The Lexus LFA is a special sports car made by Lexus, famous for being fast and having a unique look. It was only made for a few years and is highly regarded by car enthusiasts.
The Chevy Volt is a car that can run on electricity and gasoline. It was popular because it allowed drivers to use electric power for short trips and gasoline for longer ones.
The Volkswagen Taos is a smaller SUV made by Volkswagen. It's designed to be practical and affordable, but some people think it doesn't stand out as much as other cars in its class.
Car
Volkswagen Tauss
The Volkswagen Tauss is a small SUV made by Volkswagen. It's built to be practical and comfortable for everyday use, making it a popular choice for many drivers.
The Saturn Sky is another small sports car made by Saturn. Like the Pontiac Solstice, it has a cool design and is fun to drive, making it a favorite among car lovers.
The Pontiac Solstice is a small sports car made by Pontiac. It has a stylish look and is fun to drive, especially because it has the power going to the back wheels, which helps with handling.
The GM EV1 was an early electric car made by General Motors. It was special because it ran on electricity instead of gas, but it was only available for a short time.
An electric car is a type of vehicle that runs on electricity instead of gasoline. This makes them cleaner for the environment because they don't produce exhaust fumes.
A direct drive electric motor is a motor that connects directly to the wheels, making it easier for the car to move without needing gears like in regular cars.
An on board generator is a machine inside the car that makes electricity while you drive, helping to keep the car powered up without needing to plug it in.
The Chevrolet Bolt is a small electric car that you can charge at home. It's known for being one of the more affordable electric cars with a good driving range.
The Honda Element is a type of SUV that has a square shape and can be used for carrying people or cargo. Many people who like this car feel very strongly about it, almost like a fan club.
In a rear-wheel drive car, the back wheels are the ones that move the car forward. This can make the car handle better, especially when going fast or taking turns.
All-wheel drive means that all four wheels of a car get power from the engine at the same time. This helps the car grip the road better, especially when it's wet or slippery, making it safer to drive in bad weather.
The BMW 1 Series is a small luxury car made by BMW. It's known for being fun to drive and has a stylish design, making it popular among younger buyers.
The Alfa Romeo 4C is a small sports car that is very light and quick. It has a special design and is made for people who love to drive fast and enjoy the experience.
The Isuzu VehiCROSS is a special type of SUV that has two doors and was made in the late 1990s. It's known for being good at driving off-road and has a unique look.
Body on frame means the main part of the vehicle, the body, is built on a strong frame. This is common in trucks and SUVs, making them tough and able to carry heavy things.
Happy Tuesday, everybody. Welcome back to the podcast. We hope you had, if you're in the
US, an awesome Thanksgiving weekend. We had a really great Thanksgiving weekend. We did
not, unfortunately, travel to VIR, Virginia International Raceway, where a mid-Atlantic
had a throw down. Huge weekend. Two-day event. We're very excited for Devin and Heather
and Ryan and all the people that came. But we hope you had a great weekend and got
to have enough family and not too much family. There's a fine line there. That's what I'm
hoping for all of you.
Sure. And the stretchy pants and all too, we hope it was good. And guys, thank you for
joining us once again. Appreciate it.
We have a little bit of news up front, but mostly we have a really cool topic Tuesday.
Car debates, car conclusions, some of your questions. So we're going to dive right
in. Thanks for being with us again. But it's semi-official, Paul. It's semi-official.
What's semi-official?
Well, the GR, yes, the Toyota Supercar, they've been teasing forever. The follow-up
to the Lexus LFA. They have officially said it's called the GR GT. That's what
they're saying it's called.
Fine. I'm fine with that.
You'll listen to this on Tuesday. Supposedly this coming Friday, December 5th,
they're going to do the real reveal. So we will talk about it on next
podcast when we hear what's real. But this is the promotional image that's
out right now. So kind of a moody image with a bunch of logos. But GR GT is the
thing. I agree. So that's where we're going with that. I'm very curious to
actually see more, hear more and also drive this. Plus, of course, we've all
heard the same rumors and that is there's going to be this Toyota
version and a Lexus version. I've been saying forever I'm going to say it
again. There should be a Lexus version of the GR 86. Problem is it would
always get heavier. It would just get heavier. But I think there might
be a market for it. I think different possibly different drivetrain. But I
think there's there's a possibility for that car. Anyway, I do like that Lexus
has motor sports in its history and blood and you know, it's part of the
Lexus brand. I do you like it.
But either way, so this GR GT will have a Lexus equivalent clearly not
called the LFA but called the Lexus something. So we'll see what that is
when it shows up. But it's coming. So there's the teaser on that.
Since you're listening to us, you'll end up shopping for your next
car. And when you do, you need autotempus.com. Any car anywhere at
any price auto tempest searches all the major car listing sites on the
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We have a great topic Tuesday for today from hair in the wind
wrote us an email writing which car models do we believe were
discontinued prematurely just as they were beginning to excel.
We've mentioned this many times what a great car if only they
kept a second generation or if they kept it going. Yep. For
instance here in the wind says the Pontiac Fira was nearly an
American budget supercar. It just simply required an additional
engine. Sure for power just to get out of its own way. Yes. And
that even over the short brief lifespan if you look at the
86's that had the more Ferrari 308 back on them. Those were
really cool. They were finding that car in process and then
they killed it. So like the fee I think it was called the
Fiero GT like the last model that was actually cooler than
the first one. Yeah it was cooler and it's still an
interesting little car. But of course yeah dead in cars
continue to evolve. Yeah. Once it's introduced it rarely stays
the same. They're constantly. Yeah. Once it's in production
they're constantly changing. Another example here is the
Chevy Volt. We've always lamented the death of the
Chevy Volt when it came out. Bolts cool but the Volt was
like this is great range PHEV best of both worlds. Yeah. It
was from long ago now. So also part of the question is
which models have remained in production but arguably should
have been discontinued like the Volkswagen Tauss. He listed
that. Yeah. Her and the wind listed that. So I agree. Volkswagen
Tauss is up to notch one. And when you start with something
really terrible and you keep at it theoretically it can only
get better. But the Volkswagen Tauss is a great example
and I actually have a kind of a longer list. I wonder
top five. See I have I have two lists. I have the
gone too soon list and the stayed too long list. And I knew
I kind of knew that stayed too long would be your wheelhouse.
So I have three. But I had I just had a feeling you because
I was I was having trouble with that list. So I figured you
know what I figured Paul would know better than me. So we've
got gone too soon and stayed too long. I have a I have six
seven cars on my gone too soon list. Oh you do jump right
in. Let's see. Some of these I want to know how much we
overlap actually. Yeah that'll be very interesting. I agree.
So my first is actually I didn't do the Fiero because I had
to list the Pontiac Solstice and Saturn Sky. There's going to
be some overlap on our list. And also the picture that I'm
showing includes the Coupe version which was a really cool
target that they sold very very few of. I don't know the
way to put this. This is GM who only makes big cars who
only makes American style cars trying to make let's be
honest trying to make a Miata competitor which is not
really the same kind of thing. But I have to give them
credit because I think they did eighty eighty five percent of
a Miata on try one. Yes. Imagine imagine if that had stuck
around. So then what's second gen when they actually go
what's working what's not. Let's refine it. I actually
think over time the Saturn Sky is better looking than the
Solstice and it had a little bit better interior. But
this these remain fantastic bargain sports cars if
you're looking for a bargain sports car we had an eight
thousand dollar car piece they they remain defiantly ten
grand and below even if you get the red line or the red line
which is this the version of the sky that's that's turbo and
then that's what it's the GXP Pontiac Solstice. So you
actually you want you want the turbo version but either
way getting that close to the target. I mean it's like
where they hit was the inner round of the target and
didn't quite get bullseye. I mean that's great for
first throw. I mean let's try again for sure. Yes. Well
this falls right in line. Many podcasts ago at least 50
episodes we had talked about the Corvette brand becoming a
three car brand carved off as a separate brand. This would
fit at the low end. Yes. Agreed. The the mini normal
front engine Corvette the FIERRA would be mid level
mid engine just in time to be introduced alongside the
big boy the Stingray and with all the variants of
that. Yeah. Imagine those three cars now in a Corvette
brand. I would have so many sports car offerings. Yes. They
could do so many trim levels of everything in there. Yes. They
would be known for the sports car brand but sadly. No. Yeah.
So Pontiac Solstice Saturn Sky I do have to revisit the
Volt. This is another one of those things that GM does
where I want to I want to go to the EV1. We did it. No
no kill it but but in the 90s in the 90s GM does a
usable workable electric car. That wasn't perfect but
again pretty close to the target and nobody else was
even on the playing field. Yes. And then they kill it. Now
imagine if GM had kept developing the electric
car from the 90s when they released the EV1. The
first Tesla's were more than a decade later. If GM
had kept working it how far ahead would they have
been. The same thing with the Volt. We drove the
first gen of the Volt. We both kind of came away
and this is the second gen I'm showing on screen drove
the first gen of the Volt. We just kind of kept going.
This just works. It's not the most dynamic thing. It's
not the most but it just works. This is the closest
thing to the Chevy Volt now is the hybrid system that
Honda uses. Interesting. And the reality is we prefer
that over the Toyota system. This is a direct drive
electric motor with an on board generator and
sometimes when you need all the power the actual
motor is helping drive the wheels but most of the
time you're being driven by the electric wheels and
the on board motor is just a generator. Trains have
done this for decades. That's every diesel
electric. But the thing is GM made it work. Yeah.
