Highs and Lows of 2025 and What To Watch For In 2026

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I'm Hannah Elliott.

And I'm Matt Miller. This is Hot Pursuit.

Coming up on today.

No, wait, what?

On today. We understand you, Matt. Just lean into it.

We will take a look back at the highs and lows of the year.

What brands busted through and who missed the mark?

We got to drive so many cars in 2025.

We'll talk about the ones we loved and the ones that fell short.

Will we talk about the ones that fell short?

Are we going through?

Honestly, the worst thing I like doing with cars that fall short is I just

don't talk about them at all. I banish them to non-existence.

Right.

Because I don't want to think negative thoughts,

which probably isn't great because I'm a car critic.

I also think, and this is a point that I make a lot.

Even the ones that fall short are usually fantastic because we drive

pretty expensive cars. They're mostly more than $50,000 a piece,

so more than the average cost. They're brand new and hopefully they've been

expectant prepared perfectly. Even the ones that kind of suck don't suck.

Well, look, it's not like it's a Saturn or a Pontiac or something from the 80s or not.

No, of course. Everything new now is million miles in advance of what we were driving

decades ago. They're safer. They're slightly more efficient.

Fit and finish is better. Yes, this is all relative and we are very spoiled.

We're aware of that. But we can still nitpick.

For sure. And I will. I just haven't really thought about what has fallen short.

And there are some experiences that I've had. For example, I was driving, what was it?

I think it was either a GMC Yukon or a Chevy Tahoe, one of those big GM

trucks that I love so much, but it was on like 24s. And so if you look at it wrong,

you get a flat tire. And then I had to change the tire myself, which normally I pride myself

on doing that quickly and well. And it took me like an hour and a half with my five-year-old

daughter. Did you talk about that on this podcast, Matt?

I'm pretty sure. But I've had a number of occasions this year.

The battery story. Where you ran out of charge.

Yes. Well, a number of occasions this year where, no, these giant wheels, so 22s or 24s, and

we're in America, so obviously the infrastructure is horrendous. Right? It's not like we're in

Spain where the roads are beautiful. Or China, where things are perfect.

So when you get that kind of wheel and like low-pro tires, it's just they all pop.

So I've had a number of occasions where I've burst tires on New York commutes.

Let me ask you this. When that happens, do you tell the press guys, the fleet managers?

But you did actually try to make a valiant effort to change it yourself.

You didn't just call them and say, help, come get me.

First person I call is my boy, Eric. No, I do not call Pierre.

Why not? Because Pierre gets super pissed off. So, you know,

Pierre will be like, do you know that that wheel costs like more than your paycheck?

Whereas Eric is like, bring it to the dealer, we'll deal with it.

So.

Pierre will slap you with his scarf.

He's a pretty serious dude.

I love it. I love it. He gets so wound up. It's the best.

Yeah, no, I call those guys straight away.

But yeah, I have a real problem with wheels in general beyond just the size of wheels and the

profile of tires. I'm always curbing wheels.

Let me ask you this. Are wheels your new sound system?

Because you know, I feel like for a while you went through this phase where you kind of hated

every sound system. But now it sounds like maybe you hate every wheel.

Well, no, I think what's happened is for one thing, the wheels are getting more and more

difficult to deal with because they're so big and they're not at all recessed.

And even on like off-road vehicles or on trucks, it's a cinch to curb them

and then feel horrible about yourself for the rest of the day.

I know. Yeah, I know.

I don't want that. Give me steelies.

That's why with this recent Audi RS6 wagon that we had, I literally was parking that

two feet away from the curb and I didn't even care. Me too.

I mean, I was terrified with those because they stick out so far.

In fact, I would say, so the Audi RS6 is obviously one of the greatest vehicles

I've driven this year, definitely a high. The wheels, as beautiful as they are,

as expensive as they look, I would instantly change them out if I owned that car.

Because you'd be too stressed about them.

Yeah, because I need to take a taxi from my parking spot to the sidewalk.

I'm so afraid of scratching them. But since it was an Audi, I didn't.

I only scratch wheels on Aston Martins and Mercedes, which are also hella expensive

and make me feel super guilty. Yeah, no, I wouldn't say they're my new stereo,

but I'm paying much more attention to them. And car stereos just never seem to

impress too much. I'm waiting for this Dolby Atmos revolution.

