The Santa Cruz is a small SUV from Hyundai that also has some truck-like usefulness. It’s designed to be practical for daily driving, but it can handle light hauling too. The podcast mentions it while talking about trips and everyday use.
Ferrari Luce is a new Ferrari reveal. The hosts are mainly talking about how the outside looks and how it compares to what people expect from Ferrari design.
Johnny Ive is a well-known designer from the tech world. The hosts are saying Ferrari brought in his design style for the Luce’s interior, which is why it has a different look than many traditional car cabins.
Apple is the tech company the designer previously worked for. The hosts mention it to explain why the Ferrari Luce interior feels like it has a different design influence than typical car design.
Brand
pen and farina
This sounds like the name of a famous Italian design company that has worked on cars. The hosts are saying Ferrari used to rely on that kind of design influence more, and now they’re using something different.
“Design language” just means the recognizable style cues a brand uses. The hosts are saying Ferrari is trying a new overall look direction, so future cars will share a more consistent new style.
The Cybertruck is an electric pickup truck made by Tesla. It looks very different from most trucks, with sharp, geometric lines. People talk about it because the design is a big part of what makes it memorable.
The host is comparing Ferrari’s possible new look to Tesla’s Cybertruck—meaning a very different, bold design. The point is that it could change how Ferrari designs cars going forward.
The Model Y is an electric SUV/crossover made by Tesla. It’s designed to be practical for daily driving and fits a lot of people and cargo for its size. The podcast mentions it because its general shape and design ideas show up in other Tesla models too.
CUV means a crossover utility vehicle. It’s basically a car-SUV mix, and the host is saying that for a five-seat electric crossover, the need for efficiency affects the car’s shape.
Aerodynamics is how air moves around the car. The host is saying that for an all-electric five-seat car, designing for easier airflow limits what shapes you can choose, because the body has to be efficient.
Rear hinge doors are a door design where the door swings from the rear edge rather than the front (often associated with “suicide door” layouts, depending on how the latch is handled). The host mentions them as a styling/packaging trick that can help with access and proportions on a new EV platform.
A “five seater” is a car that can seat five people. The hosts are pointing out that this Ferrari idea is trying to be more practical than a typical two-seat supercar.
The Porsche Cayenne is Porsche’s SUV model. The host is using it as an example of how adding an SUV can make a company’s finances much stronger than relying only on sports cars.
EV means electric vehicle. It’s a car that runs on electricity from a battery instead of using gasoline.
Term
offset things
The host is talking about rules and regulations that carmakers have to follow. They’re wondering if building this kind of car helps Ferrari meet those rules in a way that “counts” toward compliance.
CFD is a computer simulation that helps engineers predict how air will move around a car. In this segment, they’re saying you can analyze the car’s aerodynamics with CFD, but that doesn’t automatically make every design element look great.
A “five spoke” wheel is just a wheel design with five main spokes. Here, the hosts are basically saying it looks ordinary compared to more distinctive wheel designs.
“Clean sheet” means the designers started over from the beginning instead of just tweaking an older design. They’re trying to build a fresh solution for how the car looks and works.
Concept
regulations are changing
They’re saying the rules for cars are changing. That forces car companies to redesign engines, powertrains, and tech so the cars can be sold legally.
Concept
technology showcase
A “technology showcase” is a car that’s mainly there to show off new tech. The hosts are wondering if that’s the real reason for the car, even if it’s not something many people will buy.
EV range means how far an electric car can go before its battery runs low. When someone says “300 miles,” they’re talking about the approximate distance you can drive on one full charge.
Horsepower is a way to describe how much power the car’s motor can produce. Higher numbers usually mean the car can accelerate more strongly, though how it feels also depends on other factors.
Charging infrastructure is the system of places where you can plug in and charge an electric car. If there are more reliable chargers nearby, it’s easier to use the EV day to day and on trips.
Tesla’s Model S is an electric car that became a benchmark for EVs with strong performance and lots of technology. Here it’s mentioned as an example of what would have seemed “wow” if a newer EV idea had arrived 10–15 years earlier.
A mid-engine car puts the engine more toward the middle of the vehicle. Here, they’re using it as a feeling/visibility comparison—like you’re looking down the road from a more driver-focused, centered position.
Car
Honda City car
The Honda City is a practical small car. The host is using it as a vibe comparison—saying the cabin feels warm and inviting instead of cold and clinical.
A subframe is like a strong support frame inside the car. The “rear subframe” holds parts like the rear suspension, and mounting it with softer mounts can help reduce road noise and vibration.
They’re talking about a system that takes real vibrations the car makes and makes them louder or more noticeable. The idea is to avoid totally artificial “engine sound” and instead highlight the car’s natural EV noises.
An accelerometer is a sensor that detects motion and vibration. In this car, it’s used to measure the EV’s real vibrations so the system can turn them into an audible experience.
Electric axles are the parts that use electric motors to turn the wheels. The host is saying the vibrations from those components are what the sound system is picking up.
Because EVs are quiet, some cars add artificial engine sounds to make them feel more like gas cars. The host says Ferrari isn’t doing that “fake V8/V12” approach here.
Car
Ferrari
Ferrari is the famous Italian supercar company. In this part of the show, they’re talking about whether Ferrari’s new EV is genuinely impressive or mostly just looks good and follows what other EVs already do.
The Mustang is a sports car made by Ford. It’s known for its classic look and for being available in different performance versions. The podcast mentions it because people pay attention to its design details and how it drives.
The Emira is a sports car made by Lotus. It’s built to feel fun and connected to the road when you drive it. The podcast mentions it while talking about specific design details on the car.
The Lucid Air is an electric luxury car that’s famous for going a long way on a charge. The hosts say that when it first came out, expensive versions impressed people, but a year later many cars were worth much less than buyers paid.
Four-wheel drive means the car can send power to all four tires. That usually helps it grip better, and the hosts are saying this Ferrari EV will likely have that kind of capability like other modern EVs.
A V12 is a type of engine with 12 cylinders arranged in a V shape. The host is basically asking if Ferrari should focus on making V12 cars rather than switching to EVs.
An “entry point” here means the first Ferrari-like thing that gets people interested in the brand. The idea is that it should attract new buyers who then move up to more expensive Ferraris later.
The Portofino is a high-end sports car made by Ferrari. It’s designed for comfortable long-distance driving while still being very fast. The podcast mentions it because it’s one of Ferrari’s models meant to bring in customers.
It means the car has a manual gearbox with six gears. You shift yourself using a clutch pedal, and the hosts are saying this special BMW M3 is only available that way.
Term
M servo tronic steering
“M servo tronic steering” refers to BMW’s electronically assisted steering system used on M models. The hosts say its tuning is specific to the “hand shelter” edition, meaning the steering feel and response are calibrated to match the car’s overall chassis and drivetrain behavior.
Term
electronic control settings
This is the car’s computer tuning. It adjusts how different parts work together—like the engine and transmission—so the driving feel matches the car’s intended character.
They’re using a nickname for a front-end design detail that looks like teeth. The hosts are basically saying the styling tries to make that feature less obvious, but it’s still there.
That phrase means the car’s rear end slides out a bit while you’re turning. It’s the kind of behavior people associate with fun, controllable handling when you drive aggressively.
Rear-wheel drive means the back wheels do the work of moving the car. Many drivers like it because it can make the car feel more lively and easier to steer at the limit.
These are performance-style seats made with carbon fiber, shaped to “hug” you. They’re designed to keep you from sliding around when the car turns hard, and they tend to cost a lot more than regular seats.
A strut brace is a metal bar that ties parts of the car’s front suspension together. The idea is to make the body less “wobbly,” so the wheels stay more aligned when you corner.
The GT-R is a fast sports car made by Nissan. It’s built for strong performance and quick driving. The podcast mentions it because it’s a popular choice when someone is deciding between high-performance cars.
This is a Mercedes-AMG model that’s meant to feel sporty like a coupe, but it has four doors. The hosts are talking about a new electric version with big power and a very recognizable Mercedes look.
This means the battery cells are cooled more directly, not just by air or indirect methods. Better cooling helps the battery handle hard driving and charging without overheating.
It means the driver spins the tires so hard that they smoke. It’s a dramatic way to show the car can put power down (or at least break traction) quickly.
These are safety rules meant to protect people walking near the car. They can force designers to shape the front (like a more rounded hood) so it crumples in a way that’s less harmful in a crash.
The Aston Martin Vantage is a well-known British sports car. The hosts are comparing its front-end design choices to the new car’s hood/shape issues.
Car
AMG GT
AMG GT is a Mercedes-AMG performance sports car. The host is saying the car’s design is based on the earlier AMG GT shape, and the GTR version is the more extreme, aggressive version.
The Ferrari F430 is a classic mid-engine Ferrari. They’re using it as a reference point for how the rear lights look—small and distinctive on that car.
This is a Mercedes-AMG performance four-door car that’s meant to feel sporty like a coupe. The discussion here is about how it tries to make the driving experience feel more exciting—especially the sound and the way it behaves during hard driving.
Traction interruption means the car briefly loses some grip at the tires on purpose. That can make the car feel more dramatic during launches or hard driving, even if it’s not doing a full burnout.
A burnout is when the tires spin while the car is stopped or barely moving, usually to make smoke and show off. Here, the hosts say carmakers are using different wording for that same idea.
EVs (electric vehicles) are cars powered primarily by electric motors instead of an internal-combustion engine. The hosts argue that EVs often don’t produce the same “cool” sound as traditional engines, so automakers are adding artificial sound or sound design to make them feel more exciting.
Term
sound files
Some EVs play fake engine-like sounds through speakers. The sound changes depending on how you’re driving, so it feels less like a silent electric car.
An axial flux motor is a type of electric motor. It’s designed so the magnetic forces work in a different direction than in many common EV motors, which can help it fit more power into a smaller package.
Term
active aero kinetics venturi flow plates
“Active aero” means aerodynamic parts that change based on conditions (like speed or driving mode) rather than being fixed. Venturi flow plates are shaped surfaces that manage airflow to create pressure differences, often to improve downforce or reduce drag; in this case they’re described as part of an underbody system.
A rear diffuser is a shape on the bottom back of the car that helps air flow smoothly as it leaves the underbody. Better airflow can help the car stick to the road more at speed.
Battery cooling is how an EV keeps its battery from getting too hot or too cold. Keeping the battery in the right temperature range helps it work well and last longer.
The Porsche Taycan is Porsche’s electric sports sedan. The hosts mention it because Porsche was doing EVs earlier than some other brands, so it’s a useful comparison point.
“Moonshot thinking” means trying something really ambitious instead of a safe, incremental upgrade. In cars, it usually points to a big technological leap.
Torque is the force that helps a car get moving quickly, especially from a stop or at low speeds. The segment is using torque numbers to show these trucks have strong “pull.”
A “track pack” is an upgrade package meant to make a car handle better and cope with harder driving. In this case, it’s added to the Rumblebee 392 to make it more track-capable.
The Challenger is a muscle car made by Dodge. It’s known for having very powerful engines, depending on the version. The podcast mentions a specific high-performance Challenger variant to highlight how fast it can be.
TRX is the name of Dodge’s super-power pickup truck. It’s famous for being loud and tough-looking, and the hosts are talking about how most owners actually drive it on regular roads rather than doing hardcore off-roading.
Jump detection is a system that tries to notice when the truck is in the air over bumps or jumps. It can change how the truck controls traction and stability while you’re airborne.
Stalantis is the company behind brands like Dodge and Jeep. The hosts are saying the company is making versions of these trucks that fit how most people actually use them—mostly on regular streets.
EV adoption just means how many people are switching to electric cars and trucks. The conversation is using that idea to explain what buyers actually want.
They’re talking about Dodge’s EV version of the Charger name. The hosts say people didn’t like it much and it didn’t sell well, even though they admit it had a good interior.
A NASCAR track is the kind of race track used for NASCAR stock-car racing. The hosts are saying Dodge chooses that kind of venue because it fits the loud, high-energy image they’re selling.
Stellantis is a big car company that makes lots of different brands. Here, they’re talking about plans to launch many new cars and invest heavily to grow faster.
Tata is a large company that’s involved in vehicles as well as other industries. Here it’s mentioned because Stellantis is talking about partnerships to build cars for the US.
JLR is short for Jaguar Land Rover, a car company that makes Jaguar and Land Rover vehicles. The hosts mention it because it’s part of the partnership list for US vehicle development.
“Hellcat” is Dodge’s name for some very powerful engines. The hosts are joking that even a data center could be powered by that kind of performance engine theme.
A live stream podcast is a podcast that goes out live online while it’s being recorded. The hosts are saying they’re doing one for their track-weekend episode.
The Solstice is a small sports car made by Pontiac. It’s meant to be fun and sporty without being as expensive as high-end cars. The podcast mentions it as one of the cars people talk about for driving enjoyment.
The Mazda CX-9 is a family-friendly SUV with three rows of seats. Here, it’s mentioned as the daily car that handles a long commute in wintery Michigan.
LIVE
Twizzlers keep the fun going! Yeah, I know. I just stopped whatever you were listening
to to tell you that twizzlers keep the fun going. Well, irony isn't my forte, but twisty,
chewy, yummy twizzlers sure is. So think of twizzlers as a little palette cleanser
for whatever's queued up. Which, by the way, should be coming very soon. Like any second
now! Okay, twizzlers, time to keep the fun going!
And we're back, and we're back in studio. Thank you guys for joining us at the top
of the corkscrew. That was actually very cool. For those of you that may not realize, we
were supposed to have a longer break on track than we did. Cars just kept coming back! Stop
coming! We were trying to get it so that the cars were passing for about five minutes and
then the rest of the podcast was open, but it just didn't work out the way we wanted
it to. But anyway, so most of that podcast, about two-thirds of it, was silent of the
corkscrew, except for the people going by in the blowy van. Whatever. But anyway, something
totally different. We are going to do a few remote podcasts. Oh, we should announce what
we're going to do next month. We should talk about that. We'll get there. Anyway, lots
of stuff coming on this podcast. We've got tons of car drop news up front, like cars
have appeared, which is cool. Thank God. New and different cars. Cars that we haven't
talked about yet. So new cars up front. Two really cool car debates we've got. Of course,
car conclusions. You guys have hit us with some really cool questions. We just got back
from a whirlwind, fantastic trip to the West Coast. Yep. Monterey. Perfect weather. We
were in the Santa Cruz Mountains. California was California. Yes, we were on Big Sur and
we had an amazing lunch at a cool place called Nepenthe. If you haven't been there before,
it's worth it. We were there. We had two days on Laguna Seca. A decent drive out and back.
