care most about saving fuel, you may want to consider other options.
The Nissan Pathfinder is a family SUV. Here, the speaker is talking about problems they noticed after an accident in their driveway and is planning to get it checked for an exhaust leak.
A control arm is part of the suspension that helps hold the wheel in the right position. If it gets bent, the car can steer slightly off or feel “off” even if nothing else seems wrong.
The catalytic converter is a part that cleans up exhaust gases. It’s also something thieves sometimes steal, and if it’s tampered with, the car can end up with an exhaust leak.
An exhaust leak is when exhaust fumes are escaping from the exhaust system instead of flowing through it normally. It can make the car sound different and can be a sign something got damaged or loosened.
The Volkswagen Taos is a small SUV/crossover from Volkswagen. The host is just setting up the next topic and clarifying how to say the name.
LIVE
Hello, and welcome to the unnamed automotive podcast.
My name is Sammy Haj Asad,
and with me as always is my good friend
and fellow automotive journalist, Benjamin Hunting.
Say hi to the people, Ben.
Greetings, Maytime listeners.
Ben, did you just yawn into the mic?
Well, maybe I'm just, it's been a long day.
I had to pick up some furniture.
I had my Jeep stall out.
I had to load my trailer,
which involves me physically moving the trailer
across the yard like I can't go get it with my truck
because the ground is too soft.
So if I'm going, then there's probably a reason.
All right, well, I've got plenty of things to talk about
this week to kind of like energize you,
but before we do that,
I want you to discuss your latest little project
that you're working on.
It's not really a little project, it's a big project.
I like when you diminish my project.
Sorry, I didn't mean to do that.
That's not what I meant.
That's not what I meant.
Maybe all my little friends
are interested in my little project.
Hey man, I'm interested in every one of your projects.
I've been there.
I got your back.
All right, so I have a comment book
on Kickstarter right now,
Dead Air, which is a book about a world where
one day out of the year you can talk to the dead
and it flashes back and forth between
a group of 1990s college radio DJs
and their adult selves in the year 2011
as they try to figure out what actually happened
relating to a tragedy that occurred in their youth.
And that book can be found at deadaircomic.com.
We are well on our way to getting funded.
There's about three weeks left in the campaign.
And I know a bunch of you guys and girls
and folk have supported my comics in the past
and I really appreciate that.
So it's been a couple of years
since I've had an issue of Dead Air ready.
And it would be, I know that some of you
are probably waiting or maybe you forgot about the book.
In any case, if you're interested, deadaircomic.com,
go check it out.
I love it.
And the artwork of the previous issues
is unbelievable as is the storytelling.
So I didn't mean anything when I said that,
but I'd stand by your comic work.
I think it's brilliant.
Where can people find your latest work?
And if you're not looking for comics,
you can find my car writing at Motor Trend,
at Hagerty and at a driving.ca.
And you can find my work at autotrader.ca
and driving.ca as well as driving.ca's.
YouTube channel.
Ben, you're also all over the internet.
You're like on every single indie comic web podcast
I've ever listened to in my life.
Okay, maybe I am.
Are you not going to plug any of those?
No, I'm not.
It's overwhelming.
I in fact have another recording scheduled for tonight.
So I have to rely on their plugging
in order for this to work.
I can't be constantly plugging.
You don't want to plug the other podcast
that you are being on because...
It's overwhelming.
Like I don't know how else to tell it.
Like literally 30 to 40% of my day now
is promoting my comic book.
Okay, so let's take it.
That takes a lot out of you.
But I'm sorry for taking so much out of the intro.
Yeah, the other 60% is dealing with Sammy.
So like you can imagine what my life is like.
I'm sorry for taking so much of your mental energy
and the intro to talk about your comic book work.
But we'll put that all aside for now.
I think we're ready to talk about some cars
and trucks in particular
because this week I'm driving the 2026 Grand Wagoneer
and there's actually so much to talk about with this truck.
Sammy, I'm so stoked to tell you about it.
Is it still a Grand Wagoneer
if the regular Wagoneer no longer exists?
It is still a Grand Wagoneer
if the regular Wagoneer no longer exists
because there still is another Wagoneer.
I believe the Wagoneer S, which is an electric vehicle
and not at all related to the Grand Wagoneer.
And like way smaller.
Yeah, is also available.
So basically what happened was, I think in 2020,
I'm going to say, I think it was 2021,
Jeep introduced the Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer
and the reception was, let's say lukewarm at that.
First of all, it's not like that's a confusing strategy.
Yeah, I know, you know.
Basically they said we've got a three-row cross.
We actually, it's not just two cars they made,
it's actually like four cars
because they made the Wagoneer
and then the long wheelbase Wagoneer.
And then they said, hey, you know what?
If you think that's not good enough for you,
there's the Grand Wagoneer
and the Grand Wagoneer long wheelbase.
I think the long wheelbases came out a bit later too.
I think it was a cascaded kind of thing.
That's even worse, right?
They're like, if that wasn't confusing enough,
a Grand Wagoneer can also be grander in terms of size.
And there was one more confusing aspect of this
is they weren't Jeeps.
Like they didn't have any Jeep branding on them.
They didn't have Jeep badges.
And they were sold if you were on the Jeep website,
they were part of their own little thing
that was called like Wagoneer.
And it was an attempt to create a luxury brand.
Now, the whole idea behind this was Cadillac
makes a lot of money selling Escalades.
And Jeep thought that they could get a piece of that.
And Cadillac has for a really long time
resisted the idea of spitting Escalade off
as its own brand.
Okay.
I think that Jeep might have jumped the gun
trying to create a brand out of whole cloth with Wagoneer.
Yeah, I think that's a fair point.
And I think they were hit with so much,
not just criticism and feedback from the media
and customers, because apparently not very many people
bought the Wagoneer or the Grand Wagoneer.
They just like, they took it, they took a hit, man.
They were very expensive.
They were expensive?
They still are.
Well, kind of.
Now it's weird because the Wagoneer
has been absorbed by the Grand Wagoneer.
So you can get a regular,
basically what used to be a Wagoneer, okay?
