The Volkswagen Taos is a small SUV. In this episode, the host says the 2026 Taos impressed them during a test drive, and they compare it to a similar smaller SUV they drove before.
The Ford Mustang is a sporty Ford car, usually a coupe or convertible. People talk about it a lot because it’s well known and has a reputation for fun driving. The episode mentions it because the name is easy for most people to recognize and say.
The Volkswagen Touareg is a type of Volkswagen SUV. The podcast says it doesn’t exist anymore, meaning it’s no longer being sold as a current model. People may still mention it when talking about older cars or used ones.
The Volkswagen ID. Buzz is an electric van. The podcast talks about what to call it because the name is a little unusual. It’s an EV version of a van-style vehicle.
“Associated fees” refers to extra charges added to the car’s advertised price—commonly things like destination, taxes, registration, and other government or administrative costs. The hosts point out that their Canadian number includes these fees, which is why it’s not just the sticker price.
An appearance package is a set of styling upgrades the carmaker bundles together. It usually changes things you can see—like wheels and trim—more than it changes the engine or driving feel.
A turbocharged four-cylinder engine is a small engine with a turbo that helps it make more power. More air gets pushed into the engine, so it can feel punchier than a similar non-turbo engine.
An eight-speed automatic is the car’s automatic gear system with eight different gear ratios. It helps the car shift smoothly and keep the engine working efficiently.
Front-wheel drive means the front wheels do the work of moving the car. It’s common on smaller SUVs because it’s efficient and usually cheaper than all-wheel drive.
Concept
golf transformed into a crossover
This is a shorthand way of saying the Taos is based on the same general platform/engineering DNA as the Volkswagen Golf, but packaged with a taller, SUV-like body. The idea is to give Golf-like driving characteristics in a more upright crossover form factor.
The Volkswagen Golf is a small car, usually a hatchback, designed for everyday driving. The podcast compares it to a crossover to explain how a similar idea can be made taller and more SUV-like. It’s mentioned because it’s a familiar model people use as a starting point.
The Chevrolet Silverado is a large pickup truck. It’s made for carrying things and towing, and it’s also used for normal driving. The podcast mentions parts like the bumper steps because those details matter for how the truck is used.
Infotainment is the touchscreen and software in the car that runs things like music, maps, and phone features. They’re saying the Volkswagen version feels a bit dated and annoying to use.
A “tile” UI is a touchscreen layout where functions are shown as separate blocks (tiles) you tap to open menus. The host says Volkswagen’s infotainment uses this tile approach, which they interpret as feeling old-school.
The Kicks is a small crossover car. The podcast mentions it because they were talking about small crossover options recently. It’s the kind of car people consider for everyday driving with a higher seating position.
Car
Volkswagen GTI
The Volkswagen GTI is a sporty Volkswagen hatchback. They’re saying that among Volkswagen models, the GTI is one of the few that really stands out with a more distinctive interior look, like tartan-pattern seats.
The Volkswagen Tiguan is another Volkswagen SUV. In this part, they’re using it as a comparison to describe what the Taos’s interior is like—especially how much of it uses touch controls.
Capacitive touch buttons are buttons you press with your finger, but they don’t have a physical click like normal buttons. They sense your touch electronically, so the dashboard can feel more modern and touch-screen-like.
Travel Assist is Volkswagen’s name for a set of driving helpers. It’s meant to make highway driving easier by combining features like cruise control that can adjust to traffic.
Adaptive cruise control is cruise control that can react to the car in front of you. If traffic slows down, it can slow the car too, and then resume when the road clears.
IQ. Drive is Volkswagen’s name for a package of tech features. Here, they’re saying Travel Assist is included in that IQ. Drive set.
Term
Safety Sense
Safety Sense is Toyota’s name for its safety and driver-assist features. The host is basically comparing how different brands label similar technology.
ProPILOT Assist is Nissan’s name for a set of driving helpers. It’s the kind of system that can help the car stay in its lane and manage speed in traffic.
BlueCruise is Ford’s system that can help drive on highways, including situations where the car can handle more of the driving while you keep your attention on the road.
Your turn signal tells other drivers—and sometimes the car’s assist systems—that you’re about to change lanes or turn. Some systems will back off when you signal so you can steer safely.
Torque is the “pulling power” the engine makes to get the car moving. Higher torque usually helps the car feel responsive, especially when you’re not already at high speed.
Horsepower is a number that describes how strong the engine is. More horsepower generally means the car can accelerate harder, especially at higher speeds.
Combined driving is a test-style estimate that mixes stop-and-go driving with highway driving. It’s meant to give you one “overall” fuel economy number to compare cars.
Miles per gallon (mpg) tells you how far you can drive on one gallon of gas. Higher mpg generally means better fuel economy.
Concept
cross track hybrid
This sounds like the name of a hybrid vehicle the host tested before. A hybrid uses both a gas engine and an electric motor to help the car use less fuel.
The Crosstrek is a small crossover car. The podcast compares how much fuel it uses to another similar car they drove, saying the results were close. It’s mentioned because it’s a typical everyday crossover to measure against.
“Hammer the throttle” just means you’re flooring the gas pedal. With a turbo engine, that kind of quick, hard acceleration can make the car sound more intense.
“CBT” is mentioned like a specific system or feature, but the show doesn’t explain what it stands for in this clip. They’re saying that whatever “CBT” is, it changes how the car behaves when you accelerate hard.
The “red line” is the top safe/allowed range for engine speed. If you push past it, you risk damaging the engine, so it’s something you generally avoid.
S mode is the car’s “sport” setting. It usually makes the car react faster when you press the gas, but in this case the host says it doesn’t dramatically change the driving feel.
All-wheel drive means the car can send power to more than just the front wheels. That can help it grip better on wet or loose surfaces, and the host also notes the AWD version has different suspension hardware.
Inclement weather just means bad weather like heavy rain or snow. The host is basically saying they haven’t tested the car enough in those conditions to be sure how it performs.
A multi-link suspension uses multiple arms to control how the wheel moves. The idea is that it helps the car stay stable and comfortable over bumps, rather than feeling wiggly.
A torsion bar is a spring made from a metal bar that twists. It helps absorb bumps, but the host is contrasting it with a multi-link design that can feel more refined.
The Buick Encore GX is a small SUV meant to be easy to live with. The host is saying they’ll be driving one soon and thinks it’s a pretty straightforward choice.
“Reliability concerns” means the host is worried the car might have problems as you own it longer. They’re suggesting that simpler cars can be less likely to break.
An “entry level vehicle” is the cheaper, more basic version of a model line. The host is pointing out that even the cheaper ones today can still feel pretty good and look nice.
The Toyota Corolla Cross is a small Toyota SUV. The host thinks it doesn’t feel fully developed and that Toyota wants you to move up to a more expensive model instead.
This means the cheapest, smallest SUV/crossover a brand sells. The host is saying some companies make these just to get you in the door, and then they want you to pay more for a better version.