So brilliant. Yes. It was a pretty great trip. Yeah, it was. So I was really glad to be there.
For all of you that went on the trip. And this was our first US adventure for this year. Got
a second one planned for September 2026. But thank you to all of you. All of you who came.
Don't worry, we've talked about doing more and what can we do to, you know, all the ideas
are always forthcoming. But but thank you to those people who came. And we hope you had a
wonderful time and talk it up for for next time too. We'll we'll keep planning and keep doing
them. Okay, right up front, we have something we have to talk about. It's just been released.
You have been wondering about this for a while, which is why we really have to dive in. It's
just happened. Ferrari has just released.
L U C E. So it's luce in Italian, it's loose in English. And it means light or lighting the
way forward. We've already talked about the interior because it got all that press. Yeah,
because it's Johnny I formerly of Apple. And a furniture design hero of yours come together.
And this is the exterior for this very Apple looking interior that Ferrari had commissioned.
This is the exterior now, the loose.
On one hand, I want to say this is what happens when you let non car people design a car. Okay.
On the other hand, I welcome non car people designing cars.
Okay, fair, fair, all right.
Both I'm very torn. I'm very mixed about this. Because at first glance, you might recoil and I
wonder if Ferrari buyers and many owners worldwide are going to recoil in horror because it looks
nothing like any former Ferrari. Sure. Yeah, the Ferrari website indicates that it was 360
Modena inspired. And you can see that in the rear, the direct rear, the rear shot, I agree with
that. Yes, it has the classic tail lights of a Ferrari that looks like 360 Modena. Yeah, I have
heard from many discussions that we've recently had on our Utah adventures, people who don't like
the current crop of Ferrari models, they don't like the current style because Ferrari has gone in
house and well, it's now out of house, but they went in house for their Ferrari lineup. They
haven't been doing pen and farina for a while. Yeah, hired a consulting firm that isn't Italian,
isn't pen and farina. So they they came up with an entirely new design language, which I
appreciate. I actually kind of like a lot of stuff. And I really like the F80. Yeah, you've
liked some of their stuff a lot. And I haven't connected with it that much, but you've actually
really connected with it. But here is something that doesn't look anything like the current design
language. So you could call it Ferrari's Cybertruck moment, where it's this outline model that
doesn't have anything to do with any of the current lineup. Sure. On the other hand, that could
be a really good thing. Because look, this could reset Ferrari styling. I mean, this could
actually influence the current in house Ferrari styling and make it clean and simple. And I'm
gone so aggressive. McLarens, all the very high end cars. I mean, Lamborghinis in particular, I
don't know where to look anymore. There's a lot going on. I don't know what to look at or what is
doing what and I my eye doesn't follow the shapes. So if you look at this purely from an
aesthetic point of view, you know where to look, you know where to start your eye starts here.
Probably the front end is the first thing you saw this new front shape that is softly radius
corners everywhere, which is very different than what Ferrari has been introducing or I guess
done a play proliferating. It's very crisp, clean form language. This is really soft. This has a
very soft, sensual aesthetic about it. You see the front, you see this broad surface in certainly
everything. And then what else about it is Ferrari? That's a perfect place to jump off of
because this is the thing. If you look at this in profile, okay, for those of you that aren't
seeing it, maybe haven't seen photos or you're driving and you can't look right now, here's the
key thing. The straight profile of this is not that far removed from Model Y. I'm not saying
Ferrari made a Model Y. I'm not saying they're the same, but I'm just saying profile wise. It's
five seat CUV and Ferrari's big conversation here is they've and they're obviously they've never
made a five seater. The design brief was to make a five seater all electric. Now once you worry
about aerodynamics, you're starting to limit what it can be in just sheer profile shape. You're
starting to also box yourself in. I'm not making any commentary on styling. I'm just saying this is
where it ends up. So in base concept, you have a five seat aerodynamic CUV shape, which means kind
of like a Model 3 Model Y shape is the shape. Now they've done crazy things like rear hinge doors
and that kind of stuff. But we're not there's nothing crazy about this shape. Even the pure
sangue has something very like we're not like everybody else about it. Okay. This is longer,
but not as high as the pure sangue. It's the first ever five seater. They're talking 1035
horsepower, 730 pound feet of torque, zero to 60 in the low two seconds, and around 300 miles of
range. Now what the reason I'm bringing all that up is I haven't said anything that you can't kind
of get in SUVs elsewhere. The vague shape do better the power, the the five seat thing. This is
Ferrari I feel like for the first time. And I'm not actually saying this as an indictment. This is
for the first time in their history, trying to sell what everyone else already is.
That's a great point. Please keep going. This is a risky car. Not that it will damage their brand
reputation or sales because it won't. Everybody will still always want a Ferrari. And you think
for I want a hot sports car. Finally, I've got the money and I can afford to buy our super high
end something. You think I'm just gonna go get a Ferrari? Well, this is very risky because first
of all, why did why did Ferrari need to build the Pearl Songray? Because everybody else had an SUV.
Were they missing out on so many sales? Great question. The sales of that, helping the company
financially so much greater than selling any of the other two seat models that they're building.
It wasn't a cayenne moment that revolutionized their books. That's a great point. So this is
risky for them to lay down the law. Okay, we need, as you said, a five seat EV to for what
purpose? That is a commodity. Yeah, that's a good point. That recipe is a commodity for every
other car manufacturer. Yeah, McLaren and all the high end sports. There's a few not doing it. But
in general, you're right. Everybody has to make that because that's how they have to make their
money. Even Porsche. Yes, yes. That is a commodity recipe. Ferraris are not commodities. Yeah. Yeah,
yeah. They don't need this. to build a people mover. I wonder, I wonder, and I
don't know enough about the regulations to know because obviously the regulations are also
changing. But I wonder, is this one of those offset things? I'm not going as far as the
Aston Martin sign it, but it's one of those offset set things. If they make this, does it allow
them to keep making the big V12s? Is this an offset car that they have to make to check some
boxes because that we really are talking about the big thing for me on this is this is 5000 pounds
as well. Ferrari for the first time that I can ever think of is making something where it feels
like we need to make this because everyone else does. I agree. The longer I look at this, the
more I like it, but I don't like that it's a Ferrari. This isn't a Ferrari. I actually okay. I
appreciate a lot of the surfaces and how clean this is and the potential for what this could do
to Ferrari styling. It pulls us back to the 360 mode. I mean, that was the inspiration part of it
at least. Yeah, you can see that on the rear here. You definitely can. It looks like an SUV 360
mode now. It's lifted. Yeah, lifted 360. You're right. I mean, there's sensual full surfaces
everywhere you look. But if we change colors, what does that do to your opinion? This is why
body and white exists so you can evaluate the design without color because I'm not a big fan of
this particular yellow color. This yellow ish. Yeah, we can look at the aerodynamic the CFD
for the aerodynamic function of the wheels all day long, but the wheel design itself isn't amazing
over here. The five spoke, that is the most typical, unremarkable five spoke wheel ever. Well,
it's very just like, it's probably the same wheel they use in the same way. It's 24 inch rears,
23 inch fronts and being that it's an EV and will chew through its tires. It's keeping with
Ferrari tradition. It will chew through its tires and therefore cost you quite a lot of money.
But when it changes color, do you still like it? I appreciate it cover up the Ferrari badge. And
now it's kind of interesting. If it's some other car manufacturer, and even with the proliferation
of Chinese EVs that are being cranked out, they're amorphous, they're faceless, they're nameless.
Agreed. This has personality simply because of the form language and how simple it is. Oh,
it's this is a victory as far as simple design services that work. And I don't even know design,
but I can look at this and instantly say that is very cleanly well designed. I don't think
Ferrari at all. No, but it is it is a very clean, interesting shape. And actually, I'm going to
jump to one place real quick, because I want to show something that I think is fascinating that
comes right off of the Ferrari public facing site. They have among many, many videos there. They
have this this fluid dynamics, watch the airflow happen over the car. And it comes in out of what
I can only describe as the front grill under and swoops up over the actual cab,
and actually comes out of similar panels in the back. I mean, it's very cool. You can see all of
the thinking about where does the airflow, they've done a really beautiful clean design here that
just so struggles to be a Ferrari. But Ferrari, unfortunately, has has conditioned the world
that it is so aggressive styling, it's long, low, fast, makes a lot of beautiful noises. And this
is not that true. Everything that Ferrari isn't about except for technology. It's clean, simple
design now hiding unbelievable technology. Some of the way it makes the sounds is quite
fascinating. I mean, the approach to everything was clean sheet. So that's very much Ferrari. But
they've conditioned the world that this isn't a Ferrari. And then they tell the world again, here
it is, here's a Ferrari. Well, what's interesting, the next thing we're going to talk about is and
released within the same week, is the big new Mercedes GT, which is the same kind of thing where
we can, we can ask ourselves, is this necessary? We can ask ourselves, is this the brand? These are
all the same questions we talk about with the Mercedes coming up, where, you know, I really do
wonder this and the Mercedes that we're about to talk about. How much of this is completing something
we started years ago, and we needed to see it through. Because, and I'm not coming down on any
car maker Porsche, Ferrari, Mercedes, they're all struggling into this, the market is changing and
regulations are changing with it, to be more friendly to the products they used to make. So how
much is this we need to finish our technological showcase and get it out there. Because the and I
want to come back to because I want you to keep going. But the big lingering question for me is,
who is going to buy this? This is $500,000. At least 550,000 euro, it's like 640,000, 650,000
dollars. I this is this is at least a half million dollar vehicle, six used tycons. Well, it's it's
two lucid airs with every box checked the sapphire. Yes. Yeah. Yes. Gosh, I was worried about the
interior matching the exterior design. But I do think that they've pulled that off and it is
successful because of the completely different aesthetic that has been introduced by those two
designers. They showed the interior first and that was about a month ago. And I'm I've been really
concerned that the interior would be completely different and not come close to matching what the
exterior was. But I think they're very successful. Again, look at the shapes, look at those softly
rounded corners, the softly radius corners everywhere, lots of aluminum, lots of castings. I
think the interior actually is quite nice. It's very familiar. It doesn't say five, however much
this costs, at least half a million. It's half a million plus a million dollar car interior. No,
and it's and it's very much the Apple car. And I don't and I don't say that as a slight. I think
this is a successful design. We talked about the interior at length. It looks like a really cool
interior to interact with. But yes, is it a half million plus? And is it a Ferrari? If this had an
Apple badge everywhere, we would all not an agreement and accept it and people would buy it. And it
would be, I don't know, 80,000. We'd all say Ferrari. Apple has nailed it. If this
was Apple branded, we would all say Apple nailed it. Yeah, we would. Yes. And I bet you it would
be 100 to 200, depending upon your spec. Okay, I suppose so. I bet you that would be what they
do. I'm willing to bet that there are sketches from both designers that were related to the Apple
car that never saw the light of day that are mostly manifested in this car. I think you're
right. Absolutely, especially Johnny I've Sir Johnny I'm sorry. I believe his what he conceived in
his mind for the Apple car is mostly manifested here. I think you're probably right. And it has his
look, which he knows what he's doing. His stuff looks great. I'm not going to come down. I know
nothing compared to this guy as far as design. I do have something a quote that I read. Okay, and
I'm gonna get the quote a bit wrong. But I want to put the quote in context, because Johnny I was
quoted in one of the interviews that I read about this car, we're saying they're gonna have to
educate people. They're gonna have to to instead of asking people what they want, because people can
only look for other references, we have to show them the way forward. Now, Henry Ford had a very
famous quote about this, where when he was making cars, if we'd asked people what they wanted, they
would have said a faster horse. He was like, Here's why the car is different. But that Johnny I've
thinking that we have to show people the future, we don't can't ask them what they want. That was a
pervading thought when they released the iPhone. Okay, that was like the driving force of the iPhone.
People don't know how awesome this is going to be. We're going to show them the awesome. It was true of
the iPad as well. The big question mark I have of this kind of thinking related to the car, if you
break it down to its component parts, they haven't had an iPhone moment here. Before the iPhone, the
concept of a smartphone was what are we talking about? What do you mean a smartphone? If I need to
text, I'll hit the member every letter was three buttons, three letters per button. We're trying to
text on that. The iPhone was such a departure from anything anybody had blackberry. It was such a
departure. It did stuff we had never done before with our phones. In its fundamental parts. So many
other manufacturers have already done this. 1000 horsepower, EV range of 300 miles. It's a great
charging infrastructure. It has this approximate shape. There isn't anything here that is iPhone
moment that is I didn't know cars could do that. If this was released. And please don't misunderstand
me. I'm not I'm actually not coming down on it. I'm just trying to put it in market perspective
from my from what I can see here. If this were released 10 or 15 years ago, if it was model s
and then this. Okay, we'd go. Okay. Whoa. Yeah, Johnny, I've done it again. They are really way
out front, because it wouldn't be the Tesla interior, which everybody did for a while. It would be
this really cool interior and this interesting shape. But the problem is we've had 10 years of EV
car development. And if you want to pick a pick a thing they've done here, some EVs already done it.
So now we have a half million plus dollar car from Ferrari that is doing things you can buy
elsewhere. I think in five years, this is the Ferrari deal of the century. I don't think it's
going to take that long. Well, okay, but I it will only hang on to its value because of that
Ferrari badge. Of course, absolutely. Yes. Who's going to buy this? How many are they going to
sell? We don't know. And also, I have to say this other crazy thing. You and I want to drive it. I
totally want to drive it. I totally want to drive it. I hope it drives brilliant. One of the
things that was mentioned in an interview I read is because the way that this front ends
designed, it looks out of the front cab like a mid-engine car where you're looking down to the
road instantly. Brilliant, which is awesome. That's a Ferrari victory. It should be that way. It
doesn't look like you're driving an SUV, which the pure saying has the big hood on it. Yes. This is
exciting. I just, I'm really wondering who the person is that buys this. I mean, this feels very
friendly, unlike any Tesla interior, which is completely antiseptic, clinical, cold. It is a
hospital room in comparison to this friendly, beautiful, warm environment. I like that. I hate
to say it this way, but this is a Honda City car. Maybe the high-end version, but tell me I'm
wrong. The Honda City car is a welcome. Please come in, sit down, let's have a nice day together.