But it's now called a Grand Wagoneer for around $60,000.
$60,000 Canadian?
No, US.
Okay, in Canada that was the start at like 80, 85?
Yeah, like 88, almost 90.
That's a lot.
It's a lot of money.
But that's because all of them in Canada
come with four wheel drive.
They're four by four.
That's the one reason.
That's the $20,000 difference.
Yeah.
That's that better.
That's a heck of an all wheel drive system.
Okay, that's, you know, not the only major thing
that they changed about the Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer.
I should stop saying Wagoneer from now on.
Yeah, no more.
It's dead, okay?
I just gotta get it.
I just gotta get through this.
I can't say Wagoneer anymore.
I know we have such deep feelings for the name Wagoneer,
but it's just Grand Wagoneer from now on out.
So if you hear me saying just Wagoneer
without the word grand in front of it,
know that I'm totally making a huge mistake, okay?
Okay.
So in addition to that, it got a visual refresh, I believe.
It looks a little bit more modern kind of high tech
than the outgoing model did.
I think it looks closer to a grand Cherokee now.
I won't say they smoothed out the boxiness of the old one
because it's still quite boxy,
but I will say I warmed up to this design
way quicker than I did the old one.
I think it looks much better now.
I think, I wanna ask Sammy,
is the Grand Wagoneer the only Jeep
that is not trail rated?
I think that's a really good question.
I would guess that there is another one.
Because I think that there's-
Is Wagoneer S, well, trail rated?
That's a good question.
I don't know the answer to that.
I know we're still waiting for the Trailhawk version
of the Grand Cherokee,
and I believe the Trailhawk version
of the regular Cherokee isn't out yet either.
But once those-
That's like brand new.
Yeah, well, both of those are brand new.
Or at least refreshed.
But until, we know those are coming, right?
So, but until those do arrive,
then technically those aren't trail rated vehicles.
I mean, it's really marketing.
What does it really matter?
But it is effective in the sense that those versions
of those SUVs are quite capable.
I wanna talk about trail rated a little bit later.
Okay, well, just to point out that Jeep has not made
any effort to, as far as I know,
to create a trail rated version of the Grand Wagoneer
and we're like five years into its lifespan.
Yeah, I mean, it's really hard.
Okay, you know what?
Let's just talk about this right away
because it's one of the major sticking points
I have with the Grand Wagoneer
is that when you look to the brand Jeep,
you think of off-road credibility or capability
and where does a three row SUV fit in on that?
Especially one that, like you said,
doesn't really wear that trail rated badge.
It's a really tough thing to ask when you're like,
oh, Jeep also means luxury.
Well, Jeep doesn't always mean luxury, right?
Well, can also mean luxury.
That's a new thing that they've just decided
and they've hiked up the price point for that.
Even that though, is it can mean luxury
but only for like two models.
Yeah, the Grand Cherokee in the Grand Wagoneer.
Yeah, you don't really see like a luxurious entry level Jeep
and the Wrangler has never offered a luxury version.
Should they?
No.
Like a G-Wag?
That's where your mind goes.
You think that they could do a G-Wag and S-C thing
with the Wrangler platform?
No, they can't, of course not, not a chance.
All right, so the reason I bring that up
is because this does have a few little off-road gimmicks
in the form of like it has on my model
in particular had air suspension.
It could raise the ride height
so that you would have just around 10 inches,
just a little over 10 inches of ground clearance.
That's intimidating.
But that's not a lot, is it?
I mean, it's more than a regular Jeep.
It is more than a regular Jeep, that's sure.
And it's also more than a Super Roadback Wilderness.
Yeah, so like they're...
Which is our benchmark.
Exactly, that's the ArtSick...
Just a little bit though, isn't a Wilderness like nine
or something?
I think it's like 9.6.
I don't know if it's something around here.
So it's like half an inch, you know.
Yeah.
Anyways, in addition to that it's got locking diffs,
it's got for a low-range four-wheel-drive mode.
Do they all have locking diffs
and do they all have low-range?
Or is it all the Wranglers or just the model that I have?
The Grand Wagoneers, which I believe is what we're talking about.
Sorry, all the Grand Wagoneers.
Wow, fair of you.
Because I know that for like the Cherokee, Grand Cherokee,
you can order like four different off-road
four-wheel-drive systems, right?
So I'm curious to know if the Grand Wagoneer
is similar like that.
Or do they just give you the best one right off the bat?
I would love to tell you.
But for whatever reason, my, I didn't close the page.
Let me be clear.
Yeah, you never opened it.
No, it's just not working for me now.
I'm getting timeouts on the Stellantis website.
What's the top-of-the-line cheap four-wheel-drive system?
It's called like Quadra Drive 2 or something, isn't it?
Oh gosh, what a name it's gonna have.
Yeah, Quadra Drive, is it up to two now or is it four?
I don't remember a Quadra Drive 1,
but I do remember Quadra Drive 2 being pretty popular.
Okay, one sec.
I'm gonna get it.
And that's usually the one that's paired
with the air suspension system.
I did some pretty crazy stuff with that four-wheel-drive system.
I remember being in Texas outside of Austin,
and I guess it's called like Black Hill Country.
If anyone is from Texas and wants to correct me,
please feel free to write in.
And we went to this, I don't think it was an off-road park,
but it had a sheer rock face.
And I wanna say the angle was super intense,
like maybe like a 45 degree angle, maybe even more.
And we climbed up this angle using a stock Jeep Grand Cherokee.
And it was so steep that when we came down
the same direction, I was hanging in my seatbelt.
My seatbelt was like spending me in the air.
And you just realize how much of your safety
is riding on the friction coefficient
of your tires and the rock.
Absolutely, yes.
So Quadra Drive 2 with the four by four
and the rear electronic limited slip diff
and the low range gear ratio is optional.
Okay.
Okay, so not every vehicle comes with it.
Is optional as in it's the only four-wheel-drive system
or it's optional on top of another four-wheel-drive system?
I'm going to double check.
I think it's just the only all-wheel-drive option.
But in the US, there's a rear-wheel-drive version.