And they made it work well and the first and
second gen were both excellent and then they
went yeah we're going to stop that. Right around
the time that the Bolt came out they said
we're done here. And now I think Honda is
stealing the space because Honda's all Honda's
press of the last three or four years about
their hybrid system been like here's how
we're different and I'm going well yes and I
like it better but you know GM did it right. So
the volt they just walked away did. So that's
another one of the gone too soon. The Honda
element. That's a great shot. That's a great
shot looking right through the thing because
when you open all the doors and lay all the
seats down it's just a box with a box on the
side for you to put stuff in the seats folded
back to show the cargo space that boxy box
it is. This sounds terrible but I have to
say at the Honda element folks are kind of
at a cult. There's a whole thing. There's a
whole thing. If you like the element you really
like the element. It's true. Okay. There are
whole by the way when I'm looking for photos
of this car there are sub sites about how
to make this into your mini camper and the
people that have built out everything behind
the driver's seat and they live in their
Honda element. Of course. Yes. Of course they
do. But the point I'm making here is this
was a success. This was a great design
success. It was still quirky. Think about
the fact that this is this succeeded
everywhere the Aztec failed in design
in execution and people accepting it and
there was nothing else after it. Honda
when we make this really cool thing the
element and all the people that loved it
really loved it and then they're like
yeah we're done now. I was like but here's
the thing it's not a car for me but I
loved it. But when you have a customer
they did it that wants it so much that
they'll they'll be willing to use it
for however long they'll have it and
then upgrade to the next one they
they're just built in customers you
know they will just keep buying them
and some people took them and gave them
a little bit lift and made them an
off-roader I mean these were versatile
yeah and they were really cool and Honda
made one gin and went oh that's enough
of that and I have not met seriously I
have not a single person who bought a
Honda element even if they didn't have
it very long I have not many single
this is anecdotal I realize but a single
person that bought one that doesn't
look back on it fondly across the
board I've never met an owner who's
like yeah I didn't like my element
very much everybody loved them and the
people that still have them they
have embedded themselves you think the
sob people are dug in the ability of
the Honda element folks really are
really dug in so anyway Honda element
gone too soon that's amazing the Ford
Fiesta not necessarily the ST but I'm
showing the last gen of the ST the one
we didn't get but Ford makes no good
small cars and Ford they started with
the Model T the the genesis of Ford is
we make a car for everyone and the
Fiesta was never looked the Fiesta
was never it's so nice in here it's a
cheap car okay it's a cheap car never on
the mood board but it was genuinely good
transportation
available as a two-door hatch and then
they souped it up to make it the ST
which was superb to drive at any price
point
yes so yes make the base version for
people that need car because there's
plenty of those people have just need
car and then make the ST so the Fiesta
ST gone too soon the 135 rear-wheel
drive hatch BMW although we didn't get
that we didn't get America or you my
point here is we should have gotten it
yes they made it in to I think they
actually made it a four-door for a
while too but it but I'm showing the
yes or rear-wheel drive hatchback
version I have a recurring rant that's
going to happen in this so good at
these they're so good
something happened in the last 10-15
years and the general public has been
convinced that rear-wheel drive is
dangerous and scary
mmm all-wheel drive is a thing you have
you have to if you if it's going to rain
once this year you ought to have all-wheel
drive
okay we've convinced the whole general
public that all-wheel drive is the only
safe thing and if you can't have all-wheel
drive dear God don't get rear-wheel
drive right now I want to jump back
to the 50s 60s 70s 80s also it snows
in Germany well I know but my point
is in the US tires were terrible
yeah people were driving predominantly
rear-wheel drive cars and people
survived how did we survive right we
got up hills we got down hills we took
family's places people arrived at
destinations in a snowstorm in a rear
wheel drive car and the tires were
terrible yeah okay but we hit we and
we've all we've all taken this whole
climb in sync or because it leaks its
way into my thinking to him like yeah
there's gonna be a lot of weather for
that person they're gonna you know
well wait I'm gonna stop okay get
proper tires go dry yes so BMW was
unique in the market making a
rear-wheel-drive small hatchback
everybody else is making front-wheel
drive or all-wheel-drive rear-wheel-drive
small hatchback to your point it does
snow in Germany they could sell this
in rear or four all-wheel-drive if they
wanted extra but the point is generate
fire wheel drive is an option which
makes a good dynamics actual usable
hatchback alone in the marketplace
BMW said ah no more first off they
said ah not for the US and they said
ah no more at all that's because they
had the grand capay too serious to
build and and minis to sell yeah
ugly minis to sell and I like the
many but this but this was alone in
the marketplace and very cool where is
the BMW one series gone too soon the
alpha 4c I put this good in the
category of the Pontiac solstice so close
to target and it looks amazing maybe a
clean sheet refresh like start over
but but no keeping but I'm gonna market
and I'm gonna defend it though throw
that one out and it though because
start over if you've watched our
lightweight piece which was alpha
4c Alpine 110 and Elise the
alpha didn't come off well but all
maybe start over we're in stock form
yes tires that they were provided with
etc and I am well aware and all of you
owners have made us well aware I am
well aware that there is stuff after
the way it was released that actually
started to solve the problems we have
with the stock car I'm aware of this
and I know they exist but my point
here is alpha knows to so that means
alpha may worse let's well but but
okay look and I'm being really kind
when I say this let's say alpha ran
out of money and talent to make the car
any better than the one they needed to
sell in the time frame they had so they
just said it's got to go let's say they
did that I've worked on plenty of
movies that reached that place was like
yes we could make this money and
talent if we had three or four more
months with a lot more money we could
make this better but the deadline is
next week so it's got to come out and
here we go okay that's how you know
a project is done when the deadline
arrives yes that's it for most for
most films ever released that is
actually when they're done that means
comes out next Tuesday that happens
anyway so my point here is alpha also
knows the things that have been done to
write this car mm-hmm so if they did a
second gen this is a great-looking car
they did a second gen and they took
the lessons from the first gen and
made a second gen I think this would
be superb and I would love to have it
on the market and this I can't believe
it ever came out and as I said in the
piece this is better than a lot of
sports cars you can buy the problem is
against its direct competitors a 110
at least it's not as good as those so
what's the second gen of the alpha 4c
okay I'll let him keep the chassis maybe
the engine if we can retune the
transmission different transmission I'll
keep the engine powers good I'll let
him keep the chassis if you just keep
the chassis like start up everything
else like reengineer screw new things
to it I have one more that I can't
believe I almost forgot the two-door
Chevy Tahoe and two-door trucks in
general but these these sell for
crazy money now if you have a good one
because people still like these on
auctions and stuff yes people still
like these but you can't get anything
like this it's a big huge 4x4 box with
two great seats in the front and a
fold-down rear part that you fold down
the rear seat which is a bench because
it's two-door yeah you fold on the
back and it's every bit as big as the
folded-down back of a suburban but
it's a smaller footprint overall and
also adjacent to this are things
like the a suzu via cross also a
two-door truck but that's not my
point my point here is these big
body on frame two-door trucks are gone
and kind of like the element there's
not a huge market but the people that
want and need these love them and that's
why they're hanging on the price this
ties into the blazer discussion absolutely
because the blazer is not the blazer
nope the blazer as we as it is offered
now is not a real blazer this is a
that's a blazer yes call it the
blazer I agree it's not the two-door
Tahoe we've brought the blazer back
and it's boxy and this and two-door
and it's just imagine if this had gone
forward then we can compete against Jeep
and Land Rover and Bronco and and scout
that they could reposition themselves
against scout instead of a crazy yeah
lines everywhere futuristic looking that's
not a blazer that's well because they
just made it an SUV for families and
people that couldn't buy a Camaro and
have a family car really but the
thing about this is this is the
activity vehicle for people without
kids and there's a big market for
that I want to call my my kayak or my
bike or I want to haul my my actual
motocross bikes this is a body on frame
big boy but you don't have kids it's you
and whoever you and your significant
other you're going to go out for the
weekend you're going to put all your
camping stuff and you're going to haul
the the jet skis these are awesome for
that and there is a market for it and
that market is now being swallowed up
by things like the Honda passport which
is fine but it's not this yeah so
anyway that's my last one frame oh
this could compete against scout if they
had a boxy I agree that would be
interesting so I will save my I don't
think my stayed too long list is going
to be nearly as good as yours but that
that's my my gone too soon list all right
jumping in with my gone too soon yes
starting off with the Evo 10 oh I like
this how about there's a bit of a
caveat with this okay because this was
around a long time it was the Evo
itself was around a long time your ride
one time built this and then stopped
I acknowledge that yeah yeah but they
were continually getting better and
better and better they were
enthusiast started as a cheap four-door
yeah man yeah yeah and they just screwed
more parts to it and kept getting better
and then Subaru exited the market and
along come the civic type R and the
Hyundai Elantra and this could have
competed against that it could have
kept the Mitsubishi brand alive sure
they sure they could offer a hybrid or
a bev and something like this keep the
Evo alive because if the Evo comes
back and it's an SUV I'm gonna be hacked
well but also if that's true it'll land
in a market where nobody wants it
because it'll be too hardcore for the
people that want an SUV and not correct
for the people that want it to be an
enthusiast car this was small tied into
their rally breeding it it was the
Mitsubishi brand in a car yeah awesome
eclipse aside yeah no no I agree no
this is this is the one yes I toyed
with the ellipse ellipse eclipse
I toyed with that idea thinking this
is back this is much better yes it's still
usable it's a car it would compete
against the M2 imagine the Mitsubishi Evo
against the new M2 they could make a
two-door of it but fine keep it four
door and that is its competitor track
use all-wheel drive sure keep you
right this versus civic type R is
really compelling that's it right here
I want to do right now yes yes this
is the one that should have stayed
that's great moving on to the S2000
which I think there are again two
different generations of this there
were changes enough to make them
distinctly to generations fine but they
just stopped yeah yeah everybody asks
well should I we even have questions
today should the is the S2000 still a
good sort of entry-level fun sports
car yes is the answer yeah for sure
considering an S2000 just like a
Miata yes is the answer they're
great there's yeah all kinds of price
levels there's all kinds of we'll say
build quality or I guess tuning that has
been done to them and finding a stock
one is difficult but if you can find
one drive it it's so much fun you're
like back to basics and it's so good
futuristic start stop on so moving
on to the Stinger mmm I love it I
think just as the Stinger was getting
really good they had the Stinger it's
really cool and it suffered from this
time period that the automotive
industry went through and that is
sedans are going away everybody's
buying SUVs we should paint them silver
and make them five-seat and nameless
and faceless they're indistinguishable
between our competitors for sure it'll
sell it'll make us money hey wall
street or board of directors this is a
better idea than making sweet
hatch I mean where is this in the
market yeah I agree and sedans I think
are kind of people are noticing like
huh sedans are actually cool and
they're usable and they're they're
kind of nice and this could have
competed against the Cadillac black
wing the v-series black wing oh okay
all right I mean hopefully there'll be
another one they're talking about it but
I take your point they're talking about
it but they're only talking about the