That's the Honda City car. A few stats and specs. First of all, the rear subframe. It's got an
elastically mounted rear subframe maximizing acoustic comfort while maintaining the same level
of handling. But their sound approach was that Ferraris have to be authentic and sound. Okay. They
cannot have a concierge, a pumpkin sound, a fake sound anywhere. Sure. So they have amplified the
vibrations taken directly from the source, the sound the electric axles produce and transmit
through the metal in the form of vibration is acquired in real time by an accelerometer. This
sensor brings into the cabinet the living texture generated by the rotating components, gears and
electric machines with independent contact for left and right sides offering instantaneous response to
the interaction between driver road and power unit. They are synthesizing the mechanical noise of an
EV and bringing that into the forefront and amplifying that sound to make, I don't know what
this sounds like. Nobody does. Nobody's joining yet. But it will be authentic. So on one hand, we
need to celebrate Ferrari for not pumping in fake V8 and V12 engine noises. They're not. But on the
other hand, I hope it's pleasant. That's a great question. What is this sound? And do people want
to hear it? And I also suspect I'm sure somewhere in there, you can turn it off. I'm sure. But at the
same time, how interesting to your point, they're just going, Well, this is the natural sounds the
car makes. While every other EV out there is trying to get away from that, Ferrari has just gone
away. It's what it sounds like. That's bizarre to me. That's really interesting, actually. If the
Hyundai Ioniq 5N beats it for sound quality, and who fun listening, that's going to be a problem.
Yeah, okay. All right. We haven't had too much soak time with this yet. This is still very, very
new to the world. But I encourage clean, beautiful design. That's what this is. Absolutely. It's
going to hopefully reset Ferrari styling. I mean, the proportions of two seaters will look better
with this aesthetic. Sure. Sure. Sure. Body side won't be so tall. You're not seeing so much paint,
so much color here. It'll be a lot lower here. That black lower rocker to pinch how huge that
side is. The trick done with the Mustang Machida. That lower rocker exists for real on my
Amira, and they still paint it black because when it's body color, the Amira looks too thick. Yeah.
This is just there to pinch the waist. For this price, I think this will be a Taycan, like it is,
like Taycan is to Porsche. Sure. Well, I think this is going to plummet in value. I think it's a
Lucid Air, which is a success. Yes. Here's the thing. When you and I drove the Lucid Air, we were
nothing but impressed. Yeah. Okay. Brilliant. The loaded versions like a quarter million dollar
car, and it's technology everywhere, and it drives incredibly, and it's crazy fast and also has a
much longer range than this. And a year later, most of them are worth half their value for the
people that did decide to buy them. Okay. So I hear the thing, what here's the thing we're not
being told. I want to try to wrap this up because we go an hour on this, I think. Here's the thing I
think we're not being told. Looks like Ferrari has made a successful vehicle. Uh huh. It's successful
styling, even if it isn't Ferrari styling. Uh huh. And they're claiming that it does a lot of stuff
that the current crop of good EVs do. They haven't revolutionized, but it's four wheel drive, all the
things that current EVs that are impressive do well. I'm going to keep using the Lucid as a
reference. Okay. So there's nothing here that feels like it's a fail, but there's nothing here that
feels like it's a standout. And it's a half million plus. So my question is beyond all the marketing
hype that will never know where's the redacted memo that tells you what Ferrari really needs this
to do. Is it satisfying a regulation? Is it proving we should only make V12s a government?
Therefore, look what happens when we don't. What does this need to do for Ferrari that they're not
telling us? Because I wonder if it is going to be a success, even if it fails. I think there is
something else going on here that Ferrari is doing this to solve something so they can move forward
in another way. Alright, final thought to wrap this up, and that is I absolutely agree. I don't
think they'll even release it. Redacted, they're not even going to release it. They're never going to
tell us. We're never seeing that, Doc. That's what I'm saying, yeah. What I think Ferrari needs this
to do is the same thing every other branded piece of merch at Ferrari World in Dubai, every Ferrari
store, everywhere, all the merch that you can buy with a Ferrari logo on it. It needs to do that for
the world, what that merch does. If this were $80,000, I think people would line up. If it were
120, I think people would line up to get this and drive it, and they would enjoy it, and it would
probably drive better, ostensibly drive better and drive like a Ferrari, and it would bring people
to the brand and be the front door, the entry point more so than the Amalfi, the Portofino, the
California could ever do to bring customers to the brand that would aspire to then get the next
Ferrari. That's what this should have done, because the price point keeps this at arm's length,
just like every other Ferrari. It keeps it to only a select person who can buy this. If this were
60, if it were, okay, that's too low. If it were, yeah, 120. 120, 150. Yeah. People would flock to
this. Ferrari would, this would become what Johnny Ive did with that first colorful bubble
iMac in the early 2000s. Sure. Yeah. You remember that? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Incredible design. Yeah.
It was a huge sales success for Apple. That's what you're talking about that would revolutionize
for Ferrari, what Johnny Ive did for Apple decades ago, if they only drop the price on this. But I
suppose good news, all we have to do is wait for used models, and then that will, it will have that
effect. So maybe it doesn't matter that it's so high priced to begin with, because the price will
drop and everybody will want to buy it anyway, because then you've got a Ferrari for cheap. Yeah.
Well, and how many people buy this? And I also wonder, I saw another quote from somebody internal
Ferrari saying they expect most buyers of this, this will be their first Ferrari ever. I wonder how
much it's the Ferrari list thing. If you like car X from us, you must buy a loose first. And you're
going to spend so much money on tires on this thing. It could be so expensive. I honestly, I am
utterly fascinated. I would love to drive this. I really, really want to drive this. Yeah. And I
think, and Ferrari will never, ever, ever give us a press car anyway, short of this, long before
this conversation. We're going to have to get one from a private owner anyway. But I also want to
put this with other EVs of similar stats and have a real discussion. Are you taking delivery of a
Ferrari luce, anytime soon at any point? At any point, yes, we'd love to do. I would love that
comparison. Absolutely. We could do it really well. Yes, it almost doesn't matter range or charging
speed. This makes it come back down to how do EVs drive? Absolutely. Yes. For sure. We're looking
for a luce, everyone. BMW has introduced a model for the North American market. Only it is the M3
CS hand shelter edition. The send off of the sixth generation M3 only offered with a six speed
manual transmission and only for North America. The chassis technology has been tuned in
consideration of the drivetrains unique performance characteristics and the vehicle weight
distribution. Additionally, the tuning of the M servo tronic steering, the electronic control
settings with chassis engine gearbox are all specific to the hand shelter. New springs,
lighter weight and more carbon fiber bits everywhere. So lots of color. Yes, two base colors,
which are good. The Isle of Man green metallic and black sapphire metallic. But you're going to pay
more like 4,600 bucks or 4,500 bucks for email a red and techno violet metallic. Looks great and
red. It looks really good. Really great. Yeah, you're showing a good picture in spite of the fact
that the picture you're showing has the beaver teeth right on display up front. I thought
the car is great looking. I thought it start with that. Have you noticed the designs, the pieces
inside the grill? It's designed to take your eye away and try to hide and mask the beaver teeth,
but yet is still there on the sixth generation and this will be going away soon. So it is the
send off, the last gasp never before has there been a manual transmission for a CS in an M3. Yes,
it's exciting. It's very interesting because it's this North American market only. And it's very
similar in a lot of the same kind of tweaks they did when they added the the I like to call it the
hand slaughter. But anyway, the manual transmission version of the Z four was much better than the
rest of the Z fours. This is the same kind of list of things they've tweaked. But another interesting
thing going on here, as I understand it, it is the less powerful engine in the non CS version. But
everything else is CS. But honestly, who cares? A little Drifty sideways action, plenty of power in
this. Oh, it's like 473 horsepower still. And you know, BMW sandbagging anyway, so plenty of
power manual transmission rear wheel drive. This is all the things we want a BMW to be. Honestly,
I noticed the manual transmission lever is the exact same shift knob that has been used for
well over a decade now. So to me, it looks a little out of place in a very high tech, very modern
cabin. The latest iteration, it's the old shift knob. Sure, not that I'm complaining. Let's hope
that it's not the rubber BMW shifter, but yet BMW is still saving manuals. They're saving it for
the North American market only apparently pretty bizarre. So here it is. I mean, the interior,
I mean, it's got the carbon buckets. I have to have these buckets. I mean, I they are really
great shirts. They're like $15,000, but they're really great seats. Yeah, and it's whatever. It's
just a rounding error. Right. When you're buying a car starting at $107,000, just a box that you
check for $4,500 more for email a red. And then yeah, of course you want the buckets and then
check out the strut brace. It is art. It's sculpture. It is really great looking. Yeah,
that's a pretty fantastic web of stuff that is making strut tower braces, not just a basic strut
tower brace. It's like casting. Yeah, they tried to make a piece of art that also did that,
which is very, very cool. And here is that shift knob. It's sort of, I mean, it's good. I'm not
complaining. I'm not complaining. They offered us manual. I would have thought it would be some
cool sculptural send off. It's the same shift knob that we've seen like cool. There it is. What
something special they could have done with that. I see where you're going. Same key fob for
all of the cars. Buy an Ultima or you buy a GTR. The key fob is the same. The exact same. Yeah,
I'm super excited that this car is here and that they're doing it and they continue to want to
serve enthusiasts with manual transmission hot sports cars. And this is really cool. I'm sure
this will drive amazingly in terms of power and it'll just be a lot of fun. I hope I hope they
sell more than they expect to. Honestly, that's the best thing we can hope for. Not only did they
sell them all, but they sell more than they expect to kind of like when the one M came out
from BMW and they started making more because we're so excited. I hope this is the kind of
responses gets in spite of the beaver teeth. I think actually every other angle, but the teeth
themselves is great on this car and it looks so good in the color to the north of Munich in
Stuttgart comes new product from Mercedes-Benz. It is the AMG GT four-door coupé with varying
horsepower numbers anywhere from the lower end 816 horsepower to the upper end peak horsepower
of 1169 horsepower at peak output. A new battery electric vehicle with an 800 volt f1 derived
battery with directly cooled cylindrical cells 2.1 zero to 60 and 14 Mercedes logos on the
exterior. I counted there's six or seven of just the back of the tail lights. Yeah. And I'm thinking
because the front fascia and the rear fascia are the only identifying marks to really make this
distinctly Mercedes. Everything else in between. If you're to hold your hands, just sure, it could
be lots of stuff. Check this out. You know, you hold your hands over the front and the rear of
the car and you might guess Mercedes simply because of the full surfaces will say and that's
been their design language for many years now and it works. But it could be almost any sedan if
you covered up the front and the rear. And so the reason it has 14 and I'm including the three on
the front here. It is the one on the grill, the two headlights, four wheels and seven on the rear
Mercedes badges. So you know, and there is absolutely no mistaking this is a Mercedes. Is that a
Ferrari? Hey, hey, cool Porsche. Yeah, I just kind of want to say that to an owner whenever we see
this. You have thoughts on this. I have design thoughts, but I want to hear you back up here on
the photo. First stop. Okay, for those of you that are that are just listening, I hope you've seen
the photos because they've been everywhere. This this highlighter green color. This is the actual
version that they're launching of that car they did the record with a little while back. Yes, you
know, whether it loops forever and George Russell was involved in the GT double X. So this is the
production car, if you will, they closed down Sixth Street in Los Angeles. They called it the
Autobahn event, although there's not the Autobahn in sight. They there were a lot of lights and
smoke and we were not invited. So we plus we don't live in LA. So I get it. Brad Pitt was there
apparently. Okay, George Russell was there. So you know, Hollywood stars, lots of money, lots of
smoke. Blink 182 played, which is fine. Also glad it wasn't there. But but it was it was an event.
Okay, yes, that had happened to be a car launch. All right. And there was a lot I saw a lot of
videos back and forth about just smoking all four tires and blasting down the bridge. This is a
very impressive tour de force of technology. This is a very impressive crazy stats you've just
listed. It's very fast. I actually am very surprised that Mercedes is releasing this, because
their EVs have sold so badly. I feel like this is one of those things where it was so far down the
pipeline, we got to finish it now.
Especially with the record setting car already, we've got to do some impressive. It did set a lot of
records in it lasted and they they have all these sound files to try to make it sound like a V8,
which we'll get into that as well. But I just have to say the thing that many others have said,
couldn't we done something else with the front end? I mean, this nose, there is a bar, a black bar
between the two headlights that throws this design right off. And I don't really like the lower
fish mouth grill either. But the grill and the bar combined, I don't know why we felt we had to join
the headlights. But the bar is the thing that for me just really throws this off. And there's been
people, of course, many, many people online that have fixed this. So you can't really see my air
quotes. They've done the revisions. I saw one person ask, why is the hood so bulbous? I'll tell you
pedestrian crash standards. Yes, that's why the hood is so bulbous. And it's too bad. But even if
you just took the bar out, I think this front end will be helped so much. And maybe the fish mouth
could be more of an oval color than the, you know, down facing. This is the same problem that the
current Aston Martin Vantage faced when it first came out. Had that really like down tilted
fish mouth cat mouth catfish mouth shape. This has that. And the Aston slowly been refined and
gotten to a place where it works. It didn't start off working at all. It looked especially coming
off the VA advantage I like so much, which is one of the prettiest cars ever. Then to that catfish
mouth for the next year was like, what did you do? Yeah, this is actually, you already said it,
this doesn't look much like a Mercedes, but it looks pretty good from every other angle I feel
like. And this nose is just not working. And it is that bar that goes into a catfish mouth. It's
just that front end. The rest of it works. If there were a different shape, it doesn't have to
be a large front shape. And everybody who has seen this car, you understand this shape is a
derivation of what was on the first generation AMG GT. And the GTR version of that is a very
even larger, more aggressive version. So because this is designed to be a driver focused vehicle
with tons of horsepower and a true AMG car, they were going after performance and tying that
together. But I think a new direction, if we're going to go such a new direction with everything,
including technology, then this was your opportunity to not copy that old GTR aggressiveness. It works
for that car. But here, I'm covering it up. And I think there's a lot of possibilities here that
would make this, it would make it less aggressive, but that's okay. Because the rest of the car,
the wheels, the intake canards here, the rear end, it's a simple shape that is destroyed by an
incredibly aggressive front end here. But it also sticks out. It's like a duckmouth thing. It's
from every other angle, I think. Yeah, on the rear, you remember the Ferrari F430, the Scuderia,
the very small rear tail lights. You can say this about Corvettes, and you know Corvettes,
the quad lights and quad pipes. Same thing with that F430. Those lights were pretty small. Yeah.