And there's no locking front diff.
You mentioned one before, but you're not mentioning one now.
I swear it does have one.
Mine had one.
Was yours modified?
Did you pick yours up from Tesh?
Yeah.
Yeah, that's probably it.
Let me make sure, I'm gonna make sure I have everything
because I was using my Canadian specs.
And of course, the Canadian in the US
have very different outfits for their models.
For example, the US has an even fancier version
of the vehicle that I drove.
Called the Black Label Double Trouble?
Summit Reserve, and I drove the Summit Obsidian.
Remember back when Tesh was just like living a relaxed life
Yeah, I do remember that.
And then he traded all that for,
I don't even know what like the exchange stress
of going to space, it just seems like,
it seems like he could have made some better choices.
It seems like-
Come on, don't you want to be in the,
don't you want to be in space?
It seems like no one in that group
got to enjoy their riches, you know?
I'm going to believe, hold on.
I'm going to believe.
Unnamed automotive specs podcast.
I'm just trying to fill this blank space here.
You can get everything that I'm saying that you can get.
All right, that's fine.
Let's move on.
Okay, another important thing to talk about.
The engine in this vehicle has changed entirely.
What do you mean entirely?
Not changed, sorry.
Whoa.
There used to be multiple engine options
for the Grand Wagoneer.
Not for a while though, not for a while.
I think this is the first year they've cut down
to only the three liter,
the 420 horsepower version.
Of the hurricane engine.
Before they used to offer a 540 horsepower version of it,
which sounds really impressive.
I think that would be a pretty good,
a pretty good like spec sheet.
You know, it is a good engine.
I've driven it in both the Grand Wagoneer and the Ram.
And I've driven the 420 horsepower model before this
and I'm driving this 420 horsepower now.
It's okay.
It's pretty good actually, but-
Why did they cut it down?
Aren't you in the Supreme Obsidian Overlord Edition?
It's not available in any, in any trim.
You cannot get a 500 horsepower version
of this truck anymore.
I'll tell you what they're gonna do now instead.
Remember the Pentastar?
Yeah, the V6.
Yeah, the Pentastar is coming back.
Oh my goodness.
What's going on?
You know, an extended range electric vehicle format.
Where the car will make something like 650 horsepower
and will go, I guess, I don't know, like 500 miles.
So people, for people who are listening
who aren't familiar with the EREV,
which is the abbreviation of what Sammy just described.
This is a hybrid system where the V6 engine
that is under the hood is not connected to the wheels.
That's right.
All it does is provide, work as a generator
to provide an electric motor or a series of electric motors
with the power to accelerate the vehicle.
Now, if you think it's strange to have not just a battery
and not just electric motors,
but also a full V6 drive train in a vehicle
to achieve some kind of questionable goal
and not share what's going on.
I agree with you.
I think it's very odd.
There are other systems out there on the market
that do similar things.
If you look at Honda's hybrid system,
I believe that it only connects to the wheels
in like very limited situations.
Most of the time it's the electric motor
that's doing all of the work.
This is all bringing us back to the days of the vault
when it came out in the early 2010s.
Like a four cylinder engine.
And there were all those arguments
about whether it was actually a hybrid
or whether it was an extended range electric vehicle.
The vault is probably the most famous example of this.
The BMW i3 is another one where you could get a...
It was funny.
Range extended trunk, like trunk shortener.
Yeah, and not only that,
but when you added this gas powered range extension engine
to the i3, it lowered the range of the vehicle
because it added weight.
So all of this is coming full circle
back to the Grand Wagoneer where we have this system
that is obviously gonna be super heavy.
Is it really worth it?
Like I don't quite get it.
Let's be clear here.
The current weight of this vehicle is 6,000 pounds.
Okay, but the weight of the F-150 lightning
is also 6,000 pounds.
So how much heavier can it be?
Probably eight.
Yeah.
I mean, the Hummer EV and the Silverado EV are...
But those are full EVs.
But they're 9,000 pounds.
So what I'm saying is there's a lot of room
where this could land.
Yeah.
I think it's a weird idea.
I really like that other engine.
I don't understand why it's gone.
The 540 horsepower one?
Yeah, like what is the reason for that?
Why did you do that to us Jeep?
I don't know.
And I will be clear, the engine is good enough,
but I just think that...
Is that what you wanted of a luxury vehicle?
Exactly, especially in the U.S.
I mean, in Canada, where this costs $125,000,
you'd want something that goes a good step above
the competition.
Now, one of the more important things
that you mentioned was the competition.
You mentioned the Cadillac Escalade
and of course, the Lincoln Navigator there.
That's where the highest end of the Grand Wagoneer
kind of fits around in terms of price point.
That like in Canadian dollars, it's around $120,000.
The Escalade and the Lincoln Navigator
can also get significantly more expensive,
but the Grand Wagoneer kind of like tops
at that $125,000 Canadian mark.
I'm assuming the big money is now for the hybrid version.
Yeah, that will probably be like, yeah,
another 20 grand or so.
Yeah, 647 horsepower.
Yeah.
A 92 kilowatt hour battery pack.
Two electric motors.
That's a huge motor.
It is huge, but it's still half of what's in a Hummer EV.
They're claiming 500 miles of driving range,
but like, what does that even mean when you're,
I don't want to get into it.
Let's be clear.
This is an automaker that has kind of
flubbed its entire PHEV strategy or plug
or electrified strategy.
Not only flubbed it, just crossed it all out, right?
Yeah.
Are they really going to make this,
are they really going to make this,
make it come to market and support the customers
who buy it for how long?
Because, you know, there were a lot of,
there's a lot of happy Chrysler PHEV owners,
and I think Wrangler 4 by E owners
that they're just not going to be like cared about now,
I guess.
I don't know.
It's a mess.
Anyways, one of the cool things about this truck though
is that it has a max tow rating of 10,000 pounds,
which is pretty good.
It's also very spacious.
Behind the third row, you'll get more space
than what you get in a Yukon Denali,
which I think is like the perfect competition for this.
But there's two versions of the Denali, right?