The Ford EcoSport is a small crossover SUV. The podcast asks if it’s still on sale, which matters if you’re trying to buy one new. If it’s not sold anymore, you’d typically look at used ones.
Subcompact crossovers are small SUVs that are usually easier to drive and park than bigger SUVs. The conversation is about why people like that size and shape.
Concept
two-lane country roads
Two-lane country roads are narrow roads with traffic coming from the opposite direction. Passing takes more planning because you have less space and less margin for error.
The Toyota Supra is a sports car from Toyota. It’s meant to drive fast and feel stable, especially on highways. The episode talks about how it can keep a steady speed while you’re driving.
A wiring issue means something electrical isn’t working right in the car. If the whole wiring harness is failing, it can affect lots of systems, not just one small part.
They’re talking about Honda’s overall business results, not just one model or dealership. The big reason mentioned is money lost on electric-car plans.
A hybrid uses both a gas engine and an electric system together. The idea is to get better efficiency than a gas-only car, and Honda is talking about using more of these.
The Honda Element is a small, box-shaped car that’s built for practical everyday use. The podcast mentions it in the context of hybrid availability, meaning it’s not offered as a hybrid in the way some other Hondas are. It’s brought up because it has a unique design and purpose.
The Honda Pilot is Honda’s bigger SUV. The hosts mention it to say Honda hasn’t had hybrids in its larger-vehicle lineup (at least in the way they’re describing).
The Honda Passport is Honda’s mid-size SUV. The hosts mention it as another example of a bigger Honda where hybrids aren’t offered (based on their discussion).
The Toyota Tacoma is a pickup truck. In this segment, they’re saying there’s a hybrid version, which means it can use electric assistance to improve efficiency.
The Toyota Sienna is a family minivan. The key point here is that it can be bought with a hybrid system, which helps it use less fuel than a traditional gas-only minivan.
The Acura RLX is a luxury Acura sedan, but it’s not common on the road. The hosts are talking about it because it’s rare and because Acura tried advanced tech on it, including hybrid-related ideas.
The Acura NSX is a performance car from Acura, and later versions use a hybrid system. The hosts are saying the same drivetrain idea shows up in other Acura cars too.
The Hudson Hornet is an older, historic car model name. In the podcast, it’s mentioned because people were talking about how car names can reference earlier models. It’s not being described as a current car so much as a historical example.
The Honda Accord is a very common family sedan. The host is saying there’s a hybrid version of it, and they’re using that to compare hybrid availability across brands.
A hybrid drivetrain is the whole gas-and-electric system in a car. It lets the car use electricity (sometimes by itself, sometimes with the gas engine) to save fuel.
A plug-in hybrid is a hybrid car with a bigger battery you can charge by plugging it in. It’s different from a normal hybrid because you can run more of it on electricity.
In car talk, “electrification” means moving toward cars that use electricity more—like hybrids and fully electric vehicles. The speaker is saying Honda hasn’t kept up with other brands.
Cadillac is GM’s luxury car brand. In this segment, they’re talking about Cadillac trying to move mostly to electric cars, but it’s complicated by what they still sell now.
The Cadillac Escalade is a big luxury SUV. The discussion is basically saying Cadillac still relies on vehicles like this, which makes a full switch to electric harder.
The Toyota Highlander is a popular family SUV. They’re saying Toyota has used hybrid versions for a long time, but the 2027 model is expected to switch to being electric instead.
Concept
EV-only shift
An EV-only shift means moving a model line from hybrid or gasoline options to being electric-only. The hosts frame Toyota’s planned EV Highlander as a “huge shift,” because it changes the product strategy and how buyers are expected to choose between powertrain types.
The Toyota Grand Highlander is a bigger version of the Highlander SUV. The podcast mentions it because the names can be confusing when you’re trying to figure out which size or model someone means. It’s essentially about having more space than the standard Highlander.
The Jeep Grand Cherokee is a mid-size SUV. It’s usually priced higher than the smaller Cherokee, which is why the podcast brings up the comparison. People consider it when they want a bigger or more feature-rich Jeep.
The Jeep Grand Wagoneer is a big, more expensive Jeep SUV. The podcast compares it to another model by saying that one was cheaper than the Grand Wagoneer. It’s mentioned because it represents the higher-priced option in that SUV family.
The Toyota Prius is a hybrid car, which means it uses both a gas engine and an electric system. The podcast mentions a Prius because there are different versions, including one that can be plugged in to charge the battery. That plug-in version can help for short trips.
The Volkswagen Jetta is a small sedan meant for everyday driving. The podcast specifically mentions the “Jetta Sport,” which is a version with sportier features than the basic model. It comes up because it’s a well-known, practical Volkswagen.
LIVE
Hello, and welcome to the Unnamed Automotive Podcast.
My name is Sammy Hage-Assad, and with me, as always, is my good friend and fellow automotive
journalist, Benjamin Hunting.
Say hi to the people, Ben.
Greetings, human listeners.
Greetings to everyone.
If this is the first time you're listening to our episode, thank you for trying something
new.
It's really nice that people will maybe continue to discover new episodes as we approach our
450th show, or at least our episode listed 450.
Do you think we should tell people what number this episode is off the top immediately so
they don't think that they've listened to the same thing every day?
Absolutely not.
We haven't done it before.
Why start now?
I've been listening to other podcasts, and they like to tell me what number episode it
is.
Really?
Yeah, and I'm like, I don't know what that means.
I don't think I subscribe to any of these numerological podcasts that you do.
You like the ones about numerology and skull shape, right?
Those are your favorite podcasts?
Yeah, I mean, duh.
Frenology, that's your big thing.
Skull shape?
I like it when you dumb it down to skull shape.
Yeah, sorry, I shouldn't have used frenology.
That's not a word you hear often in Hamilton.
Hey, we have too many waterfalls to care about skull shapes.
That is the voice of my friend and fellow automotive journalist, Benjamin Hunting.
You can find his work all over the internet.
He will plug the publications that he writes for.
But before he does that, he's going to tell you something really, really important about
his Kickstarter.
Man, do it.
Yeah, so Kickstarter's kind of stalled out this week.
We're hitting that lull in the kickstart process where we're stuck at around 75% funded.
But our listeners can change that.
Yeah, we have 13 days to go.
If you feel like pushing us over that finish line, you can go to deadaircomic.com.
It's a comic book.
There's three issues there.
It's about a world where one day out of the year you can talk to the dead and it's set
in an alternative future 2011 where that technology exists.
And a very much hour past 1990s where a bunch of university radio DJs are super into music
and super not into this strange force that's contacting them from the great beyond that
they don't completely understand.
So deadaircomic.com will take you to Kickstarter.
I know a lot of you are already in on the book and I thank you so much.
There's been a gap of a couple of years between issues two and three because of some health
issues on our creative team.
So we're back in full force and I would love it if you could help push the book over the
funding edge and shout out to a lot of the people who have already done so.