But when people see that, they think Ferrari, they think you're right. exotic thing. And now
we've got three on each side. Putting these on there makes it more, I suppose, exotic. But the
circular shapes are nowhere else to be found except for the jet turbine intakes on the interior
here. So a perfect circle is not part of the design language of the car. And to put those on
the rear says, Well, because it's an EV, it doesn't have round tailpipes. Well, let's make the
Mercedes logo and copy those with some lights. But I don't think that works on the rear. Yes,
the the the turbine air vents work here and it's been a signature thing. But otherwise,
apart from the steering wheel and a few knobs, perfectly round shapes are not part of of the
theme here. I also wonder about it's in a black field on the rear of the car. If it wasn't in a
black field or that black field was a different shape, if this would resolve better part of me
almost wants to see that in body color just to see what it looks like, it might not be enough.
But the proportion the size of these to the to the rest of that black shape. Yes, it's too small.
These are either the something's off. You hit on something there. Either the black shape should
be smaller or the light should be bigger. But then it also makes me wonder what would this look
like if that whole shape was body color. The rear doesn't bother me. I just it does feel a little
weird. I do I have a lot of problem with the front of this car in AM Force s plus mode. The
Mercedes AMG GT four door coupe delivers a highly authentic AMG signature V8 sounds spectacle
coupled with a haptive immersive experience, including traction interruption during simulated
gear changes. And that is a shirt. I want traction interrupted. That is the new name for
burnouts, everybody. My traction was interrupted. I had traction interrupted. Yes, it's good. Yeah,
you did. And that was the entire launch. Their traction was interrupted. It was consistently
interrupted. And this is Mercedes going. We know this doesn't sound good. That whole paragraph
is just one big way of saying the sound you'd like from Mercedes isn't here. But no, no, don't
worry. We faked it. And it matters. It just is always mattered. And they're acknowledging
a good point. You made a good point about that. And I think it matters to you more than it
matters to me. I'll be honest. I'm not I like the sound of a good engine, but I'm not going to
buy a car for that. And I'm also not going to avoid a car because it doesn't sound good. For
me personally, it's not that high on the list. It's cool, but it's not that high. However, I
think it's amazing that Mercedes and so many others are acknowledging EVs don't sound cool
enough. We're going to create a sound for it. Everybody's leaning into that. I find everybody
is talking about that. Everybody is trying to figure out how do we make EVs sound like they're
not EVs? I find that so bizarre. Put an actual engine in them. Yes, you could. But my other
feeling is it just sounds like an EV sounds like that. Okay, let's move on. If it's ugly,
there's so many hurdles to get people to accept an EV here is Mercedes 1600 sound files that
play depending upon what you're doing. This has, I guarantee you more computing power than
sent us to the moon. Yeah, to figure out what you hear. Just what you hear 1600 sound files
being decided in real time to give you the proper V eight approximate mation sound while
you're in the cabin. This is 100% theater. I've been asking myself the question. What about this
car is Mercedes because they have clearly shown us the future direction of everything they're
thinking about technology wise. I mean, yeah, the description of the motors is fascinating
because they acquired a British company to now make high performance axial flux motors, and it
has active aero kinetics venturi flow plates in the underbody and rear diffuser based on your
settings. The description of the motors themselves, the chemistry used for the batteries and the
cooling involved, which is why it has a central tunnel. The amount of technology that has gone
into this is superior and fascinating. And that's the answer to my question. What about this is
Mercedes? Well, it's pushing on technology so hard and so far and actually bringing it
to market. And they've got a car to back them up. It's not like they brought this out. And it's
untried and untested. No, no, that's why they did that exercise first with the GT double x point
to prove longevity, recharge capability. Yeah, the ability to be beat on for that amount of time.
Fascinating. And they've done it. And here it is Mercedes means high technology. You're going
to pay for that. But in every arena from sound to the motors to the battery cooling, lighting
technology, there's a sound for nearly every function in their course, there's more carbon
fiber than has ever appeared. I think on a Mercedes AMG anything. That's what Mercedes means. And it
almost doesn't matter what the shape looks like anymore. And that's why they have to find it with
the front and the rear and overdo it to say, Okay, the car in between, it's the thing that encloses
the humans. But everything else you're buying is the list of marketing stuff. And the shape also on
this is so massively defined by airflow. It's just try to get the shape as efficient as possible.
And that does start to make the shape look ubiquitous to other brands theoretically. After all, we're
saying positive and negative, and maybe it feels like a lot of negatives. But I just, it's interesting
to talk this about this, because I'm intrigued. I would like to drive this. I'm quite fascinated by
wanting to drive this. I think this next to a Taycan would be a fascinating conversation because
obviously Porsche had the Taycan out much earlier than this. We drove Mercedes last round of EVs
and we're not impressed. But this on paper is moonshot thinking. And I like it when companies do
that. And it is Mercedes going here's everything we can do. I very much want to drive this. Though I
think the power level of course, EVs make it quote unquote easy is ridiculous. I mean, 1100
horsepower plus is just insane zero to 60 in two seconds. I look I'm going to say something that
doesn't get said a lot. That's painful fast 2.1 seconds zero to 60 is that kind of fast like you
know when you ride a roller coaster and you're glad the launch moment is over, like it launches you
so fast that you just kind of you can't breathe until the launch parts done. That's what we're
talking about. It's not comfortable anymore. It's the thing you do to your passengers twice and
then everybody goes, you know, just stop, just stop. Don't do that again. It's not cool. It's
not hurt. That's the kind of fast we're talking about when you get to two seconds zero to 60s. Very,
very impressive. I want to drive it. My big question that remains unanswered for now, do these
sell because they're going to be very expensive. And EVs are at this weird, fragile point right now.
There. Let me also state this. EVs aren't going away. EVs have their place. EVs are going to keep
being developed. And I truly 100% believe politics aside, that EVs are going to be a steadily
growing part of the car market worldwide. Yeah, all of that aside, right now, this is going to be
expensive. And it's an EV. Is this going to sell? Or is it going to be the kind of thing where it
sells well? Well, in China, it doesn't sell anywhere else. Or do the Chinese care that Mercedes
made an EV because they're making so many of their own that are pushing for cutting edge stuff at
really, really cheap prices because of the way they're able to make things in China. I think this
goes into a market that might not exist. I hope it sells, but I'm just not sure. It's no longer
early adopters. We've left that behind probably more than a decade. EVs in general. This is still
the Mercedes buyer that wants the extreme end of tech, the pointy end of tech. Do you think
Mercedes wanted to get this out there before the Ferrari came out? Maybe. Knowing that they've
seen that interior too. That interior is totally different than that. Yeah, for sure. I'm wondering
if they had to get this out there and say all the tech and it's probably going to be lower price.
So I suppose that's a piece of good news for your ultra high tech super fast. I guess the other
question is, what do you do with 1169 horsepower? I'm glad you brought this. I'm glad you brought
that up. Autobahn in Germany. But here's the thing, but here's the thing. These are going to be
bought by people that never do what just happened at the launch. The people that buy these are not
going to be all four tires smoking them down a bridge. That's just not going to happen. They'll
do it once and then after they finish paying the ticket and it points on a license, then they'll
stop doing it. But they're going to drive it normal places at normal speeds and occasionally,
if they have the tolerance, they're going to try to make a passenger sick, cackle and move on.
That's right. But most of the time it's going to be driven at slow speeds in normal city environments.
Exact opposite end of this spectrum, new from Ram Trucks. They've introduced the 2027 Rumblebee
muscle truck lineup. There are four offerings. First of all, the Rumblebee 395. Well, it's the
regular Rumblebee with 395 horsepower, 410 pound feet of torque from a 5.7 liter V8. The Rumblebee
392, the 6.4 with 470 horsepower, 455 pound feet of torque. Love it. Then there is the track pack
added to the Rumblebee 392 with performance upgrades. And if it's called the track pack, the
next obvious question is, will any of those show up at a hooked on driving track day? Well,
they have it here in a yellow and black livery. Maybe we could make it the official truck of
HOD. Then there is the Rumblebee SRT with the Hellcat V8 producing 777 horsepower, a 3.4 seconds,
0 to 60 time, quarter mile 11.6 seconds and a top speed of 170 miles an hour. Does anybody want
to go 170 in a brick? Well, I'm not sure I do. This is the TRX I love so much without jump detection
and slammed. That's what this is. This is what everybody drives their TRX to be. And I think
it's actually a brilliant move on the part of Stalantis to make the street versions because
that's all they were doing with the TRX anyways, driving around on the street. Fair point. Have
you, let me put it this way. How many dirty TRX's do you see? I mean, really like, wow, that
thing's been off road. Occasional, but very rare from Baja. Good point. None. Good point. Very,
very rare. Even here in Utah, where we actually have good off roading, it's not very common. I
mean, this, I mean, this is the street truck scene. It's got the mini bed and the flared
fenders. And I, I say yes, we're talking about EV adoption. Yes. This is Dodge's reset. Because
the charger EV, perfect name, by the way, for an EV is called the charger. The charger EV was
widely panned, hasn't sold, is enormous, by the way. You know, I've been in it is enormous, has a
good interior, makes sense on a lot of levels, but the EV one didn't sell. Dodge is heading back
to, so you'd like big angry V8s, huh? Mercedes is giving you the noise. Dodge is giving you the
engine. Of course they show it at a track. Of course. A NASCAR track. Because of course,
because where do you show this? You put them on a NASCAR track. Yes.
Vredestein should rejoice because tires are going to be smoked. You think the Mercedes is going
to be smoked. I mean, this is lighter rear end. They're just light it up. I mean, this is almost,
well, about two thirds of the horsepower of the Mercedes, but still it's going to be a lot in a
truck. Street trucks are back and the interior hasn't changed much, but it's still, we like the
Ram interiors. We do. And I do think this is a great move on their part because, yeah, street
trucks, this is what most people buy their trucks to do, and they want a lot of power in it. And
it's, it's noisy. Yeah, yeah. That is the point. But it's noisy with the actual engine making the
noise. And I do think that matters. I feel like that that's something that people clearly are
wanting. Look, this is Stellantis on one level, jumping back a decade in thinking. But at the
same time, this is what they do best at Dodge. Yes. This is exactly what they do best. This is
where the money's at. Customers want this. Yep. I think it's absolutely brilliant. Continuing
on with Stellantis news. Have you heard they are launching 60 new models and investing 60 billion
in products and technology in their long term strategy to accelerate growth and profit. And
also they are announcing a partnership with Leap Motor and other Chinese rivals, including Dong
Feng and Tata and JLR, to develop vehicles in the US. So 50 refresh, at least 110, 50 refresh, I
believe, and 60 new models, many of them, I think you're probably reading, they're going to be fairly
inexpensive. I mean, we're talking sub $30,000 models revitalizing the Chrysler nameplate. I
mean, actually giving it models to sell, I suppose. Other than just a van, they're going to have more
Chrysler than just a van. I mean, I think that's part of the plan. I didn't dive too in too deeply
into Chrysler. I'm just partner with everybody. Yep. Let's share factories all over the world and
data centers powered by Hellcat engines. The data center is going to be in space with an
inexplicable Hellcat exhaust. We don't know why they're just making noise in space. Of course, you
can't tell you can't hear the exhaust rumbling. Yeah, you see that it's rumbling. You just don't
know that it's making great noise. It's going to be awesome. We know that you're either shopping for
your next car or looking up prices for fun. We do it too. And we only use autotempest.com.
Because autotempest pulls listings from all the top sites as fast as any single site and shows them
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and even compare prices with their price trends tool. Plus, autotempest was our first sponsor. And
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one search, autotempest.
Happy Tuesday. And I'm saying that because this is the week we've been talking about for six months.
This is the week we go back to circuit of the Americas. We're there this weekend, the 30th and
31st. And I want to let you know in case you haven't realized that already, May 30th,
Saturday night, May 30th, we are doing, I know we try to do a live stream podcast every 25 episodes.
So it means our next one would be 1050. Well, this coming Saturday is 1048. We decided close
enough because we're going to be at Kota, which is a great place to a live podcast. We're doing
another live podcast that'll be 7pm central time on Saturday night, the 30th. We'd love for you to
join us right here on this channel for the live stream from circuit of the Americas. If all the
technology works, it will be a live stream. If the technology doesn't, we will apologize and it
won't come out the following Tuesday. But the intention is all live stream, it's going to be
at least an hour. We're going to have people in the audience. It's going to be really, really cool
at the end of our first of two track days. We will be exhausted, but it'll be awesome. I'm very
excited about it. Questions from the audience, questions live from you guys. So get ready for
that. That is this weekend. And we've been talking about it forever, but the day is upon us. Finally
here. Yeah, we have other really cool hooked on driving events coming up soon. Ridge Motorsports
Park is happening the following weekend, June 5th and Saturday, June 6th. The next week in the
13th and 14th of June is Hedge Hollow Raceway. That is a fantastic hidden track southeast of
Kansas City that is that is getting discovered. And we are on it with hooked on driving, which is
great. That same week in the 13th and 14th, our Northeast region is doing lightning, HPD and
timed time trials, which is very cool. Plus, we're having an opening track day, an open track
day on Monday, the 15th. If you want to stick around for open track, that's happening as well.