There's also the XL.
Yeah, yeah.
I'm talking about the short wheel based versions
of both of these cars.
Okay.
And then when you fold down the second and third row,
you've got even more space than all the other full size SUVs
like the Sequoia or the Expedition or the Armada
and their luxury counter parts.
So it's a pretty big truck.
And one of the things that I will say personally
is that I've moved closer to a downed, like a city.
Like I used to live a little bit in Suburbia.
Now I'm more a little bit closer to the city
and I drive through the city every day.
And big trucks like this can be a little bit tough
and intimidating to drive.
I will say something about the size of this vehicle,
whether it's the view over the hood and the large windows,
just I was easily, I could acclimatize
to the size of the truck way easier.
It was easy to drive around town
and it's still very comfortable on the highway as well.
So I was really impressed with the sort of like driving dynamics
of it being a big vehicle,
but not feeling like cumbersome and clumsy to drive.
So there's really impressive dynamics going on there.
I will admit though, and I say this every time
we have a chance to talk about GM,
but Super Cruise is a really wicked feature
and Ford has gotten a little bit closer to Super Cruise
with its Blue Cruise hands-free system
and Jeep does not have anything like that right now.
And if it did, it's not available in the 2026 Grand Wagoneer.
So, you know, in terms of technology,
you're missing out in that kind of stuff.
There's one more thing I think we should mention
when we're talking about the competition
and that's that GM is having a huge number of problems
with the 6.2 liter V8s in the Escalades and the Yukon.
Oh my goodness, really?
Yeah, serious internal problems
engines failing after 10,000 miles, it's...
That blows my mind that to me,
that 6.2 liter V8 has been around for like a long, long time.
Yes and no, I mean, the displacement has been around
but this iteration of the motor is not reliable.
And you can just go on Instagram
and find GM service texts and mechanics
making videos of customer vehicles coming in that require,
excuse me, require engine replacement.
It's not an uncommon thing anymore.
And it's not just the SEVs,
it's happening in the pickups too,
but I'm bringing it up because those are the power plants
that we're up against
when you're talking about the Grand Wagoneer.
Okay, that is important to note.
Some of the things that I will talk about
with this vehicle.
I mentioned the cargo space is really big,
interior space is really good.
I can fit in the third row without any compromise.
The third row seats also have like a power recline function,
which is really cool
because usually third row passengers are treated
completely like out of mind really.
They don't really have any accommodations
or anything like that.
Instead, I got a power recline
which allows those people to get more comfortable
or you can even like straighten the seat out
so that you can get more cargo room if you want.
But there's also USB ports back there,
both USB-C and USB-A style ports.
There's also a dedicated sunroof to those passengers,
which is always a weird thing to see.
It does not have a powered sunshade though.
You have to manual sunshade back there.
The second row seats,
now my version is an eight passenger version
of the Grand Wagoneer,
which is in Canada, it's about 800 bucks.
Otherwise you get a seven passenger model
and I guess extra money to spend on gas
because gas is expensive next.
Did you put your child at the very back,
like I'm always suggesting,
and like create like a limo-like experience?
No, because he's weird-facing
and I think that would be really uncomfortable
for him to be so far away from me
and we just wouldn't be able to hear each other
and it would be awful.
Okay.
But in the second row, the second row seats...
I mean, you haven't asked him, but okay.
The second row seats are heated and ventilated.
There is also this fam cam thing,
like a little camera that I can check out my kids.
How does that work for the rear-facing?
Like, does it have multiple windows?
It's right over, it's literally right over him.
It works so well.
Wow, this is like a bird's eye view.
It's perfect.
Yeah, it's so good.
And you can like zoom in on each individual seat.
Is that safe while you're driving?
No, I don't think so.
Do you use like a joystick to zoom in?
How does it work?
No, no, you just touch the screen
and there are a ton of screens in this car.
Yeah, so many screens.
Okay, do you have the fireplace wallpaper set
on all of them?
It's called Relax, as far as I understand.
And it gets hot in there with all those on.
Yeah, it's just this weird, like, digital.
Yeah, essentially wallpaper and music, I think.
How many screens are there?
Like, are we talking like 13, 14 screens?
Okay, so let's talk about them.
In the second row, there are in
because I have the rear-seat entertainment system.
There are three screens.
That's two entertainment systems and a HVAC setup
because this also features a four-zone climate control.
In addition, I want to talk about those
rear-seat entertainment systems.
Most of the time, when we talk about rear-seat entertainment
and you and I have had this discussion,
do rear-seat entertainment systems really matter these days
when everyone's got like tablets and smartphones
and all that jazz?
And should they be more than just an HDMI port?
Because I drove, I think, an Odyssey
that had a rear-seat entertainment system
or maybe a Sienna.
And they were like, there was nothing to do.
You got to bring your own DVD player, I guess.
Yeah, into your minivan.
This thing has this Fire TV,
like Amazon's Fire TV service or OS.
And you can just use like the internet
and watch and stream stuff
or even download things before you hit, like,
drive away from reliable internet.
So that's pretty handy.
There's also one of these screens for the front passenger.
I can't see it when I'm driving,
but when you get in front of it, you'll see it.
They also have an HDMI port
and a Fire TV service to utilize as well.
I'm curious, I need to check it out.
I wonder if all three...
Like, maybe this is a really important question.
Well, like, link them up?
No, yeah, sure.
You should be able to link them up.
That'd be great.
So you can all watch the same thing at the same time.
But additionally,
do you need a different account
for each one of those screens?
I wouldn't think so.
Because, like, Netflix gets really upset at you
when you use the same account
in on multiple devices, right?
Yeah.
And technically, you would be like three Netflix accounts.
Well, maybe this is why Netflix isn't there.
Netflix... There is a Netflix button.
Oh, I don't know then.
So it's like an Android...
I think it's kind of like an Android-based OS.
I also need to point out this is weird.
These... Both of these rear-seat systems are touch screens.
And I want you to imagine a three-row vehicle
and how far away from the screen that you are from it, okay?
It's like an airplane, I guess.
Like a first-class airplane.