And I've spoken to some of you individually and I really appreciate it.
Thank you.
About it, the 90s setting.
Yes, I feel about that.
I mean, that's when I was myself a university radio DJ.
So I feel pretty good about it.
And I like a lot of 90s music.
I know that it's very old now, like 40 years ago.
So I try to stay focusing on the like in schools today.
They're focusing on the history of the 90s because I don't think they teach anything
about history in schools today.
That's my thought.
You're the one with a child.
You would know way more than I do.
But what's being he doesn't go to school.
Maybe you don't make that public.
Oh, why?
I think legally he has to go to school.
Not yet.
He's too small.
There's it's not size based.
Yeah, there's there's one of those growth charts that you have to.
You must be this tall to go to school.
I don't know.
And there's like two zones.
One says with an with an adult and one says without an adult.
I think all schools have adults.
I've yet to go to an all child school.
But I mean, I also don't live in Hamilton where there's a lot of waterfalls.
Um, this 90s thing.
What a setting.
What a time period.
You were alive in the 90s.
I was.
And you remember some of the 90s stuff.
I'm sorry.
The 90s means about it.
Are we going to spill the beans about the 90s and what we're doing with the 90s one day?
Absolutely not.
We're not going to tell them about our time machine.
Nope.
In fact, I'm going to get in the time machine, go back in time and convince you not to say that.
So this week, we've got some pretty cool one really cool car to talk about and then some fun news.
Because me and Ben like making fun of the news and what's going on on the on the.
And we have a cool.
We have a cool listener question to address question or comment.
I believe it's a bit of both.
Oh, OK, let's do it.
Ben, start us off.
So I'm going to be talking about a vehicle that I'm really surprised by my impression.
I did not go into this particular test drive with any expectations.
In fact, you might say I was prepared to be underwhelmed.
And then something happened.
I was actually impressed by the vehicle.
A class of vehicle that was similar to what I drove last week where we talked about the Subaru
Cross Trek, that was a hybrid model, a little bit higher end, at least in Canada, in terms of pricing.
But this model is aimed at a more affordable side of the market.
And that's the 2026 Volkswagen Tauss.
Is that how you say that?
I asked you that and you said yes.
Gotcha. Tauss Tauss T.A.O.S.
In my opinion, if you're if you're naming a car, don't give it an ambiguous name.
You know what I mean?
Like pick a name that is there's no there's no way you can mess it up.
Like no one says Mustang, for example.
Everyone knows how to pronounce Mustang.
Everyone knows how to pronounce F-150.
It's it's easy.
So no, some people could call it the F-150.
Sure, you could.
But no one in the history of the planet has ever done that.
So you're a 1500
We're still waiting for this this to happen.
Tauss, on the other hand, it's like, you know, some might even pronounce it Douse, right?
Like it's still there's too much ambiguity.
Anyway, my one complaint about the vehicle, too much.
I mean, Volkswagen is like that, though, because you can go.
People like do people call them VW or Volkswagen?
What is the what do you think is the preferred name for this German automaker?
I don't think they care.
But I do remember like names like Tiguan.
That's pretty.
I mean, there's no no one knows how to, especially since it was the combination
of Tiger and Iguana, which is itself insane.
Like that's the kind of thing like Island of Dr.
Moreau style experimentation where someone's like, I want to see what a tiger
and an Iguana would look like if I fuse them together.
Like Bionic cheetah is one thing, but Tiger Iguana.
That's like flounder apple.
That's like a flavor that you don't need.
I mean, when they when they said Bionic cheetah, it was the inspired
by our idea of a Bionic cheetah.
They didn't just name the thing these two words mashed together.
And let's be clear.
A family car is not does not instill the spirit of a tiger or an Iguana.
What is the spirit of an Iguana?
I want to hear your take on that.
Well, they do a lot of head bobbing.
They do. Mm hmm.
They also fall out of trees when it's cold.
Is that something? Is that anything?
Is that anything? Yeah, of course, it's something.
So if you've got an Iguana dear listener and you want us to tell you want to tell us
what whether or not we're off base with our Iguana
vibes, you just send us a message.
Shout out to an even more confusing name from Volkswagen, the Touareg.
It doesn't exist anymore.
No, but it existed for like 20 years and doesn't exist in other markets.
Maybe you had to call it like the Touareg or the you know,
it wasn't clear how to pronounce that again.
So there is where the tiles is is making a comeback.
Probably the same person who named these vehicles.
All three, you think one guy is in charge of all of these things?
I'm not saying it's a man or a woman.
I'm saying one employee.
One employee at Volkswagen is out there.
It's making things hard.
It's hair out of their hair out.
Being like, how do I make this car?
So should I call it the ID buzz?
How do you say Taos in German?
Taos, I imagine it's just like your name and my name in German.
It's just totally German's pronunciation always exactly the same.
You're right. They're great.
They have great pronunciation. You know that.
This is a good vehicle for people who are looking for something affordable
because in the States, it starts at under 30.
It's about 28 grand.
That's not bad.
And it goes up to 38
So there's a 10000 dollar price stretch there.
And you can just stay with the base model or you can get one that is supposedly more luxurious.
In Canada, it's harder to tell how much these cost,
because if you go to the Volkswagen build site and you try to build a Taos,
they show you like five trims in a jumbled order with no pricing.
So it's very confusing.
The first one that I'm shown is the comfort line for motion,
which is actually like the fourth most expensive trim that it jumps to trend line,
which is the entry level, then trend line for motion,
and then it seems to get back in order.
So I don't know if like the comfort line for motion is there
because it's maybe the most popular, but this is a vehicle that starts at
and I had to click on it to tell 33048 in Canada.
And that includes as with the U.S.
number I gave that includes all of the associated fees.
So again, not not a crazy expensive.
I drove a SE or so in the States is called the SE black in Canada.
The trim levels called the comfort line black.
And what that means is you get black rims, black mirrors in the states.
You get black door handles.
There's some other black bits.
It's basically an appearance package kind of for the the
comfort line model.
The it's not super expensive.
Like I said, 37098 in Canada.
In the U.S., you'll pay 33 grand for it.
It has nine.
Those bills are nineteen inches.
You get a panoramic sunroof.
You have the larger digital cockpit, which is a gauge cluster.
Not really that important.
And I'll get into that later.
And it has customizable interior lighting.
But everything else is like very, very toused.
Like there's only one motor with this vehicle.
It is a scroll, scroll, scroll to find my data turbocharged four cylinder.
It's one and a half liters and it's a hundred and 74 horsepower
and a hundred and 84 pound feet of torque.
It comes with an eight speed automatic transmission.
And you can get it with either, as I mentioned, four wheel drive or front
wheel drive. It's it's most helpful to think of this vehicle, Sammy,
as a golf that's been transformed into a crossover.
Yeah, I was going to ask you specifically about the golf sized hole
in the in everyone's heart, really, in North America, that there is no golf here.
There's a GTI, though.