five they're only talking about the
c5 black wing fair fair I know it's
also confusing why is there a four
and a five they're two different sizes
why just make one but they're
distinctly different cars but the four
is going away the smaller lighter one
that I think we want keep that
around just as Cadillac is getting
it great GM's like sedan rear-wheel
drive lots of power manual
transmission and f1 team oh by the way
we're killing this car what a great
idea let's let's kill that off it's
good and finally I agree with you
absolutely I found studio photos of the
Pontiac solstice coupe is actually
target target rooftop the subsequent
generations I mean this looks good it
looks good yeah actually kind of still
looks relevant a lot of the surfaces
yep but imagine the C8 styling kind of
this you know an aggressive C7 sure
Corvette on this small chassis but even
if they hadn't gone that aggressive and
they just refined this idea to give it
that that feel it's just this is too bad
that it's gone that is cool it's very
cool that is just small cool I think
it would be usable Jerry to six came
out super came out they'd have
something to compete in that
completely they would yes I actually
have toyed every now and then with
the coupe version of these I think it
would be a try to find one but the
problem is they wait so few and the
engines of the ones you find most the
time of the non-turbo that the cars is
going to be a sad trombone noise the
whole time it's just like it looks
really cool but it's not interesting
enough you find one of these but then
that flip side is you find one of
these in turbo and they're like 30
grand or 40 and it's like I'm not
doing that exactly so that's the trade
off but these are so cool where is
the second gen anyway yeah and I
agree you've already done the Corvette
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all right do you want to jump in with
the state around I should do I should
do stayed too long because I think
your list will be better than mine but
I'm gonna jump in to stay too long
here real quick I have three but I am
starting with a Volkswagen product
and that is the Jetta now there is
frantic typing going on right now on
YouTube for all the people that have
loved their Jettas we have driven the
Jetta we've driven the GLI and I've
never driven a version of this car and
I know you're also still don't like
them you're also writing all the
things you have to do to make it
awesome yes I'm doing I have never
driven a factory stock Jetta product
or a factory stock Jetta GLI and I
thought I am so glad this exists
it's just fine it's fine and
Volkswagen this is its contribution to
that part of the market and I just
it feels like you made a joke once and
I'm gonna steal it from you
thank you let's get a mention where the
Jetta feels like they left the factory
turned on and forgot about it the board
of directors was informed today that
they have a factory building Jettas
we forgot they're just cranking Jettas
out we like where where is that line
I'm I they were so focused on T named
SUVs they forgot the Jetta factory
still running ID smoke like spitting
out cars that's right we've got a
factory making Jetta it's currently
turned on so I mean this is it's fine
but it and I will also admit like many
other cars in the market it ebbs and
flows some generations are better than
others I know that as well okay but in
general it does it feel and then I've
got it in a photo here in front of the
factory they apparently left on it's
just it's just right out I don't even
know where the factory is just that's
my folks I can forgot about it in a
similar vein the Lexus ES oh now
this look I have my mother-in-law
owned an ES loved it I these sold
well okay because this is essentially
the Lexified Camry yeah it is a front
wheel drive platform and that's actually
my reason it should die because I've got
that new one coming I know oh yeah the
new one that looks like this yeah
horrifying yeah it's the new one that's
coming out the new design looks like
something that got x'd off of the
mood board when they designed Tron like
no that just looks weird we're not
doing that that's what the new ES looks
like and the new ES also looks like
it's built on the crown platform which is
this tall mid-size between an actual car
and an SUV but my problem with the ES is
it doesn't fit in the Lexus lineup now
I know they just killed the LS the ES
prior to the new redesign was the
lone front-wheel drive sedan in the
Lexus product lineup mm-hmm the IS is
rear-wheel drive based or all-wheel
drive LS is rear-wheel drive based or
all-wheel drive and then here's the
ES which is it exists entirely to get
people like my mother-in-law who the
camera is not quite nice enough I'd like
a Lexus brand doesn't belong there what
are you doing sweet spot for sales yes
that's I hate how to make money man but
this is what they do with the RX the
RX is the money maker for Lexus and
they have SUVs of all types I think
the ES is an irrelevant car in that
lineup it doesn't belong with everything
else I like that Lexus has made sedans
the IS has been solid the LS has been
solid it's too bad that those are
not continuing but the ES and now it
looks like this weird Tron thing I just
hero car villain car neither I don't know
just car in the background there you are
so there's there's the new ES and I just
I think it's we walked around one of
these at one point and it looks we have
to drive to drive it here's a thing it
looks related to the crown which comes
back to my ES problem why is this an
upscale version of a product you
sell in the Toyota badge stop it
because people say I like the crown do
you have anything more luxurious than
they're willing to pay more exactly
right yes we do so but anyway so there's
that one and then my last one of here
too long is the Chevy Malibu now I wanted
to fend this this I wanted to fend this
choice and explain something here
because but a great Uber my dad loves
GM sedans to this day loves GM sedans
okay he if he has to go on a trip and
he's able to rent a Chevy Malibu it
like makes him happy okay separate
thing but anyway okay okay but but
here's the point I want to make here
I want GM and Ford to make cars I want
them to make cars but I wanted to make
cars that everybody else isn't making
better okay this is a contribution to
the to the sedan market that is already
ruled by the Honda cord and the Toyota
Camry okay which is a full-size
front-wheel-drive chassis four-door
sedan the Malibu is fine but here's
my point they kept the Malibu and they
killed the SS the SS at least is something
that Chevy could do well and nobody else
is doing somewhat awesome to drive high
performance let's kill that exactly
somewhat somewhat good to drive in any
in any spec and and if you got the
right spec was amazing to drive great
engine rear-wheel-drive platform
isn't like everything else on the
road you pull up in an SS next to
a Honda Accord those are not the same
kind of car that's true but they're
roughly the same kind of pricing a
Camry versus an SS what are you buying
you're buying the SS if you care about
driving at all and I'm not saying that
that the Camry and the and the Honda
Accord don't drive well but I'm saying
SS rear-wheel-drive American V8 four
door I'm buying that the Malibu
isn't also ran in a market where they
could have killed the Malibu
continued with the SS and again we're
back to my rant why are we all
believing that rear-wheel-drive is
going to kill us I think that's what's
killed the SS and other cars like it
because well I need front-wheel-drive to
be safe I need front-wheel-drive or all
wheel drive to be safe and the SS is
over here like the crazy drunk guy at
the party apparently because he's rear
wheel drive
it's a great car rear-wheel-drive
matters and it feels good and this is
why we recommend the three series and
the Julia and the G70 yeah
GM could compete in this area if they
kept the SS alive instead of they
kept the Malibu and the SS is dead
they had rental fleets to fill but
clearly that's a great point because
Stellantis over here with SRT chargers
actually killed that and they were
still selling really well even after
11 years in production with all the
Hellcat engines they could have stepped
the SS to be even more and filled in
hey that could be their marketing
campaign
don't have a brand new SRT product
anymore
the chargers gone
hey yeah
GM had their I know I know I know
there's other things at play here
I know there's market forces and
then there's the amount that they
sold I'm sure they sold a lot more
Malibus and SS's I know it's the
Australian plant I get it I know all
the things but I'm just saying
this is such a oh you make one too
whereas the SS is oh you make that
so the Malibu why is it still here
and that's my my
still it with fire
yes please
all right switching over I actually
forgot my runners up to the cars
that should have stuck around
oh
gone too soon I totally agree with
you
the Fiesta ST
yes
here is the three door that we never
got the second gen three door that was
in Europe and we wish had come here
and it's like they they took a really
good one away from us and then
continued on teasing us even more
and all we heard was great things
even better things about this one
got even better guys and well you
can't have it and then they killed
that entirely so yeah
it's bummer a second one here is
the F type I'm not necessarily a
big fan of the F type
but imagine a subsequent generation
this is a it's not really a
generational change it's a facelift
between the the first and well the
second one here but I've always loved
this car every time I drive it it's
better than I remembered it could have
been anything it could have gone
lighter weight and more stripped
down it could it could go you know
more power even more upmarket or
luxury that kind of thing
it could compete against Bentley it
could it could do anything
instead of that we got that new
crazy thing they design yeah with the
new logo imagine this second
generation what could that be there's
so much potential there that's great
but no we threw it away and I was
remiss in not mentioning my own car
because here's the 718 Cayman
the GT4 is shown on screen right here
but the 718 Cayman in general like
it's really good it's as good as it'll
ever get chop regulations are the
are the factor there but I do take
your point I mean cars that are
working and they're talking about
bringing back an engine though
well yes but all we've seen thus far
from spy shots is something that
looks like a bloated Cayman a little
bit bigger
don't go bigger yeah you got it right
the size is really right this was even
slightly bigger than a 987 generation
like keep it 987 and and just keep it
that same size yeah I take styling I
agree upgrade power yep fine but just
the chassis but no gone so I was
remissed him forgot to mention that
but you know here we are keep going
so moving on to the cars that
should die immediately oh controversial
maybe the id buzz I'm showing on screen
my question is what answered is this
what what is the answer what does it
provide an answer to okay yeah yeah I
still don't know and everybody I think
at this point
is kind of over it you see an id buzzing
like hey there's one
hey I finally saw one
huh I don't want one
I really would love to see I mean
well eventually we'll find out what
are the sales numbers for these but
they because I don't think they're
good not hearing good things yeah and
if you're shopping
go out
mm-hmm there's so many mini van choices
why I I can't answer that yeah I mean
you want different but I don't know
that there's enough buyers just buying
different to make it matter it doesn't
tap into the magic of the bus the
original bus it's just we brought it
back and called the buzz and it's
almost like the naming convention
was more clever than the actual
product so moving on to I'm going
to get controversial here yeah you are
because the Camaro is shown on screen
the ZL one and it is an impressive
car but if you think over the years
the Camaro was kept in the market and
it has finally gone away but it's
almost like GM kept forcing it to get
better
it was all right an okay car an okay
chassis it wasn't the most brilliant
car to drive ever
but when you add components and a lot
of power it's forced to get good
yeah inherently it's not the greatest
car ever it's not like you started
with this really great handling you
know great chassis you have to do very
little and you just coaxed all this
greatness out of no we forced it to be
something really great you and I
disagree on this car in general on the
Camaro I think I've always liked it
I'm impressed with this but the ZL one
is like wow but I think to defend
your point though I will say that
GM has fantastic chassis people
great people for chassis setup I
agree that they have struggled
against this is the product I'm
working with instead of being
involved early on in general to make
amazing products that their their
expertise is like a fine tuning
versus a revelation and I feel like the
chassis people have taken a lot of GM
products and been been things like and
the Camaro is a great one handles so
much better than it should and then
we sit around and go what if this
were 75 this size you put the one
le package on anything I bet GM
engineers could get anything in their
portfolio to kind of handle well and
what wow that's impressive but
starting with something great it was
just it was almost designed for rental
fleets from the get-go it's like we
forgot Camaro magic and it was still
too big with the fifth gen it was
still too large it's a nostalgia play
that they kept going it really is but
it never was as much of a nostalgia
play as the charger and challenger that
embraced the size and it almost got a