Would you want a remote control?
Well, the thing is, you have to balance out
how far away you are from the screen
with how dangerous it is for you to smash your face
into that screen in an accident, right?
Like, those are the concerns here.
Remote control have to do with any of that.
Because all of these...
Remote control becomes a projectile.
Yeah. All of these screens have a remote control,
which I found to be so funny when I saw it happen.
Why can't I just download the grandmiganier.app
and use it on my four-year-old child's smart device?
That's a good point. I guess you're right.
So that was 1234 screens,
because I mentioned the HVAC.
There is a central screen for the front passenger
and front driver.
There is an information display,
you know, a 12-inch information like digital dash.
There's a head-up display, which has the biggest fonts
I have ever seen on a head-up display.
It feels like it's set to old man mode.
Does it still have an info...
Does it still have a climate control display as well?
Yeah. And I called that my creature comfort control panel
because it features the massage seat functions there.
So that's seven screens we're up to so far.
Yes. And that's all of them.
That last one, though, can like tuck away.
You can press a button that motorizes.
It has a motorized hinge. It flies away.
Is there a screen...
There's a wireless phone charger there.
Is there a screen on the inside of the gas cap?
No, there's no... I checked it.
Mis-opportunity.
You're sitting there for a long time to pull it up.
I have a couple of things to talk about with the interior.
It is a pretty nice interior.
In addition to being spacious, it's relatively comfortable.
As I said, my car had heated, ventilated seats.
It had massage seats as well.
And there's a lot of physical buttons.
Some of them are kind of like those haptic buttons,
but they have like ridges around them so you can like...
You don't have to aim too much.
And then there's a lot of physical controls as well.
So I will give credit to Stellantis or Jeep
for figuring out some pretty good interior ergonomics.
I think overall, the vehicle is an improvement
over the outgoing Grand Wagoneer and Wagoneer.
It feels a little bit more grounded
in what the ambitions of the Grand Wagoneer is
and the price point of what that is.
I have one major issue though,
and we talked about this very lightly
in that it is a Jeep branded 3-row SUV.
And it should be...
Off-roading should be priority number one.
And I feel like that is not the case.
I think maybe premium or technology,
which is not...
Those are not things that I really associate
with the Jeep brand to be the priority of this vehicle.
And that's important to talk about
because there's one other car maker or automaker
that has I think the same off-road credibility
and has a competing product in Land Rover
and the Defender 130,
I think is a more capable off-road vehicle.
It might not be as luxury oriented or high tech,
but that is a vehicle I would see myself go dune bashing in.
Well, I think the difference is that's a vehicle designed
to go off-road from the start.
Whereas the Grand Wagoneer is designed to carry your kids around
and tow a trailer.
So that's my...
I agree with that.
And I personally see this as being...
And I guess that's like a lifestyle maybe,
like tow a trailer or tow a boat or something like that.
And to me, I guess this is like the daily driver
for a household that already has a Wrangler, right?
And they want to be in the Jeep family.
Well, I mean daily driver.
I think you need this.
I think that you only buy this class of vehicle
if you have a specific need for something this big.
And usually that's towing or hauling.
And off-roading is just not...
It's just not a part of the three row SUV.
Yeah, the main problem I have with the Grand Wagoneer
is it's very anonymously styled.
You still think so?
I think it looks pretty bold, man.
I don't think it looks that bold.
Are you thinking like from the front or like...
I think it looks better than the Sequoia.
That's not hard, I guess.
You're comparing this to a Sequoia?
Isn't that what the three row SUV alternative is at Toyota?
Yeah, but it's considerably cheaper and not luxurious whatsoever.
Is it considerably cheaper?
Oh, yeah.
The Canadian pricing lines up pretty nicely, but maybe...
Well, if that's the case, then it's a fantasy.
The other thing with Toyota though...
But the other thing is no one buys the Sequoia.
Yeah, what happened there?
What happened is it's never been competitive.
Why did you make people not buy the Sequoia?
I'm sorry?
You've told people...
Yeah, man, this thing...
A fully loaded Sequoia is about $110,000 in Canada.
That's insane.
We've found why no one's buying it.
There's also a TRD version of the Sequoia, which is also $102,000.
I mean, that's just wild.
Think about all the other SUVs you can get that are better than the Sequoia for like $40,000 less.
So I'm certain...
That's what I'm trying to say is like the Jeep at that price point is actually pretty competitive.
I think it's better than...
I mean, I don't know.
But it's not compare...
It's not compare...
Like you have to compare it to apples and apples.
Like what is the cost versus that defender, for example?
What is the defendant go for?
I saw the Canadian pricing of the defender.
Let's get the US pricing out again.
I mean, the Grand Wagoneer in the US, it tops out about $103,000.
Yeah.
Right?
And as you mentioned, that's really escalated money.
That's Yukon Denali money.
That's Navigator money.
And those, I think, are the three vehicles that this thing is going up against primarily.
If you want to say maybe it goes up against Land Rover, I don't know if it's a Defender...
Land Rover, Defender.
I want to find the pricing of the 130.
I see...
A 130 tops out.
I think there's a V8 version of the 130.
I got a double check at $125,000.
And the 130 is not going to be as nice inside, I don't think.
But there's also...
And then there's like an entry level 130, which is around $75,000.
And there's the...
Did they still make the discovery, the seven passenger discovery?
I think, you know, like Land Rover is kind of splitting the difference there for their three rows.
Well, I would say the discovery is closer to like crossover territory.
It's closer to like a Grand Cherokee.
Maybe, but it is...
Or a Grand Cherokee L.
It is bigger.
Yeah, maybe the Grand Cherokee L.
Anyway, I just don't think like...
I think maybe from the front three-quarter, it looks okay.
But from the sides in the back, it's just...
There's nothing about this that has any real visual personality to me.
It's very slab sided.
How can they fix this?
I couldn't, I don't know, man.
I think it's really tough to make a large vehicle look distinctive
without going over the top.
Well, they have no chrome on it.
Did you notice that?
Yeah, I did notice.
Especially, I'm looking at a picture of a gray one,
and it's just like everything is like this concrete color.