And the golf are. Yeah.
But so this is this is bigger.
I mean, when I say golf, golf like if you look at it from the front,
it really looks like a golf wagon, like it really does.
It has the same the lighting, the the fascia.
It's very similar to the golf from the sides, though.
It looks like a smaller Atlas, which I think is kind of cool.
Yeah, I think I think it's cool.
I think I think it's a good look for it.
And when I also say smaller, this is still pretty big inside.
I want to just draw attention to the fact that I had to pick up a bumper
for my Jeep, my my my grand wagon here.
Yeah, I didn't hear the story.
Hold on, I didn't hear the story.
Yeah, I sent you pictures of me doing it and you no response.
And then I said that was what was happening.
I say the picture again and no response again.
And then I just gave up because I figured, you know, you love to send me pictures.
I'm always concerned about this.
What he does is he sends me pictures, no comments.
OK, zero. It's my face.
And you're all gone.
Literally, the my fear is that we're such good friends.
He expects me to just know what is happening
and not I don't think he wants me to ask follow up questions.
I'm always afraid that I just ask if you don't understand
because then you're going to be like, oh, Sammy doesn't listen
or pay attention or care about anything that I like twice.
It's clear you weren't paying attention.
OK, so you put this bumper in.
This bumper is like six feet long, pretty much.
And I was like, oh, is it going to fit in the house?
I popped the trunk.
I wrapped it up in a blanket.
And it does fit, except I had to, like, run it between the front seats.
So the whole ride home, it was like sitting directly beside my head,
which is super dangerous, I guess.
And I couldn't really turn my head to the right very quickly,
or I would like bang my head on this exposed metal bumper.
But if you could.
Yes, slowly, I could catch it by surprise, you know.
But to say just to say it's 60 point two cubic feet of cargo space.
It's a little bit less in the all drive model I had.
So if you get from a drive, you get a bit more than 60 cubes.
I think it's like five additional cubic feet.
There's something like 23 cubic feet behind the back seat, which is pretty good.
Another interesting thing that that's that's a very competitive number
for a subcompact SUV, which one put that out there?
Yeah, another interesting thing about the Tiguan, sorry,
the towers that I have never seen on an SUV in this class
or very many other SUVs to begin with.
There are steps built into the back bumper so you can reach up to the roof.
OK, yeah, like the bumper steps on the Silverado in in the bumper
on the exterior or built into the impressive.
OK, and I know I have size 10 feet and they fit in no problem.
You have size 10. I Well, 10 and a half sometimes.
Yeah, 10 and a half.
We can share shoes.
I've been borrowing your shoes for years.
Ask your wife.
She's been mailing them to me.
Sammy, you have a shoe problem.
I know I've had it for a long time.
Sammy just renovated his basement so he could have more room for shoe storage.
And and.
And a dojo to train warriors.
Yeah, that's right.
I will make a dojo out of it.
I have everything that I need.
I have the knowledge and the confidence and all the shoes.
And the shoes, not all the shoes and dojos, but yeah.
Well, you need the door.
So one of the. Well, that's where I get all my shoes for other people's door.
They call you the dojo rat.
I know that Subaru likes to put steps on the inside of the second
or the rear seats.
Sorry, how do you describe that?
I don't know, because I have a door.
So there's the door sill area.
Generally, they put some seats, at least in the newer ones.
I have access to roof rack.
Haven't noticed that.
But I think that's.
I like the idea.
Sorry, I'm getting something now.
I'm very professional.
You're getting something now.
What does that mean?
I'm eating something right now.
Why are you eating on Mike?
I'm I'm anxious.
I feel like that character in those movies where they eat a lot.
Why can't you just be like the guy in the Langoliers who tears the paper?
Yeah, I should.
Well, do you think that won't you think that'll be OK on on audio?
I think it's a less biological sound.
OK, so I like the way the house looks.
I like the way I want to talk to you about this loading the roof thing.
You like to step on the bumper.
You like to load it from the back.
Well, if I don't have to open a door to access the roof, that's a bonus.
Because what if it's raining?
Yeah, you'd be outside putting something on the roof anyway.
I'm outside regardless, but that way the interior doesn't get wet.
I guess so.
Also, what if I've loaded a child in there in the car?
And they're just getting soaked in the rain.
That's not good.
Children don't know how to get out of the rain.
What children are you loading in the car?
Doesn't matter.
What matters is I need to get to the roof.
So I think it looks good on the outside.
I think the cargo area is super practical and useful for a vehicle of its size.
The interior itself I am less sold on.
It is one of two things about this vehicle that I think holds it back.
So I'll start in on there's nothing wrong with it, but it really feels old school.
It's just a lot of black, plastic.
There's some light colored stitching and the seats attempt to have some detail.
But it really feels like I'm in an older Volkswagen when I'm in this car.
And anyone who's been in an older Volkswagen will instantly know what I'm talking about.
And I mean, like by older, I just mean from the last five years or so,
just there's not a lot going on there.
It's it's simple, simple, simple.
And again, this is more of a preference thing.
It's not exactly a problem.
But when you combine it with the other thing that I think holds us back,
the infotainment system for the Volkswagen.
Again, all versions come with this eight inch screen, which is fine, I guess.
But it's in like a really large frame that kind of like
drives home the fact that the screen itself is not my frame.
You mean like it has a really thick bezel?
Yeah, exactly. OK.
And then there are two different this digital cockpit thing.
So there's two different sizes.
There's a eight inch one that matches the size of this infotainment screen.
And then mine had a 10.25 inch one.
It's called Digital Cockpit Pro.
But both the graphics for the infotainment system and the gauge cluster.
Pretty much monochromatic.
The infotainment uses like a tile thing where you tap the tiles
and they flip over and you go through the menus that way.
It feels old school as well.
No matter where you touch the screen, it makes a noise.
So it's like, you know, like it like goes beep boop or like the Greeks.
No, it makes like a Mario collecting coins noise.
And that's fun.
But it doesn't matter what you're touching.
So it's not like, you know, you touch something and you get audio feedback
because you've hit the menu.
This you could touch anywhere on the screen and it's going to give you that sound.
That's not helpful and not useful.
It just it feels like a previous generation technology.
And the gauge cluster doesn't really have all that many cool things
that can show you.
It's it's got four different configurations for what you can see.
None of them are particularly impressive.
It's all functional.
And I do like the way that the buttons on the steering wheel work.
They are not complicated, super straightforward.
But there's no wow factor in this car.
And I don't really care about that.
I am pretty much in the I want to drive the car thing.
But a lot of customers are probably looking for something that will match.
Like if you're in the we talked about the Nissan Kix recently this year.
Or maybe it was late last year and the Kix has a really nice interior
just in terms of it's interesting to look at.
It's cheap, but it has like it uses all the the cheap fabrics
really effectively at like making it seem interesting, like youthful and young
and interesting. It has a personality. Yeah, that's right.
Yeah. And this this vehicle does not.