pass because of it this was still
too big and it it's almost like the
size and the weight worked against
what it could have been
okay all right controversial but I
see why you're there fought itself I
felt like wow what an amazing car but to
to really make the next Camaro really
great which it has to be
you got to start over and that's the
problem I think they're going to start
over and I think they're going to bring
the Camaro name back on something
totally irrelevant and non-camaro-ish
it'll be like the blazer it's gonna be
an SUV exactly right
that's my fear so there's an
opportunity here yeah there is you
killed it
step one and then bring it back with
so if they bring it back and it's a
smaller lighter
mmm they can do something all right
that's not the gm way
anyway
moving on here to the GTR I'm showing a
20 24 Nissan GTR on screen here I
would have known it was a 24 unless I
really thought about the front end
that's my point I know it is I know it
is yeah remember the era in the
middle this car ran along so long
remember the middle era where they
had the chrome v on all of their
products including on this which was
terrible on this not good
so impressive it did its job when it
came out yes it set the world on
notice absolutely Porsche we just went
faster significantly than you around
the ring we set benchmark times beat
the Porsches out of nowhere drag races
for half the price yes at least maybe a
third of the price for some of those
Porsches yeah and the entire community
supercar community gt absolutely just
kind of went okay
we got to step up our game but then
it lasted too long and all of those
car companies soon passed it and it
wasn't interesting to drive it was it
didn't need you you said this we first
drove it one review you mentioned like
the car doesn't really need me it's so
capable not at all I don't need to be
here I'm not impressed I'm not getting
any engagement out of it it will
destroy everything you can name and
I don't want to own it because
there's other cars that are slower
and worse and way more engaging and I
want them more this was an absolute
engineering throw down totally and a
huge success at doing everything on the
build sheet and I remember actually in
an interview one of the initial
engineers of it said his goal was that
his grandmother could get in this car
and drive it yeah pretty close to the
lap time of an actual trained race
driver now they accomplished that why
they accomplished that it is that
good but it comes back to the car
doesn't need you and the thing of
the thing you're not mentioning that
was also a death blow on this is over
it's roughly 15 year life cycle it
started half the price of the Porsche
yes but every year it was more expensive
than the year before and by the time
this actually was done the base models
were like 130 and the Nismo was 200
grand and at that point you've got all
kinds of choice that does the same
kind of stuff this is a great one I
really like this better and make a
very good point here it's stuck
around way too long I'm glad it's
gone fresh clean sheet let's bring
it back but I want them to bring it
back what is the next one of this
can they do that that's exciting it
would be very cool I welcome that
they've got a long runway ahead of them
for this car yeah yeah but it lasted
way too long if I am going to all the
cyber trucks on here I mean this should
should die immediately but it but
hang on the cyber truck is actually
related to the GTR in this discussion
okay an engineering accomplishment
an engineering for it and we did
everything it said on the list we
needed to do it we did it all
that's a great point but then and
this hasn't even shorter life cycle
than the GTR the GTR did let me the GTR
was the world's on notice for four or
five years but then after that too
expensive and why is it still here yes
they should have killed there and
brought it back because everybody caught
up and passed it and that was their
opportunity right there but do that
again the cyber truck comes out and we
all went wow very impressive
engineering don't want one and then
they haven't been a success and I
I really wonder how long Tesla is
going to make these well here's my
point
what is the second generation of a
cyber truck what does that look like
yeah the same thing yeah there's can't
make an alt yeah there's no more angles
to add or subtract interesting yeah to
make it very clearly visible for the
second gen like oh there's the new
generation of the cyber it looks the
same because probably all the changes
would be underneath it would be in tech
and battery pack and range and power
and anything or yeah maybe actually
just build it at a quality level and
make it so the 10th recall there's
not an 11th recall or something like
that I'm I'm joking but yeah but you're
making me wonder though the second
generation of that is what and I'm going
to follow that for a second and wonder
this because you're right but now in the
mind of all of us this is what a
cyber truck looks like what I wonder
and I'm purely theorizing here because
this looks like nothing else sold
before hopefully sold sense could they
decide that that's what the cyber
truck brand is meaning that the next
cyber truck looks nothing at all like
this looks like a rivian like what could
they do another cyber truck that looks
nothing like this because this didn't
need to look like anything anyway but the
problem is if the others if the next
cyber truck doesn't look anything like
this but looks anything close to
something else it hasn't been weird
enough
mm-hmm I it's a tough spot I take your
spot to be in so either keep making
them as long as you possibly can
or kill it I vote for killing it sooner
rather than later
okay I got the Hummer EV on here as well
we've had this cyber truck Hummer EV
discussion recently about how what's
going on here yeah if I've got the
cyber truck on there the EV Hummer
has to be on here too I GM has embraced
the brand as being too heavy and too big
and that's the whole selling point
and yeah fair fair fair yeah which is
the which is the Hummer ethos I take
that point watch your freedom buddy I
just am not convinced and you know
what I don't think the sales numbers
are convincing either
so the Hummer EV I don't necessarily
have everything against it
except it was just too heavy it's too
big too heavy
road crushing kind of you can crab walk
and press the WTF but I am those are
the sales things right yeah
switching my mind and like I said if
I uh if I have the Camaro on here
I've also got to have the Mustang
on here interesting yeah that's
controversial but keep going well
what is for do next for the next
Mustang okay all right yeah make it
heavier
we're gonna make a bigger heavier Mustang
didn't we do that already
yeah both of those categories do we
make it slightly larger do we make it
what do we do for the next Mustang
it's just interesting yeah yet another
reskin another long hood
coupe shape kind of fine interesting
okay it's just the next Mustang
what what does for do here
so if the Camaro is dead I think the
Mustang like this with the GTD shown
on screen this is the pinnacle of
everything Mustang we've done it everyone
the GT is GTD is the end
okay stop it's killed for a few years
and then we bring it back as we've
rethought of you know what Mustang is
what do we want out of our racing
programs
what do we want to do here and it's
got to be smaller lighter it's got to
be more interesting engaging
because for sports cars
Mustang is not a brand that goes
bigger heavier GT luxury car fair
point you can't go that direction yeah
true the only direction is smaller
lighter and more sports car more fun
more engaging you could argue
powertrains you could argue yeah yeah
for sure fully EV hybrid of some sort
keep the v8 around but the new
eighth generation Mustang
ah well and the problem is below the
GTD when we've driven the current
Mustang
it wasn't as good as the one before
no i didn't like it as much so i'm very
very excited to drive the GTD
genuinely i am too but the the dark
horse we found quite disappointing and
very expensive
but here's this GTD what do you do
above the GTD you can't a 350 000
Mustang you're right i'm sorry what
yeah exactly you're totally right
yep you're right if i'm going to be
very fair i must also include the
9 11
whoa whoa i've just i this sounds
like something i would do if you've
done it i i astonished keep going i
want you to land this podcast episode
1001 when we talked about the Porsche
problem
Porsche cannot go bigger or heavier
with the next generation of the 9 11
mm-hmm bigger than this for 9 11
you're right does that make any sense
heavier than this really is that so
keeping it the same well we've just
fussed over details keeping at the
same size let's say it's same size
for next gen
we've just fussed over headlight shapes
and intakes and grills we've just fussed
over that kind of stuff because we
couldn't make it really any bigger the
shape isn't really going to change too
much
so to make it interesting and to reset
Porsche's meter reset the 9 11
hey everybody
this would give the marketing team
fuel
okay we've gone down to the 997 size
we've gone smaller lighter
more tech better arrow it's even
faster than before because
if it's if this gets heavier with some
sort of hybrid tech in it i mean yeah
not t-hybrid but conventional hybrid
tech
it's only gonna get heavier yeah for
sure i mean they've again
made this so great
to make it
better for the next one wow okay it's
got to be killed off
made smaller rethought because there's
only one chassis this is it's the 9
11 chassis it's shared with nothing
else yep yep
so what do they do
Porsche 1000 sorry episode 1001 the
Porsche problem
make it smaller make it interesting
reset themselves and then you've got
stuff to talk about hey we crammed even
more tech and with smaller lighter
package and well that's news
yeah it's better to drive yeah more
aerodynamically efficient even
better than before all of those
things
you can't go bigger than this you
cannot make a bigger 9 11 than this
sir i don't disagree with you
i don't disagree this is controversial
but i do not disagree with you yeah
can't get heavier it shouldn't get
heavier if it gets heavier why
87 percent size 87 wow 92 percent the
size of this it's like oh now that's
interesting again yeah yeah there's
still plenty of interior space it's
still
got the roof shape for fitting a helmet
for plenty of space for people yeah
yeah the base career look at this
price i'm seeing the price starts at
130 to 2000 dollars for a base you
haven't touched and you will never
find one for that price because
they always have a few boxes checked
which means this is a hundred and
forty to a hundred and fifty thousand
dollar base model for Carrera new
Cayman smaller new 9 11 smaller
because then if you need to grow and
you grow again for subsequent
generations we've gone small again for
whatever reason because of technology
then you're still not you can always
claim we still didn't get bigger than
the 992.2 generation it's a big car
now it's a big car
i say all of this if i had one of
these i would happily drive it if i
yeah only one night it would be an
amazing car it'd be lots of fun you are
a huge Porsche fan for sure
absolutely i'm just i have your best
interest in mind Porsche here i'm
trying to look out for you because
you can't go bigger you can't yeah if
you went bigger everybody'd be like
what are you
what are we doing now is is this a new
tycon is well a joke i hate to say
this but from some angles when i see a
Carrera especially at night i see a
current 992 especially driving at night
it can be mistaken for a tycon or
even a Panamera depending upon the
angle because they've gotten big and
the front ends and the tail lights look
similar those cars
so it's not like you know i mean you
know a caiman right away is a smaller
car
yes but the 911 is big shrink it down
and i say this with with love with
respect you say this is the guy that
really would buy the Porsche toaster
i mean you really are that guy i
probably would buy the Porsche toaster
yeah
again but not a bigger 911 toaster
yes bigger 911 no right out how many
times do we have to say this i don't know
it's not they sink in to make it we'll see
to see if it really influence yeah out of
love out of admiration out of respect
if i had even one of these 992.2s i
would happily drive and take it i would
i would is this the end of your list
this is the end of my list i just
ended on 911s i had to and
good Porsche rant i really like it
well done
bravo
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2025 is coming to a close but we
aren't quite done yet on driving
we have a few things happening
still
paul and i will be at the season
closer year in for california but
also for the company at large
we will be at thunder hill for the
three mile on saturday and the five
mile on sunday that is december 13th
and sunday the 14th
we'd love to see you there we've got
lots of other extra things going on
and just attract a
we'd love to i mean if you're there
and you see us please come say hello
because we would love to have a
conversation we also are doing
pre buys for next year kind of
think of it like a ski pass that
pre buys for next year for hooked on
driving are happening
nationwide between december 15th
and january 15th 2026 you'll be
able to get your biggest discounts
for the calendar year for the year
ahead
so that is coming real quick we're
actually calling that the pre grid
discount which is very cool
excited about that and we are
continuing to mention the only
adventure for next year that has a
solid date so far there's more coming
but spain and portugal
april 24th to 29th 2026 that's the
circuit to civilla that's in
civill spain which is really cool