Yeah, okay.
Yeah, I see that.
That looks awful.
Yeah.
Minus silver, it looks okay.
And the other problem I have with the visually is like this new front end,
if you're looking at it head on, you have this tiny sliver of a grille.
And then everything...
Which is illuminated.
Okay, but in the daytime, I don't care about that.
What I'm primarily looking at is the giant chicken wire of plastic that's right underneath it.
Like that is probably 50% of the frontal area of the vehicle.
And you don't let, you don't dig that.
I just don't think it looks premium or distinctive.
And I think that if you're trying to sell a luxury vehicle,
you need to be one of those things.
I think you're right.
I think that's a weird, that's an interesting take because I think
of all the things Delantis does,
I think their design team is among the more talented.
And I actually think this looks okay.
I think Jeep has some pretty,
Jeep and Dodge have some pretty interesting designs.
Dodge has like one vehicle for sale right now,
two vehicles for sale right now.
Is the Hornet still on your list?
And no, Hornet's gone.
Hornet's out of sight, out of mind.
And one of those...
Is the Hornet killed or just the PHE version of the Hornet?
No one knows.
The thing about Dodge though, is one of the vehicles that has for sale
hasn't changed in like 15 years.
Yeah, I guess so.
So that's the Durango.
That's the Durango.
The Durango, yeah.
Yeah.
So who's to say if those designers are, you know, have retired?
But that's a positive thing.
I don't think that, I mean,
we talked about this thing back with the Mazda 3.
Sometimes an old design is still okay if it doesn't look aged.
I think you like old designs.
I think this is your deal.
Durango is an old look.
It looks particularly old.
I don't think it looks aged.
Ooh, I don't know, man.
I look at, you look at the Durango
and it's clearly like fate of the furious.
You know what I mean?
Like that era.
That's true.
Okay, now I'm looking at it
and they've also put a lot of like blur around it.
They make it look really like it's in an action movie.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
There's some smoking mirrors going on.
Yeah, and if you have to do that
when you're showcasing your car design.
You walk in the showroom and they like dim the lights.
Like, oh, you want to look at the Grand Wagoneer?
Let's get it all dramatic for you.
Yeah, exactly.
Do you have a candlelit garage perhaps?
Yeah, exactly.
I do think that, look, I want to compare this,
I want to compare this fairly.
And I think that the most fair competition
of the Grand Wagoneer is the Yukon Denali.
And I think they match up really, really, really well.
I would take this over the AT4 version of the Yukon.
Is that okay?
I mean, they're out at me if I did that.
No, but again, not apples to apples.
Like the AT4 is like the off-road version.
And we've kind of established that there's no off-road version
of the Grand Wagoneer.
It's also significantly cheaper.
The AT4, the more I look at it.
Okay, well, let's go back to the Denali.
Yes, I would take this over a Denali too.
Okay, I would not.
I mean, maybe with the engine problems,
maybe with the engine problems, I would, but I really like.
Hold on.
Does, do all Denali's come with those shocks?
The 6.2s?
The what?
What shocks?
What are you talking about?
Don't they have nice suspension?
A really good suspension.
Magne, Magne ride?
And Magne ride.
Yeah, of course.
Magne ride is nice.
I think I like Magne ride more than air suspension.
I think you just really wishy-washy
on this whole big SUV thing.
I think you, I think you want them all.
I do want them all.
I want the perfect truck.
Can you sue me?
No, it can't happen.
Anything else you want to wrap up on?
I want to talk about the really cool car
that you've been driving this week.
A really cool car?
Well, ultimately coolest car between the two of us.
No, I drove the 2026 Subaru Cross Trek Hybrid.
Have you driven this, Sammy?
Today I learned that there was a hybrid version
of the Cross Trek.
Well, it's not the first time.
Way back in, I want to say 2015 or something like that.
There was like a Toyota one, basically.
It was not good.
It was very, very weak.
Is it the PHEV or the hybrid?
No, the hybrid.
It was a problem in the sense that it did not have enough power
to do anything really interesting.
The Cross Trek was already somewhat underpowered in that era
and the hybrid did not help things.
It added some weight.
It was not a popular vehicle.
They made a plug-in version, I want to say recently.
This is not that either.
This is a new thing where it's two electric motors
and the two and a half liter four cylinder engine.
And together it makes 196 horsepower
and 199 pound-feet of torque.
What's wrong with Subaru?
I want to say, I don't know why you're saying that
because this is the most powerful Cross Trek
that has ever existed.
Wow, thank goodness.
Are they allergic to, does something happen to the,
like, is there a tax they have to pay
if it makes over 200 horsepower?
Yeah, 201 straight to jail.
Straight to jail, yeah.
And here we go over at like, for Hyundai, forever.
They used to have these 1.6 liter turbos
that all made just 201, right?
And that's like, that looks good on paper.
So 994 doesn't.
That is 14 more horsepower
than the gas-powered version of the Cross Trek.
But more importantly, it's 20 more pound-feet of torque
and those pound-feet of torque arrive like nearly instantly
versus I think it's 3,700 RPM for max torque
on the two and a half liter.
So I'm not going to dwell on this vehicle too much
because this is basically a Cross Trek in every other way.
The cargo area is a tiny bit smaller because of the battery.
And when I say tiny, like, you're not going to notice it.
I hauled a gigantic 32-inch Trinitron WEGA
CRT television home in the back of this Cross Trek
without a problem.
What is your project that you're working on
that requires a Fiat?
It's not a project.
I just into laserdiscs now for reasons that I can't explain
and they don't look good on high-def screens.
They probably don't look good on standard-def screens either,
but I'm going to give it a shot.
I paid 20 bucks for the TV.
It weighs 166 pounds.
To unload it, I...
The person to help you at all when loading
because they're having you.
Yeah, they did.
They had a...
They like herniated diff.
No, they had a dolly that we used
and then we'd lifted it together.
But when I got home, I unloaded it myself.
I used my trailer for my tractor
and I backed it up for the Cross Trek bumper
and then I put a blanket down
and I lifted it across into the trailer.