And the infotainment systems on pretty much every other vehicle.
I would say except the tracks that we draw that I drove recently,
which is again a very straightforward system, although the colors are more
vibrant, the Volkswagen is behind that.
It's not really on that wave.
So that might I'm trying to think of all Volkswagen's
with interesting interiors and the the list is and the the things
that stand out are really limited.
It's just basically the GTI with those like tartan seats, right?
It is a conservative design approach for Volkswagen interiors.
It's definitely when you were in the Tiguan recently, weren't you?
No, I won the Alice. Yeah.
What was that interior like?
A little bit more premium, for sure, but nothing special.
Yeah. There was a lot of like these like
capacitive touch buttons buttons.
The whole interior was like all touch screen and stuff.
So the the Taos has a climate control set up underneath
the infotainment screen.
Actually, it's well underneath it.
It's like at the bottom of the at the top of the console.
Integrated into the black piano, piano black plastic that you need to.
Yeah, but it's not it's not super.
I guess it is capacitive touch, but like for most functions, it was it was pretty easy.
I didn't really have any issues with it there.
Does it illuminate at night?
It does. Yeah, they've they've listened.
I know. Big step forward for Volkswagen.
Yeah.
So those are the two things that I'm iffy on with this car.
Everything else, especially how it drives, is pretty damn good.
OK.
The it has this thing called travel assist.
It's like their assist.
It's their it's their safety system, their driver's aid system.
So it's like adaptive cruise control.
I like that. Actually, I like this name.
I like travel assist for the suite of.
Well, the suite is called IQ dot drive.
So you're not going to like that.
Travel assist is part of that.
If you can go through all of the names of these things, there's to go to safety sense.
There's like there's like what's the other one called pro pilot assist or pro pilot?
What are all the other names of them now?
Blue cruise.
Blue cruise is more like the hands free stuff.
And same with like what is like I can't go.
It doesn't matter. Let's get back to the Volkswagen.
But most of them usually like emphasize these are safety gear safety equipment.
But I like it when they when they they name it after what the real use.
Like there's nothing safe about using adaptive cruise control in like.
OK, I don't think a lawyer would agree with you.
But so travel assist is like semi automated cruise control system.
It'll use the lane centering and the adaptive cruise to keep the vehicle on track.
Two things I didn't really like about it.
It does work.
But the the travel assist rides the center line so closely
that when traffic would pass me, I was super uncomfortable.
And I would try to like you said the center the center line, which line?
Yeah, so if you're in what do you mean, which one?
It's the one in the center.
What are you saying?
If you're on a divided highway, there's two lines.
You know, it's the one to your left and you're just way too close to it.
That center line.
I was not OK, got you.
I was not comfortable with it at all.
Always on hugging the sort of like left side.
Yeah, even if you were in a two lane.
No, that's why I said center line.
OK, so like the center line of a divide of a divided highway.
If you're in a two lane road.
Yeah, yeah, two lane traveling in the same direction.
So traffic would pass you and it was way too close.
The other thing that's a little weird about travel assist is
it deactivates if you hit your turn signal, which makes sense
because you don't want to be fighting the steering wheel.
But if you're in a corner when you hit your turn signal,
the system deactivates and immediately pulls you to the outside of the corner.
Like you have to be prepared for that
because the wheel is not going to keep like going in the direction of the turn.
So that's a little bit, you know, you should be paying attention
at all times anyway, and this is going to make sure that you pay attention.
Right. The horsepower and torque.
I mentioned them before, 174 and 184.
That's not a lot, but this is not a big vehicle.
And what is actually pretty good, though?
I think for a small turbo engine, for sure.
The upshot, the good news of all of that, that modest horsepower.
I was able to beat the factory fuel mileage in combined driving.
I got 30 miles per gallon on my test loop.
I think that's like 7.8 liters per 100 kilometers, something like that.
The vehicles only rated for 28 combined for all wheel drive models.
So I didn't do anything special either.
I was driving at a fair bit and I was impressed with that.
In fact, it's one of the most frugal vehicles I've driven
over the course of this recent surge in fuel prices.
I would say the fuel mileage was like
you know, within 10, 15 percent of that
cross track hybrid I had last week, which is pretty good.
And the cross track is bad, you know, like I think I think we said
that the cross tracks not the most fuel efficient there.
But we do we should actually start thinking about how I think you're very good
at at exceeding the the posted the posted limit, not limits.
What am I talking about mileage estimates?
I think you're very good.
I feel like I'm always over it on the tracks.
I wasn't on the tracks.
I was actually a bit below. OK.
So it doesn't always turn in my favor.
I think weather is really dependent.
I think temperature makes a much bigger difference than we're often talking about.
And for me, the drive, it's always just I have to drive through the city every single day.
Well, I do both. I have a loop.
I have a 75 mile test loop that includes city highway and two lane roads.
So that's whenever I talk about fuel mileage, it's always based on that loop.
On that loop. OK. Yeah.
The you know, this is a small turbo four, so it's still going to do the things
that all small turbo fours do.
If you hammer the throttle, it's going to sound like a vacuum.
It's like a shop pack.
It's going wild.
But because there's no CBT, it's a lot less annoying.
Like you don't peg the revs all the time when you hit the gas.
And if you're hammering it hard, it can take a while to climb down from red line.
If you get all the way up there.
But other than that, there's no annoyances at the motor.
Like under regular driving, it's pretty quiet and tame.
Sometimes it's not super responsive to pedal inputs when you're cruising at low speeds.
Like you'll tap the gas and there'll be a noticeable hesitation before you get under way.
And it's it doesn't interrupt your flow of driving,
but it does remind you that you're not driving a performance vehicle.
And this happens.
It has an S mode for the transmission of sport driving mode.
It doesn't really do a lot like it might sharpen things a tiny bit.
But it's really about a steady driving experience rather than an exciting driving experience.
OK, and I never really had the chance to use all will drive like it was wet.
I have a dirt road, but I never needed the extra traction.
So I can't tell how good it is in inclement weather.
But it felt stable at all times.
More to the point, though, the all will drive model gets a more sophisticated rear suspension.
It gets a multi-link setup versus a torsion bar for the front wheel drive.
I have not driven a front wheel drive.
Taos is actually the first time I've driven the Taos.
I was super impressed by how comfortable it was.
It is a very, very common composed vehicle, even over spring ruts and potholes.
I barely noticed them.
And that's this is an important that's an important thing to talk about,
because so many times these cheaper or subcompact, they're considered subcompact
crossovers, they cheap out a little bit on the suspension or the tuning of the suspension
and will deliver a really either like stiff or wobbly or just like uncomposed ride.
Like, yeah, like they don't feel fully baked sometimes, right?
Yeah, I agree.
And so to have something like this, sorry to cut you off, but to have something like this
feel more like like they really spent time ironing out the suspension.
It's kind of rare for what's known as an affordable car or a relatively affordable car.
It's definitely rare.