then an actual tourist day in civill
spain then two days in portamount
portugal including
time on that racetrack there
so it's a really good thing to bring
your spouse to we're going to have
a nice group it's going to be
really cool it's going to be a small
intimate group but it's going to be
a great few days
we'd love to have you there
keep in mind we do have
us domestic trips coming we're going to
have a utah adventure another us
adventure thank you we are also going to
do our pilgrimage trip the ring and
spa is coming
we think it's the back half of the
summer
can't quite give you dates yet
but we will be able to give you dates
in early january so look for those
coming but these exist right now you
can sign up right now
definitely so start planning your
2026 right now and we say
we put these big trips out there
because we know it's it's a lot of
money it's a lot of planning it's a
lot of time time away
but uh start putting these on your
calendar we will be like you said
announcing the
us domestic adventures very soon but uh
we want you with us on all these trips
and also
all the regions for hooked on driving
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looking forward to seeing you at the
event next year
all righty a couple of great
card debates are coming at you now
we're going to begin with nugget
and monica who we've talked about
before monica wrote in
if you've watched any of our coda
piece for example our big coda series
six uh episodes of driving different
fans cars every day in the gt car day
we drove a ferrari portofino that is
owned by nugget and monica they have a
series of very cool cars they're very
generous with their cars they come on
a lot of the adventures and they and
they love to trade cars that they're
they're wonderful people to be a part
of our community
by the way if you want to be a
supporter of what we do
the best way to support we do is
patreon and that gets you on our
discord community and that's where
you meet great people like nugget
monica and a bunch of others
there's trips that happen you and i don't
even know about till they're done
i don't get together they get their car
it's awesome so it's a great community
there on our discord for everyday
driver
we have actually heard from some people
that that is the one car community
they stay connected to
because pretty amazing really hard no
ego no toxicity this is a really
welcoming community so if you want to
be a part of the discord community
it's patreon.com you can find
everyday driver on there you can link
from our website
we'd love to have your support
there's different benefits at
different levels
some stuff is changing there but we
value those people so much so monica
wrote in because
she had a part of their garage i didn't
expect us
to be talking about
i had gotten into a private
conversation with her just she had
mentioned this a little bit
and monica thank you so much for
writing
yeah both of you guys is just
it's so great to have you as part of
our community and all of you guys
listening watching we love meeting new
people and having
you know adding to our numbers and
adding people who want to want to
be with us so
really appreciate it when you do
have a debate
you know where to write
monica says it might be time to move
away from their current cayenne
it's a 2015 cayenne diesel with about
65 000 miles
natural leather interior air suspension
it's a nice little truck
so who wants to buy a 2015 cayenne
diesel 65 000 miles
that's been well taken care of they're
good cars for sure yeah
monica nugget are looking for a car
to ferry around a group of them
when their friends are visiting and
to take them to and from austin for
the many events they do there
they're in texas san antonio area
and so austin's not too far but it is a
bit of a drive
the first role needs to be back seats
that are great for adults
she's looking for an executive sedan
got it something with comfort and
luxury
this second role needs good driver
assist features
the more advanced the better
think rural highways at night and
dodging deer because that is a thing
in texas
they would like to consider an e v
in part because they've got solar
panels
and in part because they haven't had
one yet
and they want a new drivetrain
experience
she said that would be great
a round trip to their furthest
frequent destination is 195 miles
and she gets rain range anxiety but
cold weather is not a concern
in texas well so that means a
minimum of 200 miles of actual
usable range but at this point
that's actually pretty likely anyway
she mentions drivetrain types
and gaining new experiences so she
said
any other drivetrain type they
haven't had before would be good
like hybrids rotaries
american v8s
five cylinders or 10 plus cylinders
she's pretty open to this
but for this car they're more
concerned about making backseat
passengers happy
than driving fun
they already had the fun driving
cars
yes
but they're hoping the car will
match or be better than this
cayenne for the back seat cargo
space should be good enough for
picking people up from the airport
if they want driving fun they'll
take more cars they'll take
multiple fun cars
other cars for that this is
this is i mean she called it an
executive sedan this is
a people hauler it's either
pick you up from the airport or
let's all go to dinner this is
the four of us are very comfortable
where we're about to go
yeah this is this is good i've got
some pretty strong choices hopefully
i've got a few i've got some weird
choices
she said she also wants
apple car play it's required there
there could be other ways to the
aftermarket but they really want
apple car play so
gm is out oh sorry but they and
then they're they're concerned
about electrics in one area i
thought that was interesting she
brought this up
there's a lot of electric brands now
but that whole market is shaking
out their concern with electrics is
if they buy an electric will that
brand be around in a few years
when they need to resell it get
something fixed service whatever so
that's on their radar
one of the things she's looking at
is the tycon four cross teresmo
which is a great looking car
beautiful she's looking at it but
i'm actually going to dive in right
there because monica i i i hate
to say this to you i hate to say it
but i have to say it
the tycon is right out your first
requirement is back seats
the tycon has bad back seats it's too
small the panamera cross teresmo
was not sold anymore this comes in
e hybrid i think you want this more
than you want them to i want one very
badly but that's a separate thing
the the the thing is that i want this
because this is the thing that would
get my wife out of a cayenne into a
car is one of these that's why i
want it so much i can't afford one
but this is the car that actually get
her out and into a wagon like yes
please but the problem is they didn't
make these for very long so you're only
buying them used but that puts them in
your budget because you're looking
around 100 grand is is is roughly you
haven't given us a hard budget but
based on the things you've listed
that's what we're talking about
these are out there for that budget
around a hundred thousand dollars
they're available like crazy you can
get them in e hybrid which is a
type of drivetrain you haven't had
that's true yeah and the whole
purpose of the panamera the whole
reason it looked as bad as it did
in the first gen is because one of the
boxes they had to check was four six
footers in the car at once true true
and so it has generous back seats the
tycon is smaller and you could argue
cooler but it's not big enough
it's just not that in fact i'm not
even sure that the tycon has the same
backseat space as the mccon let alone
the cayenne this is four six footers
and luggage so if you're gonna go
portia it's got to be this i have two
other thoughts for you but this is the
one in portia land okay i'm going to
keep jumping though because i'm trying
to find you new different experiences
and that executive sedan good driving
suite good technology made me go one
place the genesis g90 okay this is on
my list too that the full full admission
look a loaded version of these is just
over a hundred grand like 120 i want
to say if you like load it out yeah
this is not that much there they're 105
on the website i guess that's true they're
not close to that much because because you
can get them below a hundred to start
brand new yeah you just start putting
stuff fully loaded ones so 105 once and
this is the car we hope they actually
do the wing back and make the the
awesome oh that awesome wagon we were
talking about last time but but this
is all the technology superb back
seats but this is one of those cars
where you could almost buy it just
for the backseat experience it has all
the tech i think they should they should
i would fight people will fight to be in
the backseat on this car i've told you
this story before the first time we had
one of these is a press car i got my
wife in it and she was like what is
this thing and she was fascinated so we
went we wanted a door close yeah i took
her i took her to dinner we went on
to date we were about 25 minutes from
home okay and on the way back she's
like i'm gonna ride in the backseat
it's like okay cool so i'm chauffeuring
my wife now she's riding in the back
seat she got super comfortable because
she's short enough she could put the whole
leg rest out and everything we were
two-thirds of the way home and she said
could you keep driving for a bit so i
just did like an extra 15 minutes well
my wife just sat at the back would
chauffeur it around i mean these are
awesome for what you guys need they're
great so the genesis g90 and then i
have one more that i actually think
of these choices because i like all
three of these choices very much i
think you'd be very happy guys but
my favorite for you is my third the
lucid air
okay now good these start about 70 grand
loaded they're like 200 yeah you don't need
the 200 monster you all of these have
over 400 miles of range you need 200 this
has 400 miles of range you could decide
how you want it to be specced color
interior this is the opposite of tesla
in interior experience this is a luxury
car on the interior forget what the
drivetrain is this is just a luxury
place to be fantastic space front and
rear wonderful materials this is a
superb car to be in then it happens to
be an electric car so you get the
electric experience you can charge it
at home i think every usage you ever
have for it you'll have plenty of range
watch our ice cream run piece we did
with the griot spoils but little over a
year ago i was driving this and it
astonished all of us with its range
this is so usable and great now let me
speak to your fear your fear is we
buy an electric car and the brand won't
be around with tesla that's less of a
concern with everybody else it's kind of
a it's a little bit of a dice roll we
should buy from gm okay yes but it's a
game might be around but not make that
car anymore i mean that's the the
precipice we're on here it's a great
point lucid's interesting because love
this or hate this the fact is this is
backed by saudi money yep and the
reason the Saudis are backing it is
because they want to diversify beyond
just we sell oil so whether this is
successful or not and i think as a
car it's wildly successful whether it's
successful or not i don't mean sales i
mean that it's a success in execution
yes okay whether it's successful or not
whether it makes sense or not or it
keeps bleeding cash for the Saudis they
have a interest in continuing the
company just you could say that just an
interest of it yeah okay there's
nobody standing behind rivian for
example who i like i like their stuff
but there's nobody standing behind
rivian who it's to their objects
benefit to keep rivian going there
isn't the saudi money behind this
needs this to perpetuate and i guess
folks wagon is a little bit behind
rivian kind of but it's a but it's an
offshoot that's them absorb i'm talking
rivian will go like that rivian itself
stand alone there's nobody standing
behind it that has to keep it going
because it looks good for them yeah
there's a benefit to lucid surviving and
the nice thing is they make a great
product a genuinely really good car so i
think this is your answer new
experience great executive sedan
all electric i like all three of my
choices but my lucid's the favorite
i'm going to start right there because
i'm in full agreement with you and lucid
is at the top of my list i actually
found a 2022 fully loaded lucid air it's
not a sapphire but it's fully loaded
lucid air at park place ltd in belview
washington for just under seventy
thousand dollars with fourteen thousand
miles on them they've come down a
lot i was looking at him too crazy
that could be a great buy yes i
spend well almost half of what your
original budget is and the back seats
although there are cars more luxurious
yes the back seats could be a great
place to be and definitely seek out
videos for autonomous driving and the
levels of the lucid where where that
breaks down and where that fits for
your needs because we're not going to
go into you know here's a here's
something better to just fall asleep
the people in car can just fall
asleep after coming home from a
concert and that's not what it's for
still have to drive all of these cars
on my list too is the genesis g90 because
this is the level two assist that does
include center lane keep assist and the
distance control through the the smart
cruise control and it's not full hands
free it's a it's a little bit of
hands-free for about up to maybe
30 seconds or so and i've tried it out
and it's okay but all of these have
got good sensors and great lights
which is going to help on those
back roads they do yeah but check out