And then I used the trailer, I backed it into my garage
and then I have a dump function on my trailer
and I had another small dolly, very small,
and I dumped it onto the dolly.
And now it's sitting on the dolly,
but it's so front heavy that I have a 25-pound barbell
holding the back down so it doesn't tip.
I don't know how I'm going to get into my house.
I think I'm going to have to build a little train.
I like a train track using 2x4s
so they can roll smoothly on the dolly.
We'll see what happens.
Anyway, Cross Trek was capable of doing that.
You don't get a spare tire either.
That's the other difference.
One more difference I want to mention.
In Canada, there's only one hybrid trim.
It's the limited hybrid, the top tier.
In the U.S., you get limited hybrid
and you get sport hybrid.
So the cheapest hybrid in the States is 34 grand.
In Canada, it is considerably more expensive than that.
Well, actually, no.
The exchange rate and the lack of tariffs
helps Canadians out here.
In Canada, it costs 34...
No, sorry, I'm wrong.
It is more expensive.
43,461.
But that's for a limited model.
Yeah, which is 2,500 more than the regular limited.
So the price to risk from one limited gas only
to a limited hybrid is not that big.
But if you look at the base version of the Cross Trek,
it's like 10 grand more.
So that's a considerable price.
In the States, the difference between...
But I would compare...
Because no, hold on.
Just let me finish this.
The difference between sport hybrid and sport,
like gas only version in the U.S.,
is 3625 versus 34.
So it's a similar difference.
Limited hybrid, 35,000, which is a pretty big...
I don't know, 2,500 U.S. maybe over the regular limited.
So it's not super expensive,
but it is the most expensive Cross Trek.
It is the most powerful Cross Trek.
And I can tell you, as someone who owned a Cross Trek
for a couple of years,
with a engine that is no longer available,
and I'm going to get to that in a second,
it is considerably quicker.
It's still not fast.
I mean, there's nothing about this that is sporty.
It's not like a Cross Trek STI.
But until we get a turbocharged engine under the hood,
it's as close as we're going to get, I think.
And it does well.
It's fine.
I didn't have any problems driving it around.
I never really felt like, oh, I need more horsepower.
I mean, clearly it merges a bit better
than a gas-powered Cross Trek,
but it's not a huge difference.
The main difference between the drivetrains
is it's less buzzy,
because you're not necessarily pegging
a four-cylinder engine with a CVT.
And that CVT and that buzzeness is actually a really...
It really does get to you after a while.
Yeah, the other issue I had, though,
with the hybrid version is transitions
between the gas engine and the electric system
are not very smooth, especially if the engine's cold.
It can actually shake the dashboard
on initial startup.
That's not great.
And the third thing that's a little bit weird
is there's a button on the dashboard
to give you EV driving mode,
and it never works ever, ever, ever.
Why?
The entire week I had the vehicle,
I could never get EV mode to engage.
It would just say EV mode not available.
And the only time the EV light would show on the dashboard
was when I was coasting or when I had a complete stop.
You're an EV mode, guys.
Come on.
So it's mostly because the battery is very small.
Are you doing nothing?
EV mode.
Yeah, it's not great.
So that's kind of...
That makes it sound more like a mild hybrid
than a real hybrid.
Is this all Subaru technology?
That I don't know.
Okay.
I would think so because here's where things
get a little bit gnarly.
And I need to pull up the US numbers
because I only have the Canadian ones,
but I'm going to pull up the fuel economy
of the Crosstrek hybrid.
Okay.
All right.
Here are typing sounds, typing sounds.
In the US, I believe it's rated at 36 miles per gallon
highway, city, and combined.
I think it's all the same.
And I'm just going to confirm that now.
Wikipedia says this is a version of hybrid synergy drive
from Toyota.
I don't know why...
But I don't know how successful Toyota is at that.
I love how you...
I mean, how successful Wikipedia is at that.
I love how you went immediately to Wikipedia.
Sorry.
I said 196 horsepower earlier.
It's 194.
I was off by two.
It still has the same ground clearance as everyone else.
Yeah.
So it's 36 miles per gallon.
The gas powered one is technically rated at 27 to 29.
Okay.
In Canada, they claim 6.5 liters per 100 kilometers
city and highway and combined, right?
Or actually, no, 6.5 city and highway.
The combined number is like something else.
Why?
I don't know.
It's really weird.
I'm going to pull that up.
Why do I not have that here?
Anyway, okay, 6.5 liters.
So in Canada, the gas powered one,
nine liters per 100 kilometers city, 7.1 on the highway.
I got the best, the best I ever got in the vehicle,
about 160 kilometers, mostly highway some city was 6.7.
But at the end of my week, including a Saturday
where I spent garage sailing, which is like stop and go
city driving, which is probably the best case scenario
for a hybrid, right?
Because I can cruise around at EV power.
Oh, wait, I can't because it doesn't work with the cross track.
I got 7.3.
That's about 10% worse than what Subaru advertises
for the vehicle.
Not a total, you know, that's not terrible,
but you really got to compare it to like,
not just the other, not just other hybrids.
Like if you look at, you're talking about Toyota technology,
right?
The only other all wheel drive crossover in its class
that is a hybrid is the Corolla Cross,
which gets 5.6 liters combined.
Yeah, that's much nicer.
That's a lot better.
But the other thing to think about
is that it's only about 15% better than a gas model
in the real world.
You're paying $2,500 over the gas model,
which if you're getting the limited, okay,
I can see making that choice because you get more power.
And that's not too bad.
It's not a huge amount of money.
But if you go down to like a mid trim
and try to justify the cost of upgrading to the hybrid,
you're never really going to make that up with fuel savings.
And then there's another thing that I think
is kind of lurking on the background
when we're talking about this particular vehicle.
The, there used to be a two liter version
of the Cross Trek as the base motor.
And that's the one that I had.
And we, I went back and looked at our actual real world.
We use a tracking app for fuel mileage for two years.
And we were averaging between seven liters per 100 kilometers
to seven and a half combined all the time
during the weather.