And I think it's commended.
So you you've mentioned your experiences with the cross track, which I think is a
it used to be really easily easy for me to recommend a cross track for people
shopping for a small crossover, because it had a lot of interior space.
And it was a decent price.
And I think it was OK on gas.
You just had to suffer with at the time, a really a really dull engine and and dull styling.
But now I think that the entire class of crossovers has kind of
of subcompact crossovers have have really improved over the years.
I think the Kona is one of the top choices.
I think from what you're telling me, the towels is really up there in terms of overall
like sort of competency.
Yeah, I mean, I would still recommend a cross track.
I don't have any qualms about doing that.
OK, I think that it's better than an HRV, right?
Oh, yeah, everything's better than HRV.
But this is this is really, you know, we we've talked about how much we
like the tracks and the Buick version of the tracks.
But if you're looking for all the drive, you have to go for something
like a trailblazer from Chevrolet, which is not as great.
What is the name? Encore GX?
Encore GX for Buick, which I'm actually going to be driving in a couple of weeks.
So we're talking about that on the show.
I haven't driven it in a very long time.
But I think, you know, across track and Nissan kicks, those are vehicles
I would recommend and the towels as well.
I I'm hesitant because of, you know, reliability concerns with Volkswagen
over the longer term.
But this is this is as simple as it gets, I think, from Volkswagen,
which is kind of where you want to go if you're worried about complexity
and reliability. And I just had a good time with the vehicle.
It felt very honest. Interesting.
And I think it's quite handsome.
Mine was finished in cornflower blue.
It had a black roof.
You pay $500 more for that in Canada.
It's it's probably worth it.
I mean, it's an actual color and it comes out nice, shoots well
on the for photographs and everything.
And OK, I just I think that, you know,
it's surprising what an entry level vehicle gets you these days.
Also surprising that an entry level vehicle in Canada costs you
33000 and in states is 28000
I mean, a tracks is going to be a lot less expensive
than a than a house in the US, I believe,
but it won't be that much less expensive than a house in Canada.
So really narrows the gap.
I think you're looking at a 10 percent price difference.
I think that the tracks starts around 30,000 now.
So for 3000 more, you can get a town in Canada and that,
you know, that might be worth making the jump if you're not sold
on the interior of the tracks.
If you're not sold on the size of the tracks, which I think is still
pretty good, but the Taos is a little bit bigger inside
and the styling, of course, on the outside.
I also think it's easy for the automakers to and I said that we had
that criticism of like the the subcompact crossovers feeling kind of like
unfinished or like sometimes it feels like they're just a push
for the automaker, for example, the Corolla cross.
Totally really like it's an OK car.
I could never recommend it.
But yeah, I can't recommend it.
And to me, there's something about the car that is basically Toyota saying,
we kind of don't want you to buy this.
We'd rather you spend more money and just get the round four.
And I think a lot of automakers just kind of phone it in with this
entry level subcompact because they want you to spend more money
and get the get the bigger product.
I mean, some do.
I mean, I don't make Toyota and Toyota and Ford, I think, are the most obvious examples.
Um, with the EcoSport.
Is the EcoSport still on sale?
I think I don't I don't know.
But it is definitely it should be illegal.
It should be illegal to sell the EcoSport.
The most cynical like subcompact that they put out there.
And it's crazy because GM has like a couple of really good subcompact.
Ford was just like, no, we're not even going to bother getting the scape or get out.
Like and I think it's really great.
It's really noticeable when an automaker has actually said, no,
we're going to actually have customers who want this car.
And if they want to upgrade later on, that's we are going to set a good example
from the from the entry level product.
The Tau sounds like something like this.
It does sound a lot like what the Gulf was, a very competent,
grown up kind of affordable car.
And I think that is that is a really great way of delivering a car.
I think another approach.
Another thing to excuse me.
Another thing to think about when looking at subcompact,
is they're not always aimed at entry level buyers.
A surprising number of retirees and empty nesters end up buying these vehicles.
Good point. Yes.
Back when Scion was a thing, they were trying to target the youth market.
And they thought that by by offering more than one subcompact vehicle,
they would be able to scoop that up.
But what really happened ended up happening was they it was like a lot of
55 and plus people who were buying Scion's because they like the form factor.
They didn't have kids to carry around anymore.
Fuel economy was good, that kind of thing.
They just fit their lifestyle.
And I think something like a Tau's is like would be very appealing
for that that generation as well.
Here's another one.
I didn't realize this is still on sale.
2026 Mitsubishi Outlander Sport, or known as the RVR in in in Canada.
That's that's one of those cars that are like, please don't please.
You're not a fan. fan of the Mitsubishi.
Anything else you want to talk about when it comes to subcompact
crossovers or the Volkswagen Tau's?
I think I'm good.
Do you think it needed more power?
No, it was fine. It was completely fine.
I had a situation where I had to pass an 18 wheeler and another car.
Yeah, I'm like on like the two lane country roads near my place
because the truck was having trouble going up hills and there's numerous hills here.
So I did like I planned out my run and did a big run and I passed it.
It was fine. I had enough time to do it.
And then when I got to this is what always happens with people in my area.
There's a lot of people who don't pay attention to speed limits
and they just drive like a steady 70 kilometers an hour
regardless of whether it's a 90 zone or a 50 zone.
And so I got to further down the road.
I get to a 50 zone, which is a residential area.
And I slow down to 50 and this 18 wheeler comes right up on my bumper
and honks at me three times because I'm now going the speed limit.
Wild. And then I just zoomed off again.
Like once once the zone.
Well, once the zone ended, it goes back up to 90.
And I'm like, I'm not going to stick around for this, you know,
but it's just like, come on, man, you don't need to do that.
Now, I don't have a I mentioned last week that I'm actually spending.
I spent the week kind of getting my personal cars fit for the season.
They're still not one of them is still not really doing so hot.
My efforts needs quite a bit of work and these new tires
and needs potentially clutch job.
Um, so I'm better than my debts and which is currently out with a wiring issue,
a.k.a. the entire wiring harness might be dead.
Yeah, it was not the this is not the misery Olympics, Ben.
Come on now. No, it is.
And I get the gold medal, but continue. Yeah, well done.
I get the bronze.
I don't even know what the I don't know who gets silver these days.
You get the gold and high dive.
And I think that's pretty good.
But I did notice there's quite a bit of interesting news to talk about this week.
I want to start with some stuff on Honda.
Honda is you mentioned this to me.
Honda is taking a loss for the first time in what seems like a long time.
First time ever, I believe ever.
That's the North American brand like arm of Honda or Honda as a company.
Holy moly for the first time in 70 years.
It is posting a net loss of $2.6 billion U.S.
And that's the first ever annual loss.
That sounds reasonable
because they spent a lot of money in developing new electric vehicles
and tooling a plant to make them and then canceled them.
All of them, all every single EV that they they were going to make.
They say it's it's losses associated to its EV operations, total 16 billion U.S.