the back seats on the genesis you're
going to have fights uh-huh for sure i
that's where i want to be one of you
here's a thing if you only have two of
you one of you is going to drive and
there's going to be like i'm going to
sit in the back yes yeah the power
door closing look at the power seats
it is just superb and again the
driving assist is decent but you're
still going to have to drive it but
it's of course the entire point of
it is to reduce driver stress and
fatigue so that is a very good thing
genesis g90 is very much at the top of
my list as well but there are some
different choices here to start
considering and that is the 2025
Cadillac Escalade IQ the Escalade
Eek Escalade Eek there is the Escalade
IQ L now as well Cadillac is very
adamant about making the back seat
the first class experience just like
the front seats are for sure okay so
they have the pillar to pillar 55
inch screen all the way across the
dash this has the ultium battery
technology that the Hummer and the
Silverado EVs use so they're claiming
Cadillac estimated 465 miles of range
but imagine this smart cruise on one of
these and the reason i'm suggesting an
SUV is just simply because it's not
about the driving it's about the
space of course and everybody's
relaxed and happy and comfortable
so here is that back seat this is an
image right off of Cadillac's website
as well
that looks like a place i want to be
yes it is nice for sure imagine you're
coming home from a great night out a
concert wherever you're coming home and
you've got a bit of a drive ahead of
you
you've got an entertainment you can
fall asleep and the super cruise i
would say is maybe on the level of the
Hyundai system right now there's still
it's not full self-driving full hands
in some situations it competes with
Tesla but it's much more geofence
than the Tesla system yes exactly you
have to be on approved roads
certainly but i actually suggest this
because of deer you mentioned deer and
this is a tall front end
sure rather than a lower car i see that
just simply defending here the fully
loaded version of the this starts at
one hundred and forty eight thousand
dollars so a slim forty eight thousand
above your hundred thousand dollar
budget
just a poll done it again everybody
there we go yes 48 grand above that
love it but i think this could be
actually a really interesting viable
option and Cadillac that IQ so it's
really the EV Escalade yes EV Suburban
Escalade Eek Escalade Eek so gotta grab it
think that could be interesting i went
digging i'll wait for the laughter to
subside yeah i am surprised you went
here with the Mercedes
i originally was thinking because
Mercedes has admitted this was not a
sales success and they thought no
we're gonna change this the naming
convention was bad nobody like the
styling i thought these were going to be
cheap
they're not really the eqs value they're
holding value i am a star hanging
they're right at about a hundred grand
i am surprised with mileage but again i
thought all right EV different
manufacturer i they don't have Mercedes
so
you know this screen on the inside
here Mercedes also admitted that a
giant screen doesn't necessarily mean
it's luxury yes which i appreciate
them finally coming to terms with
that but it's still a Mercedes it's
still the EV s-class and still a lot of
engineering going on here yes quite a
lovely place to be front or back seat
quite nice and again i i thought man the
prices are surely going to be down on
this but not really but it's actually
worth a drive just simply to have this
as a benchmark okay when you're
shopping for lucid i thought you know
what this was Mercedes first stab at
this market go shop lucid and then
compare the two because still fast
powerful comfortable quiet all of those
things but the styling may not be for
you and the price may not be for you
so again here's that screen i mean
it's very entertaining and interesting
and there's a there's some to like here
yeah it's yeah it's the system behind
it is actually very good the actual
interface system is excellent yeah
exactly a lot of screen going on yeah
exactly right but if we're gonna spend
a hundred grand whoa we know monica
nugget are drivers true enthusiast
they're sure racers mm-hmm so i thought
what a great opportunity to get the aisle
of man green m5 touring shown on screen
the new bmw 717 horsepower wagon yeah
what a great thing to now it also looks
like that i'm sorry what a great thing
to own i mean okay it's it might not
be looking forward to driving one
everyone but i think this is really
cool really interesting the back seats
might not be as spacious well i i guess
i guarantee you they're not going to be
as spacious nice than other things yes
but you've got a sweet bmw wagon and who
doesn't want to go for a drive in this
it's going to be very fast comfortable
powerful i mean just think of the
you can obliterate the deer
i'm sorry i'm gonna think about that
yeah but just think autobahn thinking
behind this bad boy lots to like here
sure not a whole lot of autonomous
or more hands-free kind of driving
here but they are driver enthusiasts
and so i thought that would be kind of
interesting but they are already cayenne
owners and i put this out there is the
super weird outlier the new cayenne ev
has a 13 centimeter longer wheelbase
than the old one and the back door is
noticeably longer than it was
it's noticeably longer we don't know
anything about the hands-free driving
capability quite yet what the system
will be
or you know the range necessarily but
we know it's gonna be quite good and
they're already cayenne enthusiasts
this is brand new fair maybe worth a look
just simply because like i said they're
like porches they've got a cayenne maybe
a straight-up upgrade
and uh surely that diesel would be
still worth a good amount
and go for the new cayenne because
there's some towing involved that
escalate iq can tow 8 000 pounds and
it really that's good this is up there
too so yeah yeah you know maybe that
could be a consideration but i want to
drive this kind but i just we talked
before i just don't know man i just
it should be a bit bigger back seat
space but it's not going to be nearly
as luxurious as the lucid the genesis
even the mercedes eqs but uh but still
might be worth a consideration and
probably plenty of space so
thank you guys for writing yeah for sure
really appreciate it and if you've
got a debate like monica nuggets if
you want me to blow out your budget
and yeah
paul's here for you he is here for
you i can help everyday driver tv at
gmail.com
i like the contrast of these two
debates we have because allison bill
have been listening for a while
and they are not looking for anything
at all like monica nugget and they
also aren't patrons the point i want to
make here is
we want you guys involved with the
show it doesn't matter if you're a
patron or not a patron we want to get
your emails we want to go through your
car to base we want to see your
questions
we want to have
easy access to this show as involved
as you'd like to get we appreciate it
but it's not like this is a podcast
for todd and paul and our friends
yes this is true if we've never
met you please write in please say
hi we want to hear from you we
read every single email that we get
every email even if we don't respond
we have read it so i want you guys to
i'm glad you touched on that because
yes people have written to us and
they're starting to write to us more i
want to try to acknowledge everybody
is is the goal here and we
apologize if we can't get to your
debate
but uh you've hopefully heard about uh
enough debates now you start to
think like we would it's very fun
yeah and uh but we we still love
having the debate so
alice and bill are in uh lewis
delaware and they're writing in
because bill is 77 and she is 67
they have a 2021 ford mock e and a 2022
kia telluride very recent cars and
they're enjoying
they like the electric car that mock e
for just running around but they don't
take trips in it they're very active
so they need i love this the telluride
for camping tinting biking gear for
riding and touring i love that so the
telluride is staying the one on the
chopping block potentially is the ford
mock e and somewhere recently we have
infected their thinking because our
discussion about fun cars versus suvs
have made them think
huh should we get a smaller lighter an
actual more driver's car as our second
car
get rid of the mock e get something
like that
but their question
alice's question is are we just too
old
because the height is a thing
they actually toured a 911 and they
concluded it was too low and too
hard to get in and out of
so they actually want some height
to ease the process i have joked
before that many suvs are sold on the
premise that you've just stopped walking
you're just bad you're at walking height
you open the door now you're sitting
there's there's no chain it's so funny
okay and i understand there's a lot of
people in the market for that look i
don't load us a lease i'm on the other
end of the spectrum as far as cars
hard to get in and out of
and there are days i'm telling you i
roll out of the alice going how long
am i going to get do this
what's the time would buy body just
goes you know we're done
i'm sorry i love you but i like this
car but we're done okay name low
it's low crazy so i i do understand
look i know what you're talking about
is a thing i know this is why suv sell
and so they're concerned about back
issues she said that bill hangs on like
crazy and just braces his back when
she's driving the Mustang so
apparently alice kind of hoon's a bit
they test drove a 2025 honda civic
sport touring hatchback and the 2022
bmw 228 grand coupé that's the worst
of the two series separate thing
they thought they were definitely more
fun and engaging than the mustang
monkey because again they're smaller
and lighter but more difficult to get
in and out of so maybe still lower
than they want so this has them
looking at performance suv's they're
talking about the genesis gv 70 the
mcconn the mercedes gla 250 the
bmw x1 or x2 you guys have been
listening yeah that's the right list
the Mustang is probably going to get
sold they don't want a cvt
they're fine with automatics
they're okay with hybrid but that's
not a requirement so maybe around
$40,000 what they get out of the
Mustang and the money they can bring
they're very excited about this i i'm
going to try to get you into a car
but your list of suv's is excellent
i think it's very good yeah you want this
well they've driven quite a lot here
the the stuff they're looking at
still in their test drive list is the
kia k4 the k5 genesis gv 70 which
is great same size about as the
mcconn mercedes gla 250 is in
there bmw x1 and x2
that's great yeah it's an excellent
list for test drive yes we're going to
add to that
they'd prefer automatic alice would
prefer automatic and no cvt and she
likes the idea of a hybrid but not a
deal breaker and again yeah about a
perimeter of $40,000
alice and bill i just i have to thank
you for writing in
i'm so glad you're enthusiast and
you're active and you're asking if
you're too old for a fun car
no adamantly you are not
because i hopefully you've heard the
story about my grandfather who bought
an rx 400 lexus when he was 98 and he
bought the six year extended warranty
if that is not optimism
i don't know what is i agree
my grandfather is one of my heroes he
was just incredible influence in my
life and a lot of love and respect for
him
but of course there's also paul newman
who drove until he was 80 and he was
kicking everybody's butt on track so you
know it's good stuff yeah i think i've
got your car
but i'm going to start with an option
and you'll notice both brands that i
suggest
have the best seats starting off with the
third generation 2017 to 2024
bmw x3 m40 i it's a very good vehicle
yes you could get the m50 but that m40 i
just thinks super engine that's a
sports car and it's got gobs of power
it's very fast very fun to drive
pretty engaging for an suv and it's
still a bmw
yeah it's actually really good this
could be a great choice for you guys
it's good it's very good
but i you know i knowledge you've
got to tell you right i mean that's kind
of a camping car but i'm just
i'm trying alice to appeal to your
sporty driving
and when you know bill needs to hang on
this has decent
grips got good handles yep i agree with
that yeah it's okay
but i think i've got your car i think
i've got the one car oh really okay i
love it please
here it is oh the volvo xc 60 t8
recharge phv black edition
it is a phv get the one with all the
words the most words possible yeah
just look for the one with all the
words
now new they're out of your budget but
2024s are $40,000 and under all of
them on autotempest they're all $40,000
is so much car for that money
it's a hybrid
it's surprisingly got good steering
response and feel it does the seats
are superb it's a luxury interior
it's not too high it's not too low
mm look at the interior look at the
seats seats are great
the 2024s it's not too old either you
can still find them with fairly low
miles so they're still new enough
i think this is it the volvo xc 60
blah blah blah with all the stuff
all the modifiers every one of them
just one they're all of it and they're
all words too it's not like we have
a couple like words are tacked on
it's the the minronies like save
how could these people do this to
me yeah anyway yeah you'll never get
to tell anybody at cars and
copy what your cars is like just
fall it's just a volvo done
so what i'm showing on screen is the
interior with that or for swedish crystal
knob the start stop switch is right
down here on the center console
the ip has changed for the 2026 model
it doesn't quite look like this but the
screen is still integrated still very