Proofment is just not, it's not there.
Well, if you consider the fact that that was the cheapest Cross Trek
and it's within like a half liter per 100 kilometers
of this hybrid model, that's not a great look.
And I'm wondering if that's why the two liter
is no longer available for 26.
This is the-
How do you like make this one look a bit better?
Yeah, this is the first year that the two liters
been taken off the menu.
So I mean, if you really, obviously there's another difference
and the two liter only had 152 horsepower,
like that's not a lot, it was not quick.
But if you're looking for an SUV as a commuter
and you want it to be a Subaru
and you want it to be all wheel drive,
and you can look at it, a last year's used 2025 model,
get a really good deal and still match the fuel economy
of this Cross Trek hybrid.
And that's like, I mean, if you don't need the features
because that two liter engine was only available in the base,
that's a compelling argument.
And I think more compelling than the hybrid itself.
So my takeaway from this is it's not a terrible vehicle.
I think it's a big improvement over the hybrid
that we used to have.
And the power is good and certainly usable,
but it's not all that frugal.
And it gets beaten down by the competition
and the gas versions come very close to matching it,
if not completely matching it, if you go back one model year.
So it's kind of a strange vehicle.
I don't know if there are some people out there
who are able to, I mean, even if you look at the
advertised fuel economy and forget real world,
it's still not that much better than the two liter.
Yeah, that makes it really a hard pill to sort of
to deal with there.
I don't like that one bit.
So I don't know, do you want a really expensive Cross Trek
that gets the same fuel mileage as the cheapest Cross Trek
did last year?
This is the vehicle for you.
You'll get better acceleration, you'll get more features.
And that's the balance you have to ask yourself if you want that.
Some people will say yes.
Some people will be into it.
I think the Cross Trek is a good package overall.
I'm just not totally sold on this trim level.
I think if you were going to get limited anyway,
yeah, go for the hybrid.
That I can understand that the jump is not that big.
But if you're primarily focused on fuel efficiency,
I think you should look elsewhere.
Okay.
Anything else you want to talk about this week?
No, nothing.
That's it.
We got it.
I'm dry husk.
I would really encourage our listeners to head on over to our website,
unnamedautomotivepodcast.com.
While you're there, you can fill out a contact form
and get in touch with us.
I mean, you don't have to fill it out.
You can just.
No, do it.
We want to hear your feedback.
We want to know what you think of the cars that we've been driving.
Any other stories that in the automotive industry
that have caught your attention you want us to talk to you about,
just send us a note.
We love it.
Additionally, you can send us an email the old fashioned way.
It's benjaminatbenjaminhunting.com.
He shares all of his podcast emails with me.
So, well, only the ones, I guess, all of them.
You'll never know.
And you can reach out to us on social media.
Most of the time, we're really easily accessible on Instagram.
I'm at Sammy underscore.
Ha, like you're laughing while Benjamin is at Hunting Benjamin.
What else?
I think that's it.
What are you going to be talking about next week?
I don't know yet.
Whoa.
Surprise.
Rolling the dice at the fleet.
Okay.
Yeah, of course.
Well, no, the reality is that I've got to get my tires.
It's May and I've got to get my tires swapped back.
And so I'm going to probably keep my own cars for the week
and do all that work myself.
I am.
I have to do that as well, but.
Oh, okay.
Good.
So I was worried that I was, I was late because it's May, man.
No, we've actually had snow last week.
Yeah, I was thinking the same thing.
Well, I have to do it with the Pathfinder.
I'm probably not going to do until the end of June because I can't.
That's wild.
Well, the thing is I don't really drive it that much, right?
So it's not a big deal to wear down the winter tires.
But I don't want to, it's a much taller vehicle.
I used to take a jack in with me to Montreal where it's sitting.
I use it from fleet to fleet.
And I used to take a jack in when I had the Subaru
because it's easy to jack up and get that done.
But with the Pathfinder is a lot taller
and it actually fell off my jack in the driveway last year.
And I just don't want to deal with that.
And I think I actually bent a control arm
when I was doing that or a tie rod or something
because it's got a tiny little bit of a steering angle now.
But I can get it back at the end of June
because I have a week where I have a weird schedule
for press cars and I have a little window
where I can bring it home, do some maintenance that I've deferred,
figure out if I actually have an exhaust leak
because I think someone tried to steal the catalytic converter on it
and when it was parked recently
because now I have a sudden exhaust leak
that wasn't there before.
And there's no reason that should happen.
But there's a gentleman who does extremely cheap
exhaust repair in my neighborhood.
And I just basically show up and he's like hanging out
and you just like, if the one's there, he just works in your car.
So hopefully I'm going to get that done with the Pathfinder.
All that to say next week,
I'm going to be talking about the Volkswagen Taos.
Taos? Is that how I say it? Taos?
I would call it the Taos.
Taos? Yeah, Taos.
Okay. Well, I can't wait to talk to you about it.
I think that we haven't really talked about the Taos at all yet,
I think on the on the podcast.
No, it's it's been an outlier.
Okay, cool. Well, thanks everyone for listening.
Bye.
Bye bye.
About this episode
Hosts kick off with quick banter and a Jeep stall, then pivot into a long look at the 2026 Jeep Grand Wagoneer—its confusing Wagoneer naming, luxury strategy versus Trail Rated credibility, and how drivetrain, traction, and third-row comfort stack up. They also tackle hands-free driving tech, hybrid/electrified powertrains, and pricing comparisons against rivals. The second half shifts to the 2026 Subaru Crosstrek Hybrid, covering its two-motor setup, real-world efficiency, and rough cold-start behavior.
What's the deal with the Jeep Grand Wagoneer? The Unnamed Automotive Podcast thoroughly explores the 2026 model which has a new design, revised lineup, reduced powertrain options and a million screens. Sami's review is all encompassing though he brings up a lot of competitors in the space.
Then Benjamin shares his thoughts on the 2026 Subaru Crosstrek Hybrid. It's the most powerful Crosstrek yet, and is barely the most efficient, but theres more to the story than that. Hear the full review to learn more! Thanks for listening!