So that's a lot of money.
Turns out that when you develop a car and then don't sell that car, that's a bad idea.
Yes, in in all the news you'll hear today about Honda will be about them
trying to spin all of this into their future, which is that they're going to develop
more hybrid powertrains.
Now, Honda already offered some hybrid powertrains.
I think in their civic and the CRV and the prelude, this new thing, right?
And that means that there's one element, one area where there are no Honda hybrids.
And that's in their bigger vehicles.
Think about the pilot in the passport and I guess, I don't know, the Ridgeline
or the minivan, Odyssey, those all lack the hybrid powertrain
that are offered on other vehicles in the market.
There are hybrid.
What's the name of the hybrid Highlander?
There's I pretty sure the hybrid version, the Tacoma.
There's a hybrid minivan, at least one there,
in both the Carnival and the Toyota Sienna.
And I said passport.
I'm certain there's hybrid versions of like midsize,
like, let's say the Crown Signia.
That's that's a hybrid, too.
Yeah, but the Crown Signia is like a weirdo outlier.
Yeah, it's like it's like a second brand almost, right?
Honda is apparently developing a V6 hybrid
to compete with some of these bigger vehicles that.
You forget that Honda already has a V6 hybrid.
Tell me more.
It's in a little vehicle that starts with N and ends with X.
The NSX.
Is the NSX still on sale?
It's not. But they still have the plans
for that drivetrain somewhere, I'm sure.
Yeah, just get that out of just dust this whole thing.
It was also in the MDX, if I remember correctly.
No, it was not in the MDX.
It was in the RLX, a vehicle that no one ever talks about.
That was the other application for the NSX drivetrain.
I thought it was also in the MDX.
The MDX had a hybrid.
It had a hybrid, but it was not related to the NSX.
This is a thing to me that they are.
They have had a hybrid powertrain in the past.
Two hybrid, apparently two in the NSX and the and the RLX.
I guess, obviously, these are premium vehicles.
So maybe they were not applicable to they sold like 300 RLX
in over four years.
Like, honestly, have you ever seen one in the real world?
No, no, no, no, no.
Only the press ones that we used to borrow.
The RLX is the Acura version of the Hornet.
Like, that is the shout out to all of our Hornet spotters out there.
But if you see an RLX, that's like Hornet times 10.
That is just a non-existent vehicle.
I forgot to mention there's also a hybrid in the Accord.
But I'm talking specifically the fact that they have taken so long
to get their big vehicles to get.
How long has the pilot really needed a hybrid powertrain?
I don't know. The last generation, like the last generation needed it.
But there are so many cars in this class that don't have a hybrid drivetrain.
Like Volkswagen doesn't have one. Ford
Ford did have a hybrid.
Didn't they have a hybrid?
No, never, never.
No, they had a hybrid version of the Lincoln, the aviator.
But there was as far as I know, unless there was a very brief.
They had a turbo four version of the Explorer.
I don't think they ever put a hybrid drivetrain in it.
I'm almost certain there's a Ford Explorer.
I don't think you're right.
But also Chevrolet GMC, they never did it either.
Like it's it's in that in that zone of like vehicles that don't
like haven't really crossed over.
Toyota was kind of a pioneer there, I think.
They have a plug in hybrid, I believe, Explorer.
So that's a different thing. That's a whole different story.
That would have been the aviator drivetrain.
Yes.
This got me mean, you think so.
First of all, I think it's
the I personally think that Honda needs to deliver a hybrid powertrain.
You're saying otherwise.
I'm saying I don't think it's necessary, but I think they need to do something
because they don't really have like their electrification is way behind everyone else.
I mean, I say that Chevrolet doesn't have a hybrid SUV,
but they do have like a ton of electric vehicles, you know, a ton.
So like it's I look at Cadillac.
Sometimes I'm when I'm doing research, Cadillac has so many EVs.
Well, their plan was to go full EV as a brand.
And so who knows what's going to happen with that?
But that was the initial idea.
Well, the only thing that's holding them back is they have the the regular escalade.
For some reason, they still have the XTE.
Well, the only thing that's holding them back is every single policy being
enacted in their home country, like it's really what's bringing them.
Um, so the thing is we were thinking about this
and it made me think about the Toyota Highlander.
Toyota Highlander has had a hybrid powertrain for a really long time.
And they announced that the 2027 Toyota Highlander will come as an EV.
And as far as I can tell only as an EV, that's a huge shift, in my opinion.
What do you think of that?
Well, we because of this huge shift, I was like,
well, what they're going to do is if people don't end up buying the Highlander,
they'll just push them into the Grand Highlander,
which is already a weird situation where you have these two vehicles
that are very, very, very similar.
And so we decided to take a look at pricing on the Grand Highlander.
In my head, I was like, oh, that's so like that's so capitalist to be like,
oh, you don't like this, just spend more on the one
that will get you what you could have had last year.
So if you want to buy a Highlander right now,
the cheapest Highlander you can buy is $45,870.
OK, OK, if you want to buy the larger Grand Highlander,
the cheapest one you could buy is $41,860,
which is $4,000 less than the vehicle
that theoretically is underneath it on the price price scale.
Now, this doesn't make any sense at all.
Yeah, this required a double take from both of us firing up our browsers
and being like, what are they doing really?
So it turns out
it's because you can get front wheel drive versions of the Grand Highlander
and you can't get front wheel drive versions of the regular Highlander.
They're all all wheel drive.
But even then the adding all wheel drive to a to a Grand Highlander
is still only like 1600 dollars.
So I think that maybe, you know, if you look at the the price gap for Grand Highlander,
there's Ellie and XLE.
The XLE is 45,000, which is still $700 less than a Highlander,
but much closer, right?
So it seems like Grand Highlander has this lost leader,
Ellie model that you're not going to find elsewhere.
Well, it'd be interesting if you even see these on the on the lot somewhere.
But that's their game plan, right?
They're going just like you said, they're going to that means they're going to.
Do you think they're going to make the I mean, they have to be.
Even if you can either EV will get going through Grand Highlander.
They're all like a thousand dollars less than the equivalent Highlander trim.
So I don't know. That's wild. So weird.
That's so weird.
So yeah, they're probably just going to push people into Grand Highlander
and hope people buy regular Highlander and not really think too hard about it, I guess.
So we're the only ones who are overthinking it.
I think so. That's so funny.
Anyways, I mean, I looked at this and it blew my mind.
I couldn't believe that such a car such an approach.
A grand product is typically a bit of more expense.
I mean, that would be like grand Cherokee.
Imagine the Cherokee was cheaper than the grand Cherokee.
Or the wagon, I mean, the grand Cherokee was cheaper.
Yes, the wagon ears still existed and it was cheaper than the Grand Wagoner.
Anyways, that's all I found this week.
I think I don't know if there's any other news you want to talk about that.
I have a story that was sent in by Justin Longtime,
listener, always great to hear from them about I'm not going to go into too much detail
because I'm not sure if this was for us to share on on the air or just for our amusement.