nice it's still mostly the theme
that you're seeing here on screen
but i think this is the car because
it appeals to the luxury side it's
still within budget just slightly
used yeah fun to drive alice i mean this
thing's got power
it's got more power than the x3 this
thing is 450 horsepower or so
it's a rocket off the line rising the
good performance wise yeah it is your
sports car that's an suv that's a
hybrid it's luxury not too low
this is the one this is the one
alice bill welcome to your xc 60
all the words all the words and let us
know what color you decide upon happy
shopping auto tempest dot com slash
every day let us yeah send photos you've
done well
this is it this is it i i can't argue
with the reasons you guys have listed
performance suvs it's great looking i mean
this is the new one so it's got updated
styling but the 2024s look pretty much
just like this so i can't argue with
your choices either polka's you don't
really really i hadn't thought about that
vulva and the fact that they're that
cheap that is such a bargain for that
they're like a lot 40 and then they
go to 39 38 37 39 that's incredible
i really that's a great choice done
bill alice i'm going to put this out to
you just just
embrace the following i understand that
you've got two suvs and you're worried
about getting in and out of stuff
handles on most these cars are good
yeah okay and the reality is if you want
a better driving experience you have to
get lower
you just have to
okay true the reality is the suvs no
matter how good they are seriously
totally straps handles totally no matter
how good they are the reality is
the higher you get
your center gravity coming up and the
more weight and the bigger
the worse something drives even if it
defies physics at best it can at some
point you just go yeah this is big
okay so if you're wanting a more fun
driving experience
i really want to encourage you to
get out of an suv
so what i'm looking for for you is
performance sedans
okay that have what i would describe
as a middle ride height
they're not now the crown is the
one that like i'm not recommending the
crown the crown is trying to be both
the crown is like a lifted sedan which
looks weird
and the whole purpose of the crown is
exactly what you're talking about
people that want a sedan but they want
an suv style
seat height that's what it's for
cross track buyers every time i get out
of it i put my foot down
and my foot hovers like three or four
inches above the ground because that's
where the ground should be and then i
go oh it's down here
that's what it's for
but but i'm going to get you into an
actual sedan now i'm going to go
from
the one that i i i put it up there
because i have to
but i think it probably is the least
good match for you and that is
the alpha julia doesn't need to be the
quadrifoglio
but the alpha julia is great looking it
is wonderful handling i'm showing it
in green i'm happy to show the
quadrifoglio in green it's just so
great looking
in some italian uh
can you imagine their neighbors
alice phil what did you do
sexy italian car in your driveway
the four cylinder on this is going
to be plenty for you guys i mean
the quadrifoglio is great i think
the quadrifoglio is down to 40 grand
you could go nuts are they
genuinely
what kind of mileage are we talking
but you can find them
i don't know that i'm going to rush out
and get but you can find are they like
road hard put away like ground into the
just step carefully is all i'm saying
but with 40 grand you could not spend
close to your budget and get one of
these with the four cylinder these are
wonderful to drive
now i will admit this has a slightly
smaller door opening than the other
ones i'm going to discuss
and a little more aggressive seats so
this is probably the most likely to
get tossed out but if i'm going to
talk about mid-sized sedans i got to
bring it up
but i actually think seats wise this
might not work
but the rest of them here i think really
would
the three series bmw
it's because look at the best seats in
the business yeah what's what's your
era what generation are you looking
for what do you like in specs
the three series has been around forever
it is superb
and i actually even thought all the
way back to the e90 the big v8
that we love
that is a surprisingly high seating
position
that big e90 forced four door
it's got it's not like a low slung car
and it's phenomenal to drive
and it's significantly lower than an suv
but it's not like this is a difficult car
to get in and out of it's thirsty
it is thirsty
but i'm just saying three series has
got like a normal ride height i think
it's very straightforward to get in and
out of
the kia stinger that's good that just
it's so good kia stinger gt is a
phenomenal car good seats right sized
excellent chassis yeah i think you
would really enjoy this car definitely
look at a kia stinger gt
and as i continue the chevy ss
okay the chevy ss 40 grand you can get
the perfect one
you want automatic the reality is the
ones that are too expensive if you want
to argue that
are the manuals you want an auto
this is a big american v8
fantastic chassis drives wonderfully
has a normal full-size sedan ride
height
but then rides wonderfully
get the magnum ride suspension you
definitely have to get that but chevy
ss works all day long here and i
really want you guys to get into a
sedan and discover
sedan dynamics
bill will be strapping into this car
it's like hanging on because
alice is going to tear down the road
rub it her hands together already
tear down the road of the ss
that's one of my very favorites but i
would be remiss if i didn't include one
more
okay you guys already have an electric
you like as a runabout you're
looking for performance dynamics
etc model three performance needs to
be on the list
i think you go out and find a used
one of these well within your
budget you stay electric
you've got a little bit less ride height
these drive very well
it has performance beyond your maki
it is lower than your maki
but you stay electric
and you get performance
personally this is not my favorite of
the list
but for you guys i think it might be
perfect these drive very well
they do they do they're so yeah
they're different i mean she's used
to the maki already that's driving
model okay here's the thing i feel
like this is a big omission if i
don't say it
okay model three performance maki
might be the answer now the thing you
guys are going to have to do is you're
going to have to literally go to all of
these cars
and both get in both sides
see i told her we added to your list
yes
get in both sides both beginning to get
the driver's seat passenger seat and
just to bait how am i getting in and
out of these
but i think that this you know because
again elan musk hates doors
so these doors go real wide
so i think there's a lot of
opportunity here in the model three
performance that's the end of my
list but i hope you guys find
something awesome and i really i
want you in a car i love the
Volvo from you
but guys i really would love to get
you in a car
it's good all right so you've got
more driving homework here to do you've
got some choices to make and we wish
you happy hunting
thank you again for writing really
appreciate it
write to us every day driver tv at gmail.com
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car conclusion number one comes to
us from derrick g he wasn't even
looking anymore
but these you and i are never
looking anymore and still looking
well derrick had thrown in the
towel on the car search because the
seven thousand dollar budget was
leaving a lot to be desired
to try to find a car that ticks all
the boxes and didn't make him nauseous
when he thought the time in the shop
and what that might cost
yeah he was very wary to say the least
and had decided that they were just
going to wait
build up the budget
and try again next year
out of nowhere
his mechanic texts him
hey the guy at the shop next door
has a car for you
okay now derrick had mentioned his
interest in an r53 mini months ago
when he called him he was just to
tell him to use pressing pause on
the whole car search thing
and his mechanic cut him off and said
you might want to listen to this
turns out it's an o4 jcw mini cooper
s hello
every single suspension component
replaced in the last year talking
close to four thousand dollars in
parts alone new clutch aftermarket
lsd and mechanic owned
holy crap that's a good deal
okay cool all right it also comes
with a spare engine
wait what because why not
okay only has a hundred thousand miles
on it but it's a non-running
parts car that's somehow in great
shape and almost complete
and before derrick can even say the words
there's no way i can afford all that
his mechanic hits him with the price
thirty five hundred bucks all in
whoa or everything whoa
so what's the catch that's the
reflex of course what's the catch
apparently the seller just had too
many cars and he'd recently rekindled
his flame with an old rx-8
so he wanted to pour his money into a
rotary
well the jcw had to go but i also
have to say this this isn't just the
mechanic being nice the reality is
these cars aren't worth much
the nicest r53 many out there like the
nicest one might be eight grand
and that's like super low miles and
the person may be asking too much the
actual like average for these is four
to five thousand dollars so at that
point the what happened here here is
this mechanic as nice as this car is
probably has a lot of miles on it
looked at the market went well thirty
five hundred which is crazy yeah so
Derek went to see it that day it was
even better in person the only thing
it needed was a wheel bearing and by
the evening the cross tour was on the
market that he owned the end of the
week Derek was the proud owner of an
o4 jcw mini cooper s he said it's not
the prettiest it doesn't even have
back seats thank goodness for a parts
car that came with it that does have
the back seats oh my gosh okay but he
loves everything about driving an
analog tossable completely intoxicating
in corners he's already had way more
fun than he has any business having
in a commuter car and miraculously
the wife and kids love it incredible
incredible that is a fantastic car
conclusion Derek back at the whole
family i want to say to you guys i
look i have to call it out if you've
watched the test drive channel just
before this i have just revealed that
we bought a yellow
2005 r53 mini cooper s as my son's
first car we paid forty two hundred
dollars for a very well cared for
example high mile but just
meticulously maintained he loves it
please go watch the video on our test
drive videos channel us discussing and
as a family kind of all three of us
discovering yeah we really ought to buy
this car so we have it for him and it
is awesome i can only back your play
here
because i get it they aren't worth much
they're so so fun to drive and the
family will love it so bravo on that
that's great car conclusion number two
comes to us from cliff are he's got
actually two conclusions for us
he'll start with family friend who asked
him for advice on her recent car
purchase
and she was driving a manual f 56 base
mini cooper since 2013 those are the ones
that aren't supposed to run very well
she's had it since 2013
yeah that's impressive okay anyway yeah
we don't know what kind of money
she's poured into it good for her though
that's great
but her mini was what inspired
his initial mini purchase in 2023
she'd been torn with the idea of
getting a replacement for three years
but you know life stuff happens
her drive homework to that point
had been a jcw mini countryman of the
same gen she liked it felt it was too
much the same to her cooper
a brief love affair with the out as
three happened she test drove everything
bmw had stuff to offer
and then along with some other cars
that cliff can't recall
but she realized she wanted smaller
crossover or large hatch most of those
crossovers were too big and she liked
that countryman
but then cliff said go look at a
mcconn
and she said there's no way i can
afford a portion afford a portion not
possible yep
and then later that night she said
in the text saying she couldn't believe
she could afford to use mcconn
was excited about one nearer
and uh so when she returned home
she found one nearby
test drove it fell in love
ended up buying and shipping a mcconn
from texas
to kentucky
orange black interior
the deviated stitching the orange
stitching that's cool actually
you don't see very many of those like
that that's awesome and he says the
mcconn is really a hatch
which what we keep saying we keep
saying it's Porsche's hatchback
and there it is proven
so cliff says second
conclusion he that we have covered
a couple of his questions in the
past on episode 992 he asked about
balancing saving for a 911
or other reach car here
he was unsurprised for us to say buy
something now
he was unsurprised by that conclusion
but he wrote to us anyway yeah
he had the f 56 mini cooper s that he
owned for 18 months
traded it in on the crv for an
odyssey to accommodate their growing
family
that many was the reintroduction to
the manual transmission
and prior to trading in he had already
been doing drive homework for the next
fun car gr86
brz
myana mustang
all the good stuff yeah
so when it was ready to when he was
ready to jump to the next fun car
family life needed to focus
instead of immediately buying he
decided to be financial responsible
and pay their bmw off aggressively
i'm glad you did get it paid off
but he swore off car shopping for
that six month window that sounds
like a serious withdrawal situation
he said no auto tempest no
investigating prices on facebook
marketplace
he only consumed automotive content
like our show but he did no
browsing i don't know how you did
i seriously don't know how you did that