Thunder Hill Raceway is happening as well on Summer Solstice. We're having the longest weekend of
the year. We'll be out there on the 20th and 21st. Portland International on June 27th. Watkins
Glen Stars Stripe Speed. That is the huge July 4th extravaganza. After we're done with Cota, we
talk about that one July 4th. It's going to be a huge event for all of these events. When we go
every time we go, we look up open track for our actual on track insurance, your insurance for your
car. It doesn't cover your track event. That's right. The thing to do is you go to open track and
they will give you a great quote. And if you are a person that tracks a lot like we do, you can do
full season insurance for your car there as well. So open track dot com. You can actually follow
links from hooked on driving. We have links here as well on the podcast, because that's the place
to go. Jerome JC writes to us from Michigan says he's got real life Hot Wheels cars. Yeah, he
does. JC, thank you for writing. He listens to the show regularly, usually on his commute. And his
wife has accumulated a handful of vehicles over the years due to success in their careers. They're
in Michigan where the roads are mostly boring or snowy. His wife drives a 2023 Mazda CX9 daily to
her job as a public school administrator. 35 minutes each way. JC commutes 25 minutes to his
work as a manager at a factory in a 2014 Mazda three and sometimes in their 2016 Ford f 150. He
likes to have a less flashy vehicle to take to work. You couldn't imagine pulling in at the shop
in a German luxury vehicle, for example, for fun. They've got a 1957 Chevy Apache truck. It's a
rest of mod. He built over half a decade with his dad. And they've also got a 2020 Miata MX
five they bought used with 10,000 miles. Says the hot rod has an aluminum block 5.3 liter swap
turbo 400 and has just been reliable. The MX five is mostly stock with upgraded springs for track
duty. And then he takes the little truck around town wherever possible and will drive to work
occasionally. Says that MX five is more of a weekend car and serves double duty. He does HPD
a few times a year. Love it. Limited seating, though, in both of those. Yes, for true. There's
just they're two seaters, and they're not take everywhere vehicles. They're vehicles that have
a purpose that the truck is kind of a nostalgia and fun and quirky and the MX five obviously is
weekend fun convertible and track car. The Mazda three and the f 150 have over 110,000 miles
each, mostly reliable except for the f 150. It's got problems. Miss fire code. They don't really
trust it. What's crazy about it is this misfire code and this valve guide issue he mentions here.
This gives a check engine light and error codes that they have tolerated on this truck for more
than five years, five years. We know we have an engine problem. We know it's expensive. I'm
coming back to this later. We know it's expensive to fix. We know it potentially is a catastrophic
engine problem. So we're just letting it ride for five years. Does that make it reliable? I mean,
accidentally driving it accidentally reliable has problems. They they are driving it knowing it
could grenade at any minute. That's what I find fascinating about this. And it's not like it just
started throwing a code. No, that was five years ago. That's crazy to me. But anyway, on it goes.
Mazda three JC bought a year ago with a rebuilt title to commute and put miles on and eventually
teach their oldest son to drive. His kids are 12 and 10. So doing the math, the oldest is at least
three years away before he starts permit driving at least four years until he gets his license. Now
they're both into soccer. Has it at first, he writes his wife acknowledged pretty quickly that
the hatch is awesome at soccer duties, good on fuels, storage capacity. Easiest thing to park
since a mini Cooper and they drive a lot to visit relatives and vacation in other states. You need
to know that all their vehicles are paid off. So no debt on any of them. They love the CX nine. It's
quiet and comfortable, stylish, a little bit of luxury. The F 150 is handy as a backup daily and
for hauling whatever they need. Like dump runs. Sure, gotta go to the dump inexplicably. But yes,
we'll go. But his wife does not trust how long the engine will last so far. It's been five years.
Yes. But essentially, she won't drive it because she's worried about it doing what they all
expected to do at some point. But it also means if they sell it, it's not worth much. The three,
the Mazda three is the perfect daily and a good handoff for the kids to learn on compact, rebuilt
title, feel efficient, but it's not quiet. And they just have to deal with that. And the MX five is
that standing, but he's wondering what about a Boxster or use Corvette or an F type or that the
thinking every all of us think an Audi TT or Lotus product. Okay, all right. JC and his wife have
gone through multiple recent promotions and have paid cash for their last couple of cars. But they've
already started talking about what's next. Hence the email. Yes, his wife is interested in a Maki or
Lexus crossover. JC feels like the CX nine is great, but not feel efficient and should last
another 10 years to 2023. He's talking about keeping it for another 10 years. He's considered an
F one 50 lightning to replace the current F one 50. He said it would be a quiet commuter for JC
save fuel. But because of the check engine light because the problems feels like the current truck
is worth more to keep it than sell it. I don't agree. But I do see it. the logic. Yeah,
everybody in the family loves the MX five. It's really great. But could there be something else
that does what that car does with four seats so they can all get ice cream at the top down, do
track duty with a little bit more horsepower. JC is the only one that can drive manual so far. But
he's considered finding a different cheaper car for them to learn on. It's I want to
pause real quick because this has come up not just here with JC, but it's come up with others.
There seems to be a recurring thing that happens and I understand the logic. The logic is I have a
Miata. I have a Miata. I love it. No notes. It's the perfect car for doing all the Miata things. I
love being top down. Oh, I've noticed it's only two seats. Where is the four seat Miata? I will
tell you it does not exist. There is no four seat Miata. Anytime and JC is the latest anytime you
say I would like to have the Miata experience. But I want to take the whole family. There is a
non equal sign there. You can't do it. You can do you can do four seat convertibles like a BMW
M4. Good for a convertible. Yes. But it doesn't drive like a Miata. Right. It's good dynamically in
its own right, for example, but it's big. Nothing. So there is no car like that. I know we all want
it doesn't exist. So we're debating what's next. And then the question I love this JC, not only
debating what to maybe get rid of and what to replace. He also goes, maybe a sixth car. We have
five. Should we just get a six that just do something else? He said probably not. But he is a
car guy. And so that's dawned on him. So this is where all of this rolls around. And he's kind of
asking what our options are for the five cars they have for the next five years. They enjoy the
debt free life with cars relatively low maintenance. Should he continue to slug money into
retirement investments and future college funds? He realizes they're extremely blessed and already
have a great fleet with real life Hot Wheels cars. But they want an expert opinion on their
options for the next five years. Could be longer than that JC. Thank you for writing. There's
going to be a lot of sales. I just need you to know that going in. You're selling stuff. Are
you okay? Good, good, good. And you wrote in and we're taking it on. And so just listen with an
open mind just consider the sales and consider the options. And I you're driving to work and your
current job and the flashiness is on my mind. I want you to have something fun to drive, no matter
what other people think. But I also understand that perception is a very real thing. And you don't
want your car to be damaged or or vandalized. Certainly you don't want perceptions and friends
to change even though it sounds absurd. You don't want any of that to happen. And that is a real
thing. And I do absolutely acknowledge that. But to start with, we're going to sell the F 150,
right? I think please please sell the F 150. But I also don't want you to get an F 150 lightning.
If you read reviews about this truck, it's now out of production. And Jim Farley, the CEO of Ford
regrets building it. He said he would have totally done it differently, quoting him in response to
a question about the F 150's failure to meet anticipated demand. He said, look, we didn't know
what we didn't know. It's out of production. It was too expensive. The road trip that he took it on
wasn't great. And I know there's people out there that have F 150 lightnings. And they liked
them. I've seen a handful. Sure. But for a car company to admit, hmm, this didn't really work
like we thought. It's now older technology. It's been surpassed in pretty much every category.
And you could spend your money so much better than an F 150 lightning. Don't get one of those. I
have different suggestions for you. Also, sell the Mazda CX nine. I know you said okay, keep it
for another 10 years. But you said your wife commutes 35 minutes one way. And she's driving a
seven passenger vehicle for her commute. Excellent point. She's driving a huge car, just her, a
single person in it, just to commute 35. That's not an inconsequential. It does suggest that. That's
a good point. Yeah. Sell the Mazda three. Hmm. Nobody likes it. You said yeah, yeah, you keep
having to convince yourself. It's not convincing us. True. Yes. Yeah, it's great for the kids and
it's fuel efficient. It's gonna be great. Man, is it noisy and nobody likes riding in it. And I
have to convince my wife. It's good for soccer practice. You're right. You're right. Nobody
likes it. Yep. If you don't like it. Guess what happens on this show? I don't like my car. Let's
get you another car. That's how that works. Yep. That brings us to the MX five. It's a maybe,
maybe sell it, but maybe not. I mean, you guys love it. Meados are awesome. You know, except
when it comes to hauling family, that that means they're not always the answer. But it does what
it does better than almost anything. I'm going to put this out there. Teach your boys to drive
this. Teach your children. Yes. Use this car. It's not the Mazda three. It's the MX five that
becomes their car. It stays in the family. It's their car they learned to drive on. And you still
have for HP to eat it days and track days. And it's still the fun car in your family. But even
if it's not the car they end up with, they could certainly learn on it. Certainly
Maybe one of them drives it for a little bit. Then the next child comes along. Maybe they learn
on it and then maybe both of them get cars that they want. But then you still have it. But you've
used it for the purpose instead of having a separate Mazda three. Use the MX five. It's the
perfect car to teach dynamics and the perfect car to teach paying attention, remaining very much
involved in driving. It is tiny and it might be too tiny. And you may come to that conclusion,
but that does not preclude teaching them on it in any way shape or form. So now your wife has
expressed interest in a commuter EV. Let's get her something smaller. And as we've talked about
for many episodes now, there's a lot of used EVs on the market that are fantastic at the commute
thing. It almost doesn't matter which one we suggest. It matters what you like. So from GV
sixties to Tesla Model threes, they're all inexpensive. She expressed interest in a mock
Mustang Mach E, which is interesting. Absolutely. Those are on sale. There's a ton of them. She
now gets an EV commuter. Okay. And the 69 is gone. Now you said you need something for the
family and hauling. I don't get the sense there's more than four of you. Nope. So you don't need
a seven seater. True. It's it's one of those. It'd be nice to have, but you don't need it. Trying
to do math. There you go. Good job. Family duty hauling and something your wife could commute
in in really nasty weather or giant snow storms. I also realized that's a thing. So you combine
the F 150 and the CX nine into one vehicle like a Grand Highlander or Sequoia, a new Lexus GX
550 over trail. Those are expensive, but they're awesome. Or a forerunner. Okay, I see how you
got there. The Lexus has a towing towing capacity of 9,000 pounds and seats five forerunner is
6,000 pounds. Regardless of the model you choose, I believe we're regardless of the engine that
you choose for runners about 6,000 pounds. So I don't know where you're towing and hauling needs
are, but that could be the double duty. But this is also the car that you could commute in the
more because your commute JC is shorter. This is the truck that you show up to work in. So nobody
would bat an eye at a Tahoe or an expedition or don't get an explorer or Sequoia or a Lexus
something like that. The off road SUV and that does the hauling and the family duties and the
road trip thing. And that's what you show up in. And then meanwhile, your wife has some new
commuter, but that leaves the door for one more car leaves door open for a real Hot Wheels car.
And so I love your suggestions. Now you can apply that sixth car thinking, but we're still only
shopping for the fifth car, like in a mirror, like a Boxster, like a GR Supra. So I am going to show
you your new garage starting with the Apache 1957 Chevy Apache. I just looked one up used and
they're really cool. I love that you've got the rest of mods. So this is the first in your garage.
Then you've got still the 2020 MX five Miata shown here is the special edition. This is a 2019,
but you get the idea. So you've got that in your garage. Then your wife gets the Mustang Maki.
Look at these for 52,000 miles or 52,000 miles. Yes, $23,750. And this thing would just be perfect
for commute. I think she'd really like it. But this is a representative photo. You could insert
any kind of commuter EV used EV here. Forerunner now is the SUV, whether that be some sort of
larger SUV. I don't think you need to go bigger, but I'm voting for a forerunner. I really like
the forerunners. They're awesome. Choose an engine. There's a ton of them for sale. Yep,
this one's got 24,000 miles for 53 grand. And it's the same trim level as the one I have. I am
amazed at selling that high with 24,000 miles. They're so little concentrated on putting miles
on that car. That's that car is a year old, 24,000 miles. I'm selling it for 54. I cannot
believe it held its value that well. But you know, Toyota, it's going to run. It's going to be
excellent. And this is what you could drive or your wife drives it in a snowstorm. And I don't
know what you do at that point, but maybe it's just a snowstorm. You'll figure it out. And then
that leaves the door open for a real Hot Wheels car. So I found you a manual Supra 3.0 2025. They
are $61,000. This only has 4,000 miles, 4,300 miles. So practically brand new. Very nice. And
you've kept it to five cars. The Chevy needs to stay. The Miata, I think, needs to stay. But
let's really rethink everything in between and figure out your needs. Because keeping that F
150, keeping the CX-9, your wife's commuting in a seven passenger. I hear you. Maybe
she's doing school run. We don't know for sure. I'm going to dive in here as well, JC. I've got a
slightly different take on this than Paul. I know you're shocked. There's a little bit of
overlap where we did some same things. It's also not a surprise. But let me just break this down,
JC. And let's talk this through because the big thing is I'm impressed that you have five vehicles
and they're all paid off. And I like your thinking on shopping for something new, because that's
what we do here. The one I'm going to leave for now is actually the CX-9 because it's a 2023. It's
still starting its life. But I want to caution you. Don't require this car to go another 10 years
in your life. This is the one car you said everybody likes and everybody can get in. No other
car in your lineup actually does those two things. Everybody goes and everybody likes. That's a good
point. So I'm leaving it because I think my feelings, you talked about what's happened in the
next five years. I think there's no question the CX-5 gone into the next five years. I mean,
maybe two years. But I want to ease you guys into options so you can decide what the CX-9 gets
replaced by. So for now it stays. The other things that stay are the MX-5 because it does all the
MX-5 things. It does the Miata things. There isn't a four-seat version for ice cream. I'm sorry,
just go one at a time. You and your wife do date night. You and one of your kids do ice cream.
There's not a four-person version of this. There's just not. Okay?
We've got to get there before the shop closes shuttling people.
Totally. We'll all get there.
Aren't you just here?
Exactly. But like I said, you could do, and I don't have a picture, but you could do the four
series convertible in spite of the beaver teeth. It's actually a really good chassis and you can
fit four people in it, but it doesn't drive like an MX-5. So just let that car be what it is.
Possible track car. I love your thought, Paul, and that is what a great vehicle to cross-train
your kids with. Let them drive it.
I would love to learn how to drive on a Miata.
So those two are, that's staying and the classic pickup stays because of what it is. The MX-5
and the classic pickup, there's nothing to replace those with. There isn't a, I'll just go
get it. There's not an end to that sentence right now, not in your life and the way you're
using it. So those stay and the CX-9 because it's the only one that does all of the things.