You know what? I think I might. This might take us into our next segment.

But I am loving the sound system and the thing that I'm driving this week.

And maybe we can tease it and we can talk about it later. But even today, I was thinking,

what sound system is this? I'm hearing things I haven't heard before in songs that I've listened

to for years. All right, let's put a pin in that because I do want to come back in the next

segment and talk about it. But I want to hear some of your lows. Because it's not all just

about wheels and tires. What are the things that have disappointed you in the cars you've

driven this year? Okay. I feel a little bit bad about saying this, but I am hard pressed to find

a low really, because as you said, many of the cars that we drive are so exceptional. And it really

is a challenge to pick out to really be nitpicky and pick things that you didn't like.

But I will say a big miss for me was the key fob on the Cadillac Celestic. And I know I've spoken

about this before. But just as a refresher, this is the car that Cadillac spent years developing.

It kind of looks like a very long, if you want to say it's a $300,000 wagon, I won't fight you

on it. And this is the car they said that was going to go up against or is supposed to go

up against Rolls Royce. It's an electric vehicle. It does it can look cool in some colors and some

lights. I don't really have a quibble with the car itself. But because we're being so nitpicky,

the key fob that they gave me for that was a plastic square that I couldn't believe it because

they had spent because when I drove the car that I spent three hours getting an earful about

every minute detail that they developed and tooled and, and, you know, made in house and they,

they worked with all of these European designers and all of this special stuff to make the car

so signature and so refined and all this stuff. And then they hand me this plastic key fob.

And it was such a disconnect for such an important thing because of all of this big car,

the one thing that I'm actually touching holding in my hand, carrying with me looking at

showing other people to brag is the key fob. So that was really a big miss for me,

unfortunately. And I did ask if they're developing anything new to go along with it. And

they said they're going to develop an app that can unlock the car and maybe there will be

something else in the future. But not a new key fob because I thought, I mean, I thought they

were going to develop a more premium higher end. Right. So I, I drove the car in April

at the time of my review, they said they were quote unquote working on it. Now, in fairness,

I should really retouch them and say, Hey, how's that new key fob coming? But at the time,

they told me, you know, they will have an app developed that can unlock the car. So you

don't have to worry about a key fob at all. And then, you know, potentially later on down

the road, I will say, I don't mind the leather. It's got like a little leather carrying case.

And also you've got great hands. Thanks. Thanks. Thanks to my mom for that. I'm looking back

at your story on the Celestic and your there's a picture of you holding the key fob, which

with really cool, like poison green nail polish. Thanks. And it's at least they put it in

a sleeve. And I think that's what they probably they were like, we have to make this better.

And someone said, I can sew a leather sleeve. I think the sleeve made it worse because it made

it even more bulky. And the stitching on the sleeve is remind me of stitching on like a baseball

glove, which again is not the look. So as a woman, I'm thinking I might just like slip it into

the pocket of like some slim pants or a suit or whatever. And it ruins the line of my jacket

or my pants anyway, and the sleeve makes it worse. Well, I will say that I my biggest key

problem this year was the Rivian R1S. Oh yeah. And they only gave me a little card like the size

of a credit card, which would be fine in your slim line pants. Slim line pants. But I couldn't like

lock and unlock the car with that. And since then it made me feel like a total total idiot.

And to be fair, since then I've gotten so much email from Rivian, you know,

owners and drivers who are like, Hey, come over here. I'll teach you how to use that. You know,

like there is a way to do it, but I still thought it was taught how to unlock a car. That's the

other thing. It makes me remember that scene in Zoolander when they're like banging on the

computer like monkeys and trying to figure out they're trying to get the files that are in

the computer. That is literally how I feel when I'm trying to break into these cars using

a credit card that you have to hold a certain way, but it can't be wet, but you can't be,

you know, it can't be certain things. And yeah, I'm like, I just trying to get in my car.

I need to get to work, man. Yeah, no, I had, frankly, I had that feeling with a lot of aspects

of the Rivian where it's like, this thing is awesome, but there's, you know, what's really

bad? The neighbor that I don't like drives a Rivian. Yeah. Do you have that in your life

where there's somebody that you don't like and the car they drive, it kind of ruins

the car that they drive because you're like, Oh, I, I really like almost everyone.