Trust me, it was very amusing.
But it was related to when Sammy was talking about going to monster trucks with his son,
Justin had a similar, well, not a similar situation,
but like a similar motorsports related situation where he took his son
to the Bathurst 12 hour GT3 race, which is pretty amazing.
They were they were at this event.
There's a top of a mountain where they were viewing from.
So Bathurst is like lots of elevation changes, pretty cool track,
pretty cool, pretty cool circuit, I guess I should say.
His son was quite young at the time around six years old and he'd fallen asleep
waiting for things to start and a kangaroo jumped out of some trees on the edge of the track
because I guess and I want to follow this up with my own animal experiences after.
But the marshals at the track, they were trying to scare wildlife
so that it wouldn't jump across the track while there were cars on it.
So they were making big noises and whatnot and trying to get that to happen,
driving around on bikes, trying to get these these kangaroos out of the danger zones.
And so they spooked when it was nearby to the point where it
before Justin could take really full stock of the situation,
it had bounded across an over offense and jumped over his sleeping son.
Brilliant.
While you and he didn't wake up.
But like it's scary because a kangaroo is a large creature.
Yeah, that weighs a lot.
Like they're they are heavy and they probably would be pissed off
if they had to run over a human and stumble and whatnot.
So that's a that's to me.
That's a crazy story and I'm glad nothing happened to your son.
Justin like that would have been.
I mean, it's it's the kind of thing it's the kind of thing that like you can look back on
and say like, wow, that was a nutty experience and like it's a good story.
And thankfully that's all that happened.
But I've I've been on race tracks myself where there have been animal interactions.
Like mostly it's it's groundhogs that run across the track.
Yeah.
Because they're hard to spot.
They have holes.
They pop out of the hole and then they're gone.
But my favorite animal interaction is a track in New Hampshire
in a place called Tamworth called Club Motorsports.
And I was I've been there a number of times for both work and with my own vehicle.
And when I was there for work, there was a couple of it's a track that was built.
They bought a ski hill and they built the track into the ski hill.
So it goes up a mountain.
And when I say mountain, when you're at the top of the track, you can see for,
I don't know, 30 miles, 40 miles, maybe more than that.
It's pretty cool.
But the the reason I bring this up is because there's multiple viewing points
and kind of like at Bathurst, you can be at the top of the mountain
and look down on the track.
And it's great for taking photos.
But when we were being taken there by marshals,
they told us to be careful of this bear family that lives there because there's a bear that
like hasn't had a cub and it would go up to the edge of the the, I guess,
guardrail for the track at the top.
There's a big like a herepin corner and the cub and the bear would lean on the
guardrail and watch the cars go by.
And I know several people who encountered the bear while driving,
they could see it while they were driving.
And you had to really be on your toes as a photographer to not put yourself
in the bear's path while you were shooting an event.
Have you ever, have you ever had an encounter with an animal like that?
Same like a kangaroo jumping over you or like no kangaroos, maybe a moose.
No moose.
No.
No, nothing like that at all.
I'm sorry.
I don't have any of those stories.
So you're saying Hamilton is just waterfalls and no wildlife.
I've had birds and like squirrels and rabbits duck out in front of my car
all the time when, and the worst is, I think this is what it was.
I was doing a video of a Prius.
I can't remember if it was the plug-in hybrid or the, or the,
the regular version of the Prius.
And I remember, you know, talking on camera about, oh, it's so great for the
environment, you know, so you got this great fuel efficiency.
And I just hear this thump and watch a little rabbit fall over and I'm like,
oh, this is the worst.
This is the worst.
So much.
I will say though, we, yeah, exactly.
That's what I was thinking.
I was thinking in 490 plus episodes or around 490 episodes of this podcast,
we've only had one animal attack while recording.
And it was a really weird one.
A bird flew into bed's window while we were recording.
I don't even want to talk about it.
Startled him to the point of stopping our recording and then making sure the bird was okay.
I had to go out and rescue the bird and the bird was stunned,
but was fine and eventually flew off.
And then I saw the bird again the next day.
So yeah, do it all right.
It was coming to be like, to look at you and be like,
I don't remember when you put this window in.
Yeah, it was coming to get me.
I've gotten also a lot of comments, several comments about the monster jam story that I
told about my son.
And many people are very eager to talk about monster trucks because it's one of these amazing
things because these trucks are really, really, the design and engineering behind
these trucks is insane.
Apparently they have multiple, sorry, go ahead.
As you say, no one is left unaffected by an encounter with a monster truck.
Yeah.
So I think that's the point is like for an entertaining thing or an entertainment thing
to be able to appeal to both the young and old is an impressive feat.
And I will probably be revisiting the monster jam story again when they come back into town
and maybe do something a little bit more feature story related to that.
If people want to tell us their own monster jam stories or root stories or bathroom stories
or rabbit stories, hopefully not, how can they do that?
They can head on over to our website, unnamedautomotivepodcast.com.
When you get there, there's a little contact form.
You fill it out and that lands in our inbox.
That's what Justin did.
If you want to avoid the hassle of that and just want to email us,
just send an email to Benjamin at benjaminhunting.com.
Or you can reach out to us on social media.
Both Ben and I are relatively active on Instagram.
Ben, more than me.
But if you send me a message, I'll get it.
You can find Ben at Hunting Benjamin and myself at sammie underscore how like you're laughing.
What are you going to be talking about?
Oh, wow.
You go first.
What are you driving next week?
I'm going to be talking about the Volkswagen Jetta Sport.
Two back-to-back Volkswagen's.
I haven't done that in a long time.
Very cool.
I'm not sure actually.
I don't think I'm I think I'm still on my self-proclaimed like.
No, you've got to get behind the wheel or something.
We can't have, we can't expect Honda to lose $2.6 billion every week.
I'll find you new.
Don't worry.
Thank you everyone for listening.
I'll talk to you next week.
Bye bye.
Bye.
About this episode
Hosts kick off with listener feedback and a quick structure tease, then dig into the 2026 Volkswagen Taos—starting price, trim naming/pronunciation, drivetrain specs, cargo space, and how the cabin feels (especially the touchscreen and digital cluster). They also cover Travel Assist behavior and real-world fuel economy. The news segment shifts to Honda’s first annual net loss in decades and its pivot toward hybrids after canceled EV plans, then expands into broader hybrid/EV strategy comparisons and pricing quirks. Listener stories round it out.
The Unnamed Automtoive Podcast jumps back into the subcompact sphere and gets to review the 2026 Volkswagen Taos. Benjamin wonders what the correct pronounciation of the crossover is, then gets into the nitty gritty about the pros and cons of this small, but steady SUV. They also talk about what makes for a good subcompact crossover, and what doesn't make the cut.
Then Sami brings up some recent harrowing news about Honda, and the weird pricing strategy over at Toyota regarding its three-row crossovers. Thanks for listening!