So I've got you at three cars. I noticed I left two, but the two that I left are the F-150
and the Mazda 3 and the problem with every description of them is they're bad. The F-150
is a time bomb that you're all scared of.
Nobody likes either of those cars.
The Mazda 3 is a salvaged title that you built for a purpose that's four years away.
And in the meantime, you're all tolerating it.
Do you want to tolerate any relationship for four years? Just tolerate it. Like, I don't really
like this, but four years from now, it's going to pay off.
I can learn to love you.
Are we doing that? And with people and divorces, look, I know that relationships, it's a much
more complicated thing. That's the part of the point I'm making here is it's a car. Nobody
likes it. It goes. It goes soon.
The other thing that happens here is I don't want to see any of you guys suffer with this
car for four years to get to a place where your kids are now suffering because that's
the only car they get into.
Today's the day I pass the suffering on to you.
Yeah, exactly. I don't have to ride this anymore. You could drive yourself.
That's terrible.
And they know that you hate it already.
Everybody's like...
The big tone in your email is actually just it's been surprisingly usable and we tolerate
it.
Yeah.
Yuck.
Yeah.
So sell the Mazda 3. Okay. And then when your first son is getting to driving age, then
you could have a cool conversation. You're going to be a responsible parent. You're not
going to just go, whatever you want, son. You're not going to do that. I get that. But
then they can at least be involved in the conversation.
So hopefully they wind up with something that they think is a little bit cool as well, even
if it's not the perfect thing they always wanted because they're 16 and they won't get
the perfect thing they always wanted.
Like a Mini Cooper.
That's okay.
Well, Mini Coopers are on the table.
I got lucky there.
But really?
But yeah. So anyway, moving on.
Okay, good.
So yeah, the Mazda 3 goes and the F-150 goes. It leaves three cars for you. But then I've
got to get you something to get to work.
Yeah.
Because you're not going to use the stuff that's already been listed. This is where
the EVs come in because your wife's interested. You're wanting the CX-9 to hang on. So you
need to buy a used EV. And I'm bringing up the same things Paul's bringing up. The obvious
one has to be mentioned here. There's Tesla Model 3s all day long.
That seems really reasonable.
2019 Long Range Tesla Model 3 for 20 grand with 62,000 miles on it. I've got another
one, the Model 3 Performance, 71,000 miles for 24 grand. 2019.
Sure.
These are not my favorite. Okay. And I don't like the interiors. But if you're going to
go EV, you got to consider a Tesla.
Yep.
They work. The superchargers are great. They can't be denied here. So I got to bring those
up. But again, your wife was thinking, hey, what about an electric SUV? This is what I
like about this, JC, because you can test the water. You can get one. It works perfectly
for your commute. You want a hatchback for soccer stuff. I've got you. And then your
wife gets to go, do I want one of these or not? How about a Honda Prologue? This is
$27,000. It has 9,000 miles. You know what these do? They just run.
That's dropped like a stone.
It's dropped like a stone.
Wow.
Honda had trouble selling these. It's on the same Altium, I think it is, platform from
GM that underpins like the Cadillac Lyric and a bunch of stuff. Look, it's not the most
compelling stuff, but all of it works. And that chassis is great. And the Honda allows
you to get carplay, which GM won't give you.
That's right. This has carplay.
Yes. So the Honda Prologues are out. This is a 2024 with 9,000 miles for 27.5. That
would be a fantastic commute car for you and family car and soccer car and all of the things.
But if you want to go more interesting than that, here is a Mustang Mach-E Select, 39,000
miles, 23 grand. And that is just, you had one too.
This is just representative. This is one of 100 on the page. And I even stayed close
to your area. I even went within 300 miles of where you probably live. You go nationwide.
It's like, which model, which Mustang Mach-E would you like, sir? So Mustang Mach-E, you
need a commuter for this 53,000 mile version. I think it's good looking. It drives well.
The point I want you to make here is you need a commuter with a hatchback for soccer practice.
That's the real needs you've defined here. And you need a commuter that's not too flashy.
Your wife's like, should we get an EV? Don't force her to get one. You get one for the
commute. It works for all the things you need it to do. You have the MX-5 for fun.
Yeah, true.
So that allows you to try the EV. And now this gets into a conversation that leads to the
CX-9 going. So is that four cars? I've got four cars. He's got the old pickup. He's got
the MX-5. He's got the CX-9 and his new EV commuter.
Okay, of some sort.
What happens here is, I guarantee you, what happens here is your wife is going to start
experiencing your EV commuter. And you guys are going to get into a real conversation
about what does she like and not like? And in two years, the CX-9 gets swapped for something else.
Because JC is going to find himself commuting in the CX-9 all of a sudden when she takes
this.
She takes an EV or she goes, I don't want an EV because that's the other thing that could
happen here. She might go, I actually don't like this.
True.
Then you haven't stuck her with it and she doesn't have her CX-9. But I think it's going
to inform both of you that the CX-9 is going to naturally work its way out of the fleet.
I give it under five years, probably two.
I think you're right.
Okay.
But this allows you to try the EV thing, which I think for one of the two of you needs to
be commuting in an EV. Your commutes just describe it.
So anyway, those are my thoughts. Hopefully there's something there for you, JC. But either
way, what we know is the F-150 and the Mazda 3, it's time to go.
We'll see you're down to four cars, which gives you room, JC.
Then he can buy more. That's really what we're all about.
To go back up to the fifth.
Thank God I solved that.
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Right now, stop the podcast.
Daniel's writing in for our second car debate and I had to sit down.
This is astonishing.
I recategorized his list, by the way, of cars that he's owned.
I had to recat, because it was just a mind blast.
You categorized it by brand, thank God, because it's overwhelming.
The headline here is this.
46 cars in 30 years of driving.
It's a lot.
Daniel typically swaps out cars in about six months.
Personally, he just, he moves on.
And that doesn't mean he doesn't buy the same thing again.
His list is nuts.
It's crazy town.
BMW bought another BMW, bought another BMW.
Down here in multiple Camaros, multiple Mustangs, two Honda Accords,
a list of infinities.
He has owned multiple of almost everything he's bought,
so clearly he bounces around.
But almost every six months, he's in a different car.
Daniel considers the sales tax his usage tax,
or lease payment for that short period of time,
and has rarely lost more than $1,000 on a sale.
Wow.
He is obsessive and compulsive with his decisions,
and has been driving his wife nuts with his car flipping.
He has lived in an illustrious car bachelor playboy life,
but now it's time to settle down with a few cars
that can do some different things for him.
Sure, sure.
Right.
And then the list happens, and it's approximate.
He said this was sort of a brain dump,
and I got to 21 or 22 BMWs in that time period.
Three Camaros, six Mustangs, as you said,
two Hondas, amongst others.
There's been a Tesla Model 3 performance,
which I want to note.
I want you to note that.
Volkswagen Passat, he currently drives a Lotus Amir.
That's his current car that he does love.
I have to stop one place on the BMW list for a second.
On BMW list, we have.
I am not kidding you.
I tried to put them in order, too.
You did.
We have two different 2017 M2s, a 2019 M2 competition,
a 2022 M3 competition, a 2023 M2 blue,
and another 2023 M2 red and manual.
That is essentially, with slight variations,
five of the exact same car.
Daniel's BMW dealer has him on speed dial.
Absolutely.
They get a car, and they're like,
you know who'd like this?
Daniel.
Daniel.
Yeah.
Anyway, look, we are all car obsessed here,
and I will admit that I do not have the ability
to swap cars this fast, but what I do find fascinating
is it's not like you've had 30, pardon me,
46 completely different cars.
There's been a lot of returning,
which is very interesting.
I suppose he's got his own lane at the DMV
when he comes in to register a new car,
like, hey, Daniel.
It's like people with reservations,
walk-ups, and Daniel.
It's just a kiosk for Daniel registering a new car.
For sure.
He's in Austin, Texas, and he's got a commute
three times a week that's 20 miles each way.
He's starting to grow tired of taking the Lotus
on this commute because it's not just traffic
and the clutch getting a bit tiring.
It's the amount of road construction and debris,
rocks, and messed up roads that is driving him crazy,
and he's afraid he's going to ruin it.
So he's loving this, Amira, and I like that you like it.
That's really cool.
He has the same V6 manual I do, and it is a phenomenal car,
and I will admit, having just done a road trip
and we have a film about it coming to Monterey and back,
it is a wonderful car to drive in all conditions,
but sitting in San Jose traffic, I didn't love it.
I didn't love it, you know, because you are doing
the manual thing and the creep thing,
and so if you're dealing with construction traffic,
which we did last week, in a Lotus Amira,
and that is predominantly what you're doing,
stop and go in construction in an Amira,
wrong car for the job, and I love it, and you do too.
Pretty much any manual, yeah.
Daniel has questions.
Does he keep the Amira, which is amazing,
and just keep putting the miles on it and enjoy it?
Does he try to buy a commuter?
Finally, his issue is that he'll feel guilty
about having an Amira that sits.
Does he sell the Amira and get a combination of vehicles,
like a 991.1 PDK911, which could be a fun commuter,
and then maybe another 2017 M2 or other fun manual car
for the same money.
Another M2?
Another M2?
What are we doing?
Anyway.
Daniel asks himself, does he grow up
and just buy an automatic 2022 M3
that can still be fun and commuting?
You're not convincing anybody, Daniel, with that sentence.
Maybe Daniel needs to try something new,
like an AMG Mercedes.
Boy, do I have one to sell you,
or a Cadillac CTS or ATS-V series.
These are all his crazy thoughts.
So his goal is to have a fun manual car in the stable,
a commuter that's a fun automatic
that has some other use too,
and he mentions possibly a fast truck like a Raptor.
No.
But it's interesting, he's just going,
well, if I've got to have an auto
and I've got to drive through construction,
what could be, you know what, lifted truck?
That's how he got there.
I see it.
I see the progression.
Buying a pickup truck in Texas is almost a requirement.
I'm surprised he hasn't had multiple.
Maybe that's part of his 46 car.
Maybe that's part of it.
He didn't include the trucks, yeah.
But imagine sitting in a Raptor,
you know it and the truck knows it.
It wants to be constantly launched 200 yards off a dune.
True, yeah.
And it can't.
And you're sitting in a truck that is so capable,
just like you're sitting in a sports car
that is so capable, and you can't.
So I think you do need a commuter.
And he's asking, does he need a single car solution
that does everything?
Daniel's wife has a 2023 Defender 130,
so they've got the big family SUV thing covered
and they can debate this someday
since they've been married for 18 years.
Daniel has swapped out her car 10 times in that period.
That list doesn't even include her.
It doesn't include her stuff.
10 different cars.
Which means she keeps cars a little over a year.
May I just suggest, no more BMWs.
Can we, for a while, at least a long while,
no more BMWs, right?
Well, you know what?
I think, look, I will say this to you, Daniel.
The only way you're allowed to buy a BMW
is if you buy an M2 and never sell it,
because you've bought five already.
He can't and won't.
I know.
So apparently, yeah, anyway, it's not the answer.
I'm going to start in with my choices here.
And I'm going to ask you, for your commuter,
Daniel, have you considered a Hyundai Ioniq 5N?
The reason I say the N is because it's the performance
version of the Ioniq 5.
It's really interesting to drive.
It's an EV.
It's a lot of fun when you need to really find that hole,
get through traffic.
You've got that instant torque,
and it's going to be fun when you're cruising along.
And I don't think you're going to be too precious about this
and any road construction or debris,
you're going to kind of be just OK with.
Fair.
Here's one for $47,491, considering
that they started at just over $65,000 new
for a 2025 with only 4,600 miles on it.
I'd say we're doing good.
And the EV thing even applies to performance EVs.
But that got me thinking.
And there was this fuzzy thing in my mind.
I thought, didn't Hyundai create an off-roader,
sort of a dune buggy-ish kind of concept
for the Ioniq 5N, or for the Ioniq 5?
Yes, they did.
It's called the XRT trim.
And I picked this one because it's white.
And you can see the difference.
You can see it's almost like rhino liner on the bumpers.
It does look like it.
You're right.
The XRT trim for all of their vehicles
means the slightly off-road.
It's like more than a fire road,
but not quite doing the rock crawling thing in Moab.
This was created for you, Daniel.
I think this is your car.
It's slightly lifted.
It's got those, well, road construction,
debris-proof bumpers.
It looks like what Mazda does on their CX-50.
It's those kind of black fenders.
That's a good point.
I like it, yeah.
This is the little bit of off-road.
This is the bomb-through traffic.
It's still got good range.
You can commute, your 20-minute commute in this
three times a week.
And I think, man, this is kind of built for Daniel.
You're not going to be too precious.
I think this is a great choice.
And look here, for 2026 with 598 miles on it,
it's only $38,990.
That's astonishing.
That's astonishing, honestly, yeah.
Most of these are black or gray,
and you couldn't really see the panel differences.
But I just wanted you to see that it's lifted.
It looks a little bit off-roady for the,
I think this is a niche vehicle exactly for Daniel's needs.
Which leaves us open to having a fun car,
because I think you need to split this duty into having two cars.
And like I said, you could buy a truck.
A truck would do it all, but then you'll realize,
yeah, the truck is not a sports car,
and the truck will be wanting to go do truck things.
You're towing or hauling or jumping or hopefully driving fast
across some sort of moonscape.
I don't know.
So I don't think a truck is for you.
Based on what I know about your car list,
there's been very little, if any.
And the reason I suggest the EV of the commuter is
because he had a Tesla already.
So he's used to an EV thing already.
Sure, fair point.
I think this could be really interesting.
You said you could keep the Amira and enjoy it.
And I think you should keep the Amira because I love it,
and it's an amazing car, and you've already got it.
You're thinking about maybe selling it
and getting about 90 grand for it to go do other things with it.
But I want you to keep it, but I don't think he will.
I think he's just got the itch.
So we're going to spend it a little bit differently.
Daniel, I think you either need to go up on your expenditure
or down and something completely different that isn't a Camaro,
a Mustang, a BMW, no Mercedes, none of the above.
Let's go to a 2002 Ferrari 360 Modena Spider for 100 grand.
Wow.
Manual transmission.
This is the occasion car.