serious discipline my whole brain is
just like i run into random car like
well what are those costs now and i'm
auto tempest dot com plus every day oh
look those are that much i should sort
it this way
what's close to me
that's like a tons of my wife has
gotten the point where she just sees
part of the morning routine okay
that's happening again but prior to
being responsible he had actually
tested a 987 came an s oh yeah and
was pretty confident that that was
going to be the next car then he
goes on this sabbatical of not
looking
so then you know then when he
gets when he gets settled back to it
and having a conversation he decides
now it's time to his words here
commence 987 content consumption
and waffling waffling around which one
will be best
and he ended up with the well if i
could get a 987 came and why not a
996
a Carrera so then now he's doing
compare and contrast
he's looking everywhere he's deciding
this is where it is and then he
says there's a twist
many of his favorite youtubers
have produced haunt s2000 content
at the exact same time
bless the algorithm apparently
he says a car he's always loved but
like most people forgot existed for
some reason
the main issue is fitting
he barely fits in the miata and then
only after losing 80 pounds
he says when the bmw was finally
paid off he found an s2000 at a local
dealer to take a look at
and test drive and he fit
lo and behold but that specific car
couldn't be test driven because the
ecu was out for replacement
took some time to be repaired
but he was hooked on the idea of
the s2000 at the beginning of
october 2025 he sat down with his
wife got to go ahead
to pursue this s2000 love it love it
with the ambitious goal of getting
the car by the end of the month
he was searching for the ap1
with that 9000 rpm redline
the early looking for a driver
example minimally modified clean
car facts
he wasn't set on a 10 out of 10
vin car but obviously a plus
with a budget of 25 000
he commenced to search
and literally a week later he
purchased a 2001 spa yellow s2000
with almost exactly 100 000 miles
100 stock 1010 vin car completely
clean car facts oem hardtop
holy moly
blew up his budget a little bit
but he was planning on the hard top
he was planning on buying the hard
top after the fact so now he
spent a little bit of extra money
and got the hard top included i
have a photo of one like this on
screen
this is an early gen in yellow with
hard top and he said
this was a big purchase for him
but one of the most surprising
things is he's only ever bought
silver white gray
black cars it's even hod color
yellow yellow yellow yellow
i love this this is so cool i love
that you bought this car in yellow
these are such good cars to drive
he is in love with it and you should
be cliff congratulations
i really hope you're enjoying it and
he does mention he wants to come to
an hod track day soon please
join us and yeah keep a look at
hooked on driving dot com for the
future schedule but uh we'd love to
have you all of you are invited to
bring your car and cliff i'm so glad
you got something you absolutely
love congrats congrats on blowing up
the budget a little i hope it was
worth it see but he got the hard top
he got it's worth it was money he
was planning on i get it i see it
couple of quick questions on
instagram here john cater for says
he just watched the lightweight
special thank you for watching
appreciate it yeah for sure
he loved it ben did tourism in
america right so ben was the owner
of the alpine a 110 who lives in
france shipped his a 110 over many
journalists drove it including us
matt and zak and jason camisa so we
all had some time with car
we all loved it it was great
and john on the question here he
says if you could pull a ben by
taking a forbidden fruit car to
another country a car that we get
in the usa that isn't offered there
in europe for video reviews and
fun driving what country and car
combo would that be well you know
john we just recently recently
discovered this summer the c eight
corvette in europe turns heads like
crazy crazy yeah we had the
opportunity from our friends at rsr
to drive one and we are on track but
part of that trip was the road tour
through germany and of all the
Porsches with the giant wings and
the bmw's and the cool french you
know the reynos and all that stuff
it was the c eight that people snapped
their necks looking at him because
it's not offered here and we'd like
to think that that was the same thing
with alpine a 110 even though most
people most consumers they don't really
pay attention to that kind of stuff
it's just another car and they're like
oh what what is alpine i don't really
know but yeah that corvette so i'm
thinking like the zr1x
oh like monster wings crazy you
don't see the corvette yeah that's
and here's the ultimate expression
of that yeah i see it i see it yeah
whoa
that's really good i don't know that
i can top that because
a lot of the i keep thinking about the
forbidden fruit from that direction
but then the other thing of the equation
is the other thing you don't see over
there is the big hellcat dodges now some
people do rent them true true yeah but a
big hellcat dodge would be fascinating
over like like the demon like like take
not with the drag tires like put
normal tires on it like let's take a
demon over there like and and and
the thing is that's like too wide for
some european villages the problem is
i don't know how much i would enjoy
driving it because it is the wrong
car in the wrong place but you're you're
at the public service it is a public
service i'm showing it off to the world
that is very cool i i like the zr1 or
zr1x that's excellent it's really good
yeah monster aggressive giant wing
because the c8 already gets crazy
attention in europe so yeah that would
be interesting john thanks for the
question
anthony zerg is staying in the
lightweight's discussion i love this
so he says the a110 doesn't come in
a manual and we say it doesn't
detract from the fun but if it did
come in a manual would we find
yourself choosing it over the auto now
anthony i want to talk on this because
i i kind of wrote a target on my painted
a target on my chest when we had that
discussion because i said two things and
i want to clarify it further
i talked about the a110 might be the
car that gets me out of my lotus elise
because i love driving it and it's a
more usable car everywhere the elise
isn't the elise is all about the
driving that's why i love it
but the a110 is like you could do
a normal day in it and not hate
yourself okay i mean i've done it
but i've had like dedicate myself to
it and i would never take a passenger
the a110 you could take somebody with
you they wouldn't hate you either which would
be nice
so but the point i made is when i'm
driving the elise on a back road and
having the time of my life
why i'm enjoying it is not because it's
a manual
i like that it's a manual i enjoy
having a manual i enjoy shifting a
manual none of those things change
but the things i'm liking about it or
not
well thank god this is a manual i mean
you can drive here's the thing you
can drive a bad car and thank god it's
a manual because it made it a little
bit more fun
that happens
i've driven like average sedans but
because it's a manual or huge trucks
because it makes it kind of fun sure
the elise is not fun because it's a
manual i'm glad it has one
the alpine is the same reality the
alpine isn't fun
well if only had a manual it would be
fun it's just fun
true the manual i'd love to have a
manual i mentioned on the piece you
even said that might be the ultimate
build
an alpine with it with a manual i
think i would love to drive that car
now the question is here's the other
thing
just like hydraulic steering
some hydraulic steering is amazing
and some is like
hydraulic steering isn't a guarantee of
greatness
a manual isn't a guarantee of greatness
it's true you can have a bad manual
and there's nothing more disappointing
than i have a manual but it's not a
very good one
yeah that's a real bummer
so what is the manual in this
theoretical a 110 build
if it's a great manual would i take
it in addition to having the a 110
yes
but i don't need the manual to make an
a 110 fun
okay that's how i want to try to
clarify but it'd be very cool if there
was one who's making that man here's the
thing okay i'll go you i'll go there
the s 2000 manual in an a 110
bring it bring it i'll take it right
now ultimate builds yeah
asa holister on instagram is on an
s 2000 kick this week would they make
a good first sports car ownership
experience
yes
yes yes they would definitely go
presume definitely drive one and if
you can drive both generations
to uh to determine that but uh yeah we
definitely recommend those
and also pasta fazool has a question
what cars were one change away from
greatness
g r the g r 86 like 300 horsepower g r 86
with a turbo uh yeah g r 86 with a
turbo yeah you want that turbo more
than i do but i do take your point
all right yeah imagine 300 horsepower
in the g r 86 we'd be like yeah i mean
we love it anyway but i do take
your point yeah a little more power i
see this i see this concept there yeah
many cars but that just pops right to
my mind i mean g r 86 awesome we love
it and it's just one tick more just
turbo
a couple things to point out off of
this question from seth climb and he
asked about taking non-car questions i
will answer your question real quick but
that reminds me all of you should
know just coming up on the calendar
we are a few podcasts away from a
christmas break we're going to take
a break between actual christmas
day and new years we will take we
will skip one podcast that'll be
the 30th of december but coming
the 15th of december that is a
monday night we are going to do
podcast 1025 live as we continue our
every 25 will do a live podcast that'll
be a rapid fire questions only it
won't be all it'll be car questions and
non-car questions but episode 1025
monday december 15th will be live here
in the studio that evening monday night
so we can post it everywhere else for
everybody on tuesday so keep that in
mind make a note on your calendar
you're asking about non-car
questions seth more specifically best
place to ski in utah that's likely to
not be crowded thinking of coming out
here in january february not a holiday
weekend
i'm going to say dear valley now a couple
of reasons
dear valley has this perception of being
wildly expensive it is but so is every
other ski area in the area the thing
you have to understand is dear valley
is like
five bucks maybe more than and other
places like it's the same price or
you've got to discount this day and
not that day
dear valley is just about as expensive as
everywhere else
but they still limit the number of people
on the mountain
they are doubling the amount of actual
ski area this year
and limiting the total number of people
on the mountain
so i would say dear valley versus
locally park city
which has the epic pass and had all
kinds of problems with crowds last
year yeah oh yeah
there are other great areas it's also
going to depend on when you're here
if you can come out midweek
much better than a weekend
try that as well midweek
i would say dear valley
alta can be really good
snow basin has been discovered
it was super busy last year
i was going to say snow basin
that i remembered you guys had a crazy
experience
yeah weekdays it's a crapshoot
but on the weekends
it's just crowded now
it's a great place but it's crowded
dear valley i feel pretty confident
about because of that situation
and also try really hard to be here
some on the weekdays
for sure guys thank you for all your
questions we really appreciate it
we'll keep posting on social media
but in the meantime
write to us topic tuesdays
car conclusions car debates
everyday driver tv at gmail.com
and again make sure to go to hooked
on driving.com
for the future track days
trips coming up keep your eye on that
and we're looking forward to next
time as always cheers everyone
About this episode
A lively discussion kicks off with the anticipation surrounding Toyota's new GR GT supercar, followed by a debate on cars that were discontinued too soon or stayed too long in the market. Enthusiasts share their thoughts on models like the Pontiac Fiero, Chevy Volt, and Honda Element, while also critiquing vehicles like the Volkswagen Tauss and Chevy Malibu for overstaying their welcome. The hosts also provide insightful buying advice for listeners considering their next car, emphasizing the importance of backseat comfort and technology in executive sedans. The episode wraps up with listener car conclusions, highlighting successful purchases and the joy of finding the perfect vehicle.
The guys are asked what great cars ended production before they got good, and what cars were on sale and stuck around way too long? They take on debates for Monica + Nugget in TX, who want an executive sedan for relaxed trips. Then, Alice and Bill ask if they’re too old for a fun car? Social media questions ask what cars were one change away from greatness, does a manual transmission add to or detract from the driving experience, and what car sold in North America would be considered “forbidden fruit” in Europe?
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
00:49 - Toyota GR GT Teased; Full Reveal Coming!
02:51 - Topic Tuesday: Gone Too Soon, Stayed Too Long
04:55 - Gone Too Soon
24:17 - Stayed Too Long
49:17 - Hooked On Driving + EDD Adventures 2026
51:23 - Car Debate #1: Fighting For The Backseat
1:09:44 - Car Debate #2: Are We Too Old For A Fun Car?
1:23:26 - Car Conclusion #1: What’s The Catch?
1:27:00 - Car Conclusion #2: Bless The Algorithm
1:32:39 - 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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