Five Cool Summer Day Trips Near Houston | Prettiest Police Car | Auto History | 2026 VW Tiguan
In Wheel Time Podcast: Your Go-To Automotive Talk Show
Five Cool Summer Day Trips Near Houston | Prettiest Police Car | Auto History | 2026 VW TiguanIn Wheel Time Podcast: Your Go-To Automotive Talk Show · Jul 22, 2026
The Mustang is a famous Ford sports car. Here, it matters because a police department used a Mustang as its patrol car, which is less typical than other police-car types.
“Black and tan” just means the car has two main colors. For police-car beauty contests, the color scheme and graphics are a big part of what people notice.
Term
Alcan 500
Alcan 500 is a nickname for a long, tough drive route through Canada and Alaska. People talk about it like an endurance trip because it’s far and remote.
ICE engines are the traditional gas engines that burn fuel to make power. The point here is that the park is moving away from gas-powered cars toward electric ones.
EV stands for electric vehicle—cars powered by electric motors and batteries rather than an internal combustion engine. The host connects EV adoption to Autopia’s future, contrasting it with the classic experience of hearing and smelling the exhaust.
Term
putt-putt
“Putt-putt” is a sound people make to describe the chugging noise of older, small gas engines. Here it’s being used to remember the classic Autopia ride sound.
Car
Chrysler Model 58
This is an older Chrysler model from the 1920s. The host is saying it was important because Chrysler used some advanced tech to compete with the biggest car companies at the time.
Hydraulic brakes use brake fluid to send force from your foot to the brakes. It helps the brakes work more smoothly and reliably than older mechanical setups.
Parking meters are machines that you pay to park for a certain amount of time. They also help cities manage parking so spots don’t stay taken for too long.
Brock Yates was the person behind organizing this famous long-distance driving event. The host credits him with putting together the 1971 Cannonball dash.
The "Cannonball Run" is a well-known story about drivers trying to go coast-to-coast as fast as they can. It’s the kind of thing that later got turned into movies.
The "Gumball Rally" is a famous long-distance driving competition. It’s connected to the same kind of fast, adventurous road-race stories as the earlier Cannonball events.
The 2026 Volkswagen Tiguan is a compact SUV from VW. The host says it’s been redesigned for 2026, which usually means updates to how it drives, how it looks, and what versions you can buy.
The front fascia is the car’s front styling area—basically the body parts around the grille and headlights. When it changes, the car can look noticeably different even if the mechanicals stay similar.
The grille opening is the space in the front grille that lets air flow through the front of the car. Bigger openings can help the engine stay cooler and also change the car’s look.
Wheelwell openings are the areas in the body where the wheels fit. Changing their shape can make the car look more aggressive or cleaner around the tires.
Roof rails are the bars/tracks on top of the car that you can mount things to, like a bike rack or cargo box. Some people don’t like them because they can make the car noisier or less streamlined.
Quilted seats have stitched, padded patterns that look more upscale. Perforated seats have tiny holes that help air move through, which can make them feel cooler.
Term
Hugescreen in the middle
The big screen in the middle is the car’s main touchscreen. It’s where you control things like music, navigation, and many car settings.
The third row is the extra set of seats in some SUVs. If a vehicle doesn’t have that third row, it usually makes more room behind the front seats and in the back area.
This engine is a 2.0-liter with four cylinders, and it uses a turbo to make more power. Turbos help the engine feel stronger without needing a bigger engine.
Horsepower is a way to describe how strong the engine is. Higher horsepower usually means the car can accelerate more easily, especially when you need power quickly.
Torque is the engine’s pulling force. It’s what helps the car feel quick when you start moving or when you need to accelerate from a stop or slow speed.
This is an automatic gearbox with eight different gear settings. It’s supposed to shift smoothly and keep the engine in the right “power band,” but the host says it can be a bit slow when you need quick acceleration.
Turbo lag is the momentary delay before the turbo “kicks in.” If it takes too long, the car can feel like it’s not ready to move right away when you need to accelerate.
Term
Riding handling
Ride and handling describe how the car feels on the road. Ride is about bumps and smoothness, and handling is about how the car steers and feels when you drive hard or in traffic.
The Honda CR-V is a very common compact SUV that people often compare against other small SUVs. The host mentions its starting price to show where the Tiguan lands in the market.
The Toyota RAV4 is a popular compact SUV that many people compare to other small SUVs. The host mentions it because they’re planning to review it next.
Summer day-trip ideas around Houston kick things off, from ice cream stops to indoor museums, plus local aviation history and how one museum relocated after Hurricane Ike. The conversation then pivots to a public-vote contest for the prettiest police cruisers, including Florida’s black-and-tan Mustang win and the behind-the-scenes upfitting and licensing costs. After the auto-history detour, the hosts review the 2026 Volkswagen Tiguan—redesign details, interior tech, and a key complaint about turbo lag and slow downshifts.
Houston heat doesn’t wait for the calendar, so Marrs brings a list you can actually use when summer hits hard. We talk through easy, high payoff getaways that keep you cool without turning the day into a complicated production: a Blue Bell Creameries run to Brenham for peak summer ice cream, the Bryan Museum in Galveston when the beach feels like a skillet, and the Lone Star Flight Museum for air conditioned aviation history that still feels hands on. If you want a little nature with a plan, we hit Brazos Bend State Park with the timing and safety tips that matter, especially around the alligator viewing areas.
Then we shift gears into pure car culture fun with Jeff and the American Association of State Troopers best looking cruiser contest. More than 360,000 votes decide the winner, the state pride is loud, and the ribbing is half the entertainment. Florida’s black and tan Mustang takes the top spot again, Michigan’s “blue goose” stays in the fight, and we like that the trooper calendar sales help fund educational scholarships for trooper dependents.
We also do a quick lap through automotive history, from the Alaska Highway and Disneyland Autopia to the rise of parking meters, a wild Cadillac V16 concept, and the legend behind the Cannonball run.
Finally, Don shares a detailed road test of the redesigned 2026 Volkswagen Tiguan, including the trim level driven, interior highlights, pricing, mpg, and the biggest warning label: transmission hesitation and turbo lag that can feel stressful in busy city traffic. If you’re shopping compact SUVs, this one gives you plenty to think about.
Subscribe for weekly reviews and stories, share this with a friend who needs a summer drive idea, and leave us a review with one place you’d add to the list. What’s your go to Houston area escape when the heat cranks up?
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