I think you already have it in the Amira,
and I would like you to keep the Amira because it's brilliant,
and I think it's every bit on the level of this,
but there is something special about a V8 Ferrari being wound out.
Manual, snickety, snick transmission.
There's an occasion car, and this gets the special attention.
He's never had a Ferrari on there.
Well, you also make, I mean, look, you're blowing out his budget,
but that's part of the course.
There's no problem.
The thing you are nailing here, though,
is the concern he has with leaving the Amira home
is why would I leave it home?
You know why you'd leave the Ferrari home
because it becomes an occasion car
and you're going to specifically choose to drive it.
Yes, I see that.
He's commuting in the XRT.
I do see it.
Then he's got the Ferrari at home,
or let's go the other way with your budget.
You save money and you go to such a special driving experience.
You already know Lotus.
Here is a 2005 Elise.
Look at this.
8,400 miles.
It's set.
Oh, my gosh.
For 60 grand.
That's why they want 60.
They probably won't get 60 because it's an 05,
but man, 8,400 miles.
This is practically a brand new Elise.
That's a tragedy, actually.
It's also an occasion car.
It is.
You're right.
And a special, like, I'm going to go have some fun now.
And it's different.
It's so raw.
The character is so unlike any of those cars on your list.
It's going to be so different and appealing
that I think you would keep a Ferrari or an Elise
longer than any of these other cars.
Interesting.
The commuter can also be changed out.
Get another Tesla.
Get another used EV.
Get a GV60.
Try them all.
Start doing that thing at a lower price point
with your commuter.
And it's bashing through traffic.
And you've got the torque to get through awesome traffic.
And then otherwise, when you're just sitting there
in a long line of cars, it's, you know,
you've got entertainment.
It's a nice place to be.
Sure, yeah.
But then the occasion car waiting for you at home.
Think about it.
A Ferrari 360 or a Lotus Elise?
Yeah, but again, I think you should keep the America's.
You've got it, but you've experienced already
and I don't think you will.
But man, either of these sitting in your garage at home,
you think, oh, can't wait to get home and go driving for real.
I love it.
This is what I think you should do with your money.
That's very good.
Daniel, I am very impressed with your ability to swap cars.
And I want to see if I can unpack this for a second
before I get into recommendations for you.
You know how you and I and most everyone listening to the show,
we've had this life experience where you get a new car
and when you get a new car, everybody in life is like,
oh, new car because it doesn't happen that often.
And everybody is like, you realize how often it's been
since you've seen certain friends
because you've had the car for six months
and all of a sudden you bump into somebody who goes,
oh, hey, new car.
And you're like, has it been that long
since you've seen what I drive?
But you have this slowly filters its way
through your life experience because you got a new car
and it's not something you do all that often.
Even when it's you and me and we buy a new car every couple of years,
you see that reset.
Daniel's the opposite.
Daniel is the guy that everybody that knows him
knows to not think about it when he shows up in something different.
It's just, that's what Daniel's driving now.
So my point here, Daniel, is how much,
and I think you're going to have to sit quietly
and ponder what I'm about to say,
how much of your identity is tied to the guy
that's always changing cars.
If you stop and you had a car for three years,
I guarantee you your friends are going to do the opposite
of what we're talking about.
They're going to go, you're still driving that?
Are you okay?
Wait, wait, that's the car I saw you in the last time I saw you.
Wait, when are you changing?
And that's going to give you the itch
because that's part of how you've got your express lane at the DMV.
What are they going to do?
They're going to fire that person?
I mean, seriously, my point here, Daniel,
is I actually think this has become ingrained in who you are.
That's why you've had five M2s.
It's not the fact that the M,
what that tells me is you really like the M2,
but six months in, people are saying,
well, what are you getting next?
And so you go get something else.
And then you drive that for a couple of months,
you're going, yeah, not this,
but maybe you'll get another M2.
I think the swap is part of the rush for you.
And if you aren't swapping,
I think you're going to struggle.
I want to ease you in.
I'm going to give you two cars to work with.
And what I want you to try to do is one of the cars
is always on a two-year cycle.
That still means you're trading cars every year.
But you have car A and car B.
You buy car A, and you don't buy car B until a year in,
and car A stays another year after that.
So each car is staying two years,
but once you get the cycle going,
every other year, you're trading cars.
I mean, it's not six months,
but I don't think you're going to be able
to stop cold turkey, buy a car,
and just be like, this is the car I drive.
I think your whole world is going to look at you
and be like, you okay, man?
What's going on?
And you're going to be like, I got to buy something else.
I don't think you can do it.
That's good.
I also think as sad as it is for me to say,
I do think you need to sell the Amira.
I think you're a combination of not getting to drive it
like you want and too precious in the situations that it's in.
And I feel you.
I get it.
The car's not fun in traffic.
So I think the Amira goes, which gets us 90 grand to work with.
So I need to get you a daily and a fun car.
And I'm trying to get you a daily that you haven't had yet.
Automatic.
But the other thing you said is, you're a car guy.
You're going to want a daily that's still fun,
but it needs to be automatic and able to do the commute.
And I've got two for you, and I want to start right here.
No one's surprised.
I'm practically under contract the 2018 Alfa Romeo,
Julia Quadrifoglio with 27,000 miles for 46 five quads
are under 50 grand now.
There they are.
You've never had an Alfa Romeo.
This is a fantastic automatic, a very cool car.
It's atypical.
You don't see a ton of them.
When you have the road open up in Austin, Texas,
you end up on the Hill Country roads.
You end up on really cool overpasses.
This chassis is fantastic.
You're going to love driving this.
And the engine sounds amazing.
But it's an automatic four door sedan.
You can just commute in it and run Apple CarPlay and just do
the commute thing.
But because we are talking commute, that made me think
Panamera and then I went, no, no, no, not Panamera.
Taycan.
I have a 2022 Porsche Taycan four up on the screen right now.
In fact, it's the Sport Turismo with the much better full hatchback
in a fantastic maroon color I'm showing right now.
This is $50,000, $49,000 with 28,000 miles on it.
I don't need this.
Can't afford it and want it very badly.
50 grand though.
50 grand.
He's got 90 to work with.
He sells the Amiri.
He has 90.
He gets a Taycan.
Get your Taycan of choice.
They're not all actually this expensive, but there are some
down here and of course you can spend more.
But the thing is, the Taycan is an electric car
that would be great to commute in.
That is box one.
It looks great.
Box two, they do actually look really good.
If you get the Sport Turismo, they look even better.
Yeah, they look better.
Box three, it's a Porsche product.
So it's a nice place to just be in.
And also because it's a Porsche product, if you have an opportunity
to use the dynamics, it's going to be very, very good.
Yes.
So on one level, you're just driving an electric commuter.
But on another level, you've got a Porsche engineered suspension
and drivetrain that's going to feel good when the road gives you
something to work with.
So Taycan is way high on my list.
I've spent 50 grand either way.
Quadrifoglio or Taycan for 50 grand, we have 40 left.
And I'm going to go somewhere you're not going to expect.
I like your event car very much, Paul.
But I'm going to reset your whole thinking, Daniel.
Okay.
I want you to go buy a brand new GR86 or BRZ.
Interesting.
Because it's a $30,000 something car.
Yeah.
Okay.
You won't have a reason to feel precious about it.
You can't wow yourself with BMW power.
This is all dynamics.
And I'm going to task you with going to the Hill Country
roads outside Austin.
Reconnect with why driving is amazing.
And all that car needs to do is that.
It's just, and you may find opportunities when you just,
you know what, I'm going to take the 86.
It's not perfectly right.
But I'm just going to take it anyway.
You may have those days when you don't take the Taycan.
You don't want the electric commuter.
You're going to take the 86 anyway.
I'm just going to take it because it's fun.
But that's the thing that car does.
It doesn't do anything but drive well.
But unlike the Elise, which of course I love.
Unlike the Elise, you bought a GR86.
You bought a BRZ.
Buy a used one for 25.
Right.
If you hit a pothole, it'll still suck.
But it's an 86 or a BRZ.
You know, if it's rattly, if it's not the nice,
gorgeous place to, who cares?
It's just going to take you back to sheer love of driving,
which is the one thing I see as you trade cars out is just,
I like interacting with cars.
I like cars that talk to me and do stuff.
That's what that does all day long.
So you drive the Taycan every day and the GR86 for fun.
You put them on a two year stagger.
Because I think two years is about as long as you could possibly
own a car in a stint.
But I'm trying to slow you down a bit, Daniel,
and give you two very different experiences.
So I'm going to stop right there.
I also suspect, Daniel, that this particular garage
Todd is suggesting would be a garage
he might like to have himself.
I wouldn't complain about an 86 in a Taycan.
I really wouldn't.
Sensing that.
Yes, my wife has decided she's like visually
discovered wagons.
It's the funniest thing.
Like somehow in the last six months, she's like,
oh, that's a cool little wagon.
I'm like, I haven't even said anything.
You're like, can we move in that direction?
Yeah, she's like, I might do a wagon.
I have no idea what changed.
It's not like I did some big like poster board pitch for her.
Here's why wagons are great.
No, she's just like going, that's a cool looking wagon.
All right, let's talk wagons.
We'll see.
It was the subliminal messaging at night.
I don't know.
Play the recording in her ear.
Yes, you will like wagons.
You will like wagons.
Wagons are cool.
Brown wagons are fun.
No, actually, I don't want brown.
But anyway, you get my point.
Brian is in Maryland writing to extend his appreciation
to Todd in particular for his infectious enthusiasm
for his Amira.
Brian, thank you for writing.
He came across the show a few months ago when it was
heavily debating whether to pull the trigger on an Amira
watching every review and piece of info he can find on it.
He said your pickup day video with your one year
ownership review completely sold him on the car.
We are selling cars here, baby.
That's cool.
I'm really, really glad you got one.
I'm glad you like it.
That's really cool.
After a brief month long hunt, he came home as the second
owner of a 2024 Hethel Yellow v6 manual and could not be happier.
That's fantastic.
I love it.
Like you, he had never bought a car that's expensive
before, despite being a car guy all of his life.
He turned 40 this year and could not be leaning harder
into the midlife crisis stereotype if he tried,
as his family has been very quick to remind him.
Yeah, but so you didn't get a red one.
See, red is the, red is the full thing.
Is that the recipe?
Yeah, that's the key.
Anyway, moving on.
His wife was shockingly okay with the purchase,
considering they have a nine-year-old daughter,
six-year-old son as a result.
His Julia had to stick around for the rear seats.
That's a cool garage, man.
Exiled from the garage.
He hasn't had that many cars in his life.
In order, 1996 Corolla, 98 Integra LS,
2002 S2000, 2006 S2000, Focus ST,
and then he bought the Julia,
and now he's got this amazing machine
that he thinks hopefully the value might go up,
but hopefully he wants to have it for years and years
to come, and he did send us a photo.
You got to see his garage here.
The Julia's been kicked out, so the Amira gets the slot,
and it looks like his wife has a Mustang Mach-E.
Very cool.
Great looking car.
Really awesome.
Beautiful.
Brian, congratulations.
Who else wants to buy an Amira?
Because we're selling Amiras.
Yeah, we are.
Billy rode in with a car conclusion.
Billy was with us with his wife
on our Beartooth trip last year,
and they were driving a Boxster,
and they decided after that trip
it really wasn't the right car for them.
He said maybe that was the blown engine at 22,000 miles.
Oh, yeah.
Anyway, that means that car wasn't driven a lot,
so that happened, unfortunately.
So they were having very informative
in-person car debates with you
and many others on the trip.
They rode around in Dalton's Porsche Macan.
Really liked that.
They liked the idea of the Alfa Romeo Stelvio.
They thought about that for a while.
So there's been a lot of debates
about what are they going to get,
and last weekend they finally found the right thing.
He'd been looking for, he's had 11 Mazdas.
So he was going to buy another Mazda.
He was going to get another Mazda 3.
Don't do it.
Don't do it, man.
Correct, correct, anyway.
So he finally became intrigued by the Honda Civic Si,
and he found one in Colorado Springs,
Pearl White over red.
So he ended up with a brand new 2026 Honda Civic Si,
and he is loving it, which I think is great.
He said one of his favorite cars he's ever owned,
and he realizes all of his favorite cars
have around 200 horsepower.
He had an old SVT contour.
Remember those?
The SVT Focus as well.
That's right.
He had a Dodge Neon, the RT, the Neon SR T4,
a Cobalt and SS Turbo, and six Miata's.
So everything he's had has been around.
It's been a small light manual transmission
and 200-ish horsepower.
So the Civic Si fits right in.
I love that you got this, Billy.
Congrats.
It was great having you with us.
And this is a cool car.
Here's the doggo that goes in the car.
Perfect.
And he's got the car.
Here is the dealership.
So fantastic.
Billy's also gone through a lot of cars as well.
He has, yeah.
But it's so interesting that some of his favorite cars
have right about 200 horsepower ever.
Light stuff.
It's cool.
I have a quick preemptive.
Did you see this?
By the time you hear this podcast,
I will probably have seen the Mandalorian and Grogu
first Star Wars feature film in seven years.
I'm going to go with my son and I will admit
we are going with trepidation.
We really like the show.
The trailers have me a bit mixed.
Oh, really?
But I am going to give my money to Star Wars and Disney
to see a Star Wars movie in the theater.
I'm actually excited to go.
We will see how it plays out.
I know that is not your thing, Paul.
It's also not my wife's thing.
We're going to go this weekend.
She's like, huh, have fun.
Good questions over here on Instagram.
Got a few.
Dan Gleason asked if we ever see ourselves entering a race
as a progression from track days,
something like lemons or a 24-hour race,
back in 2017 and 2018.
And I think it was 16, 17, 18.
It was three years in a row, yeah.
Right?
Or was it 2019?
I've lost track of which years it was,
but it was three years in a row.
Three years in a row.
We drove a Subaru in the first year
and we actually produced an hour-long piece
comprising all three years of the lemons race
that we drove a Subaru race car one time.
It was a clapped out old outback, like gutted.
And it kept running.
Just kept running.
I mean, that's the secret to winning endurance races.
Oh, yes it is.
It's not being fast.
No, no, it's just you never stopped.
Yeah.
You finish.
That does help.
And then the second year and the subsequent year after that,
we drove a Boxster from our friend Dale up in Pacific Northwest,
and that was at the Ridge Motorsport Park.
So we have done a bit of racing.
We've done the SCCA licensing school as well
and done racing in spec racer Fords,
the generation three spec racer Fords.
So we've done quite a lot of...
All those pieces are right here on this channel.
Yeah, racing as well.
But track days are pretty satisfying.
I'm not counting it out.
I mean, maybe we do,
but I think we'd like to step up to maybe a larger race series,
but of course that takes funding and money.
Yeah, I mean, it's one of those things where I think we would entertain it
and of course we would do content around it,
but it's not in the forefront of our mind,
and most of the time it's a scheduling reality.
And the nice thing when we did the lemons race,
Dale was great about this,
is all we did was show up.
We covered it of course,
but we don't have time to wrench.
That just doesn't work.
So it just depends on what the series would be.
Certainly open,
but we don't have to compete to have fun on track by any means.
I mean, that's like most race car drivers.
It's an arrive and drive kind of event.
Sure driver.
They just show up and the team's got the car
and it's all ready to go.
I mean, that's two Amira questions back to back.
Travel eating says,
if you must pick an automatic Amira,
do you pick the Mercedes one or the allegedly upcoming
Turbo Hybrid V6 horse powered one?
First off, travel eating.
We don't know how real that is
and what that car is going to drive like.
It's hard to say.
The automatic Amira with the AMG is very cool.
I have to admit,
and it feels to me a lot like,
and I said this in our comparison piece,
it feels to me a lot like the 718 Turbo Cayman does.
They feel very similar to me.
Much more similar, I feel like,
than the manual Amira V6 feels to a normal manual,
like the 4.0 Cayman.
Those feel like much more different cars
than the two Turbo 4s do.
But that relates to Kareem's question here,
where he asks me,
if the Amira didn't come with a manual version at all,
like was never came with a manual, it was auto only,
would I still have bought one?
If not, would I have bought?
What would I have bought?
Kareem, the reality is,
if it did not come with a manual,
I wouldn't own it.
So then my number one consideration
probably would have been an Evora GT,
because that's something that I do also connect with.
But I don't know that I would have felt
any kind of pressure to go get an Evora GT,
because they exist and we've driven it,
and it's closer now to my elite,
so I probably wouldn't have bought anything
at the same time frame that the Amira came along.
The Amira opportunity came along,
and I'm grateful that it did.
And it had a sense of,
if you're going to do this, you need to do it now.
So we did it.
And I'm thankful that the show has allowed me
to have that car, because it's way beyond me,
but I love having it.
So it had a natural ticking clock about it
that made me take a leap.
I probably wouldn't have done otherwise.
So probably would be no additional car in the garage.
I'm not sure about that, but that's my feeling.
But no, no manual wouldn't have gotten it.
So a question from our friend, George,
MysticNegro on Instagram,
who's got a theory that car enthusiasts
give terrible buying advice.
Well, we've made a career out of it,
so that's a bit concerning, George.
Anyway.
Excluding my flights of financial fancy,
he writes that we seem to do a good job
of avoiding truly ridiculous picks.
How do we stop ourselves from falling
into answering every question with a 9-11?
You've heard our 9-11 rants, right?
Or at least mine.
Yeah.
I mean, we revisited that on a few podcast episodes ago
about what Porsche should do,
and our rants and our thinking
turn into a lot of product planning,
as I'm sure you've noticed.
And it's not just a flight of fancy that
that's the car I want.
It's based on the cars that we see coming from manufacturers
and thinking, you almost got there.
But what we see in the community for friends,
fans of the show and friends that we have
and people we talk to,
man, if only they did this a little bit better.
And sometimes car companies do listen.
They do care about it.
True.
They do an improvement,
and it's sort of like, wow.
Yes.
That's an amazing car.
So when we find a car that meets a people's need,
a person's need,
that is really well done by a car manufacturer,
it almost doesn't matter what category it's in.
So sports cars don't always work.
And we always want somebody to have the right car for them.
Of course, we encourage fun driving.
That's what we're all about.
The show has always been about.
And certainly hooked on driving is all about fun lapping.
For sure.
Having a great time on track.
Racing sounds really cool and is really cool.
But we've also heard from a lot of racers
who get tired of the grind and it's expensive
and you're not winning and you're starting to question,
what am I even doing here?
I just want to drive.
And that's for us where hooked on driving came in such clear focus.
Yeah, this just strips everything away
and you can just enjoy the fun.
And that's the entire purpose of that.
So yeah, the joke's there to come back
and just suggest 9-11 for everything.
But not everybody likes 9-11's
and not everybody likes the brand Porsche.
And I don't think Porsche is for everybody.
I don't think McLaren's for everybody.
I don't think Ferrari is for everybody.
You know what I mean?
So the great thing is car manufacturers make such great cars
that meet a person's budget and their sensibility.
They're kind of what they're into.
And there's so many great cars out there
that that's what it comes down to.
It's not just rinse and repeat.
And plus, if we just suggested kind of the same things for every time,
it'd get old pretty quick.
I mean, look, I want to acknowledge the elephant in the room.
And that is if you followed this show for very long
and George, you can attest to this and many others can as well.
We definitely have our defaults.
And we talked about this before.
There are cars that we consider like the king,
the 10 in all areas of a certain kind of car.
And so if a car is an 8, it gets overshadowed
and not mentioned as much because the 10 exists.
So that happens.
And I admit that we have cars.
GR86 is an obvious one.
Alpha Julia for me is an obvious one.
I'm going to bring these cars up
if we're in the category of those cars.
So I'm aware of the fact that we don't recommend everything,
but we recommend the stuff we find the best in categories.
But I'll tell you the things that have really helped me, George.
And one is owning a Lotus Elise has helped me find cars for others.
And I say that because I love the Elise so much,
but I am also very mentally aware it is not for everybody.
And I'm aware, I mean, you've been a great example to me on this.
You enjoy it when you drive it, but you pick your moment.
You're like, I'm going to drive it right now.
I don't want to get out.
And I'm not driving it again until that happens again.
And you love cars and you love that car.
But that car has taught me, and again,
I've driven it all over the country,
it has taught me the things I'm willing to sacrifice for,
that so many other people are not willing to sacrifice for.
My own wife is like educating me on, yeah, I'm not doing that.
Look, I have been in the middle of a 700 mile in a single day drive
in a hot freeway on the Lotus Elise and thought,
I am glad my wife's not here because she would hate this.
But the point I'm making here, George,
is that car that I love so much realizing that I intellectually realize,
I can't recommend this to very many people.
As an ownership, I can't.
You might want to drive it, but you're not going to want to own it.
That's one part of it.
And then the other part of it is when we meet people who have a car
they love that I don't like at all.
I always ask, but why do you like that?
Because I've driven what you're driving.
And I'll tell you, I would have never told you to buy that.
But they're like, my car is amazing.
I'm like, please.
And they've got lists of reasons.
Yes, please tell me why you like it.
So those two bits of perspective have really helped me
to kind of take in these car debates and go,
where is this person in life?
And what might work for them, even if it doesn't work for me?
I'm not shopping a Honda Prologue,
but it was a perfect recommendation today.
And look, I push on budget a lot of times it's joking,
but a lot of times it's real because blowing the budget is a big thing.
It happens.
And I still, if we're in this budget and I know there's a car
that's just outside of it that I know you'd like better and keep longer
and actually keeping it longer would save you money
rather than hating something within your budget.
You don't like it, you trade it out in a year or six months
and you get something else and it's still not quite good enough.
If only you'd spent just a little bit more and found a way.
Sometimes it's not possible.
Spent more and then gotten something you really love
and then you keep it longer and your driving experience from start to finish
is that much better?
Driving matters to all of us.
It's a big deal in our lives.
It's so continually amazing to me that people need the outlet to talk about cars.
They need to get it out of their system.
And same thing with driving.
We've got to get it out of our system.
We've got to go do the activity.
And for people who want to drive, it matters.
And I want you to have something good to drive.
So if you just spent just a little bit more,
sometimes it's double the budget and I get it.
But that I'm kidding about.
But it matters like, oh, but I really wanted that trim level
and I did and I'm so much happier.
Totally, totally.
Derek has a great tire question I want to reach in on this.
Derek, you've just moved to Northern California
and you've moved to an area of Northern California that actually gets all four seasons.
That means you actually do get snow and you get winter weather
and you said you've got snow on the ground for maybe one to two weeks a year.
So not hardcore, but it does get snowy.
But here's the difficulty.
You have a 2001 Audi TT Quattro
and you're looking for a winter tire solve.
This is one of the hardest things to decide on
because here's your situation.
For most of the winter months, it's going to get down to freezing overnight.
The snow is going to re-freeze.
It might re-freeze in the ice.
But the next day, except for those one to two weeks a year,
it's going to warm up enough that you've warmed up past the usability of full winter tires.
And so you're going, what do I do?
Now specifically, Derek, I'm answering your question as you've asked it this way.
For your second set, you clearly have got a summer set of tires.
We get into summer temperatures where you wake up in the morning
and it's 40 and above, 50 and above, and it's only going to get hotter.
Hopefully your performance tires are on at that point.
But we're talking about the days where you woke up and it's 20,
but it's going to get 60 today.
We have that in the shoulder seasons of Park City all the time.
You're worried about putting on full winters.
I see why.
Now, if you do get ice, there's little battle for ice, except honestly, studs.
If you get a lot of ice, but I don't think you need studs
and you probably don't even need full winters.
What I'm going to recommend to you is the all-weather tire.
It has the triple peak snowflake on it.
We obviously talk about the Bredestines.
I have those great Quad Track Pros on my wife's Cayenne.
They've been phenomenal.
The Quad Track. They're still a high-performance tire.
High-performance tire.
And we have put them on the, I actually need to get a new set
because we're actually wearing them out.
They're great tires.
Put them on my wife's Cayenne, which of course is all-wheel drive.
And that has worked for our summer road trips
and it's worked in the middle of the winter.
And it's the same tire year-round.
They've been great.
You're looking for a second set that can do that shoulder temperature.
I think you need to get an all-weather set of tires.
So I'm going to say the Quad Track Pros to you.
There are other brands that do all-weathers,
but these are not all seasons.
It's a different designation.
So be very careful in shopping.
If you have that on your second set of wheels,
that range of temperatures, don't have to think about it.
And a little bit of snow, you'll be fine.
The Bruce B says when people track a Miata,
is it top-up or top-down?
It varies.
It depends on how clapped out your Miata is.
Is it a race car?
Have you sawed the top out?
Is it gutted interior?
If so, you probably have a cage, broomstick test.
Other people drive a Miata RF, MX-5 RF,
and they just want to leave the top up.
It really depends.
They all have roll-over protection.
They need to.
And once you do, and you're confident that it does,
depends on, yeah, race car.
Is it a nice Miata?
Sure.
Some people actually like to run top-up, which is fine.
And also, we've seen situations where,
I think it's the current Miata RF, if memory serves.
Most of the time, when you put a cage in the Miata RF,
and some guys have done that,
you no longer make it a soft top.
It will never, well, removable top.
The RF top will never come down again.
You put a cage in it, and you're done.
So, what is the Miata that you're driving,
and what is your purpose to your point, Paul?
Thank you guys for watching, for listening.
Continue to rate and review for our sake,
and we really appreciate you doing so.
It helps people find the podcast
and continue to grow.
We love the interaction that you give us.
Continue to write to us your emails.
Topic Tuesdays, car conclusions, car debates.
Blew the budget.
What weird things CEOs say,
and anything else that is on your mind.
You know what? It just dawned on me.
I'm not going to go into detail.
I'll go into detail at Coda at next time,
but I'm going to give you the tease.
The headline is happening.
In the month of June,
we are taking our biggest ever road trip,
and we are making our biggest ever road trip film.
We are going to Europe.
We are doing a definitive roads in Europe trip.
We're going more places that I'm going to recite right now,
because it's going to sound like
Jaco doing The Countries of the World.
It's going to be a lot, okay?
And we're still not going to have enough time,
and we're still taking a lot of time.
We're going to make an amazing series
on road trips in Europe.
I can't wait to tell you more.
We've been teasing it for a while.
That's what's happening.
Europe is coming.
Huge road trip films to the back part of the year.
I'm very excited.
It's going to be awesome.
Looking forward to next time, as always.
Thank you guys.
Cheers, everyone.
Thank you.
About this episode
Ferrari Luce takes center stage as the hosts debate whether it’s a styling reset or a brand-risk driven by SUV competition. They connect Luce’s 360 Modena-inspired cues and “entirely new design language” to EV constraints like aerodynamics, then question who will buy a “$500,000” Ferrari. The conversation widens to EV sound and pricing logic, including authentic vibration capture versus fake engine noise. Between segments, they also tease upcoming track coverage and talk track insurance.
The first-ever BEV from Ferrari has been revealed! The Luce is a complete departure from Ferrari’s current styling, and the technology introduced is bleeding edge, but honest; especially the sound it makes. The guys discuss other new introductions from BMW, Mercedes-Benz and RAM. They debate real-life Hot Wheels cars for JC in Michigan, who is pondering a sixth car! Then, Daniel in Texas has owned 46 cars in 30 years of driving, and just can’t stop thinking about what’s next.
Audio-only MP3 is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and 10 other platforms.
Look for us on Tuesdays if you’d like to watch us debate, disagree and then go drive again!
00:00 - Intro
01:44 - Ferrari Reveals Their First-Ever BEV, The Luce!
27:21 - BMW Announces *Manual* M3 CS For North America
31:23 - Mercedes Unveils The AMG GT 4-Door Coupé
46:23 - RAM Introduces The RumbleBee Muscle Truck Lineup
49:37 - Stellantis Strategy To Launch 60+ New Models
51:20 - Car Debate #1: Real-Life Hot Wheels
1:16:32 - Car Debate #2: 46 Cars In 30 Years
1:36:36 - Car Conclusion #1: New Emira Owner
1:38:16 - Car Conclusion #2: The 200 HP Range Of Favorites
1:40:04 - Did You See This?
1:40:40 - Audience Questions On Social Media
Rate and review us on Apple Podcasts, and subscribe to our two YouTube channels. Write to us your Topic Tuesdays, Car Conclusions and those great Car Debates at [email protected] or everydaydriver.com
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