I know you do. That's such a great thing. And everyone feels it. There are not many people I

don't like to be honest. I'm more, I'm more, um, what do I want to say? Juicy? Yes. Uh, discerning?

I don't know. I mean, no, because it is really lovely that you genuinely do

like everyone and most people feel that you like them. I'm a little more dis, uh, what's the word?

I think discerning is the right word. By the way, I also, to get back to our initial discussion

about things we like and things we don't, um, there were so many things I loved this year

that I didn't think I was going to. So me too. Top of my list is the Aston Martin vanquish.

Now I knew it was going to be amazing, but I feel like Aston Martin finally got so many

things right that people have been complaining about for a while. And that is a super car.

I don't know if it's worth the $600,000 that that's priced at, but if you have that kind of

money and you're looking for some exclusivity, you know, and everybody in your neighborhood

has Ferraris, it makes sense to me. And it was just they, they nailed it on design. They nailed

it on the power. It's so beautiful. Um, everything inside felt, you know, the screens, while I wouldn't

have chosen screens myself, um, they weren't horrible, you know, everything worked better

than expected, including the like who cares about carplay and an Aston Martin vanquish

you care about the 12 cylinder motor, but it does have the best carplay I've ever used. So,

um, yeah, that's, that's one of the things that really positively surprised me this year.

I love that. That's a really good point. And they have made so much, they, they really have

improved their, um, interior. I remember back in the day, it really was like objectively not

competitive. And now it's really so much better. And we always say, like we, we

really want Aston to continue to improve. Um, and it, it's so beautiful. And there was something,

oh, I was going to ask you. So you're saying that you would get that over a Ferrari potentially,

just to be a little bit different. Well, to be clear, and now that we know each other so well,

you I'm sure are aware that I would prefer to have a Ferrari, like a 308.

Yes. Um, or, or a 612. Yes. Uh, for a new thing,

I haven't driven the Ferrari Roma or the Amalfi or drive that this weekend.

Oh, you're so lucky. I'll come back and tell you all about it.

But it's, I love the shapes. I love the design of those. And, um, I'm no longer

butthurt about the turboness of Ferrari engines at the low end.

What's the Italian word for butthurt?

I, I, yeah, I think like there is an argument to be made for the Aston Martin over Ferrari.

However, I have very little experience with Ferraris and I've driven a lot of Aston

Martin. I predict that'll change. That's maybe that's one of our goals for 2026.

I, uh, I also want to say, so I was thinking about what I've driven this year and

what surprised me when the Chevy Blazer SS EV showed up in my driveway, I thought, well,

here's when I'm not going to drive this week, you know, and, you know, when you get a press car

that you, from the bat, from the get go, you realize you're not going to move it

and they're going to come back a week later and pick up something to zero miles added.

But then I did start to drive it and I think from the outside, it still remains

more unimpressive than the Honda prologue. But the driving experience really impressed me.

It's, it felt like an Autobahn cruiser. It's heavy, but it feels like it has like so much

power and presence and stability and it's electric, but it automatically like told me

where the fast charging stations are and essentially did it for me. It took 12 minutes

to fill the whole thing up and that's one of the things like I tell somebody that like a cocktail

parties and it's a conversation stopper because on the one hand they're surprised and on the other

hand, they don't really feel like talking to me about cars anymore because they think I'm just

that's how I'm feeling right now. No, just kidding. Um, I only say that because I haven't

driven it and, but I know what it looks like. And so my reaction is the exact same as you,

which is like, how can this weekend? It's just super comfy. It's super powerful. And I feel like

GM has killed it with EVs. Like the, I don't know, uh, the chemistry of the Altium platform, but

they have so much range. They have so much power. I had such a great time in the, for

example, Sierra GMC Sierra EV so luxurious. Mary Barra, come talk to us. Yes. Because I do think

2020 as 2026 unfolds, we are going to see now all of these choices that automakers have made

play out in real time. And we're going to start to see the consequences of some of these choices.

For instance, Ford made a very different choice about EVs than General Motors. Yep. So we're

going to, it's going to start to play out, which I think will be really interesting. Um,

and it would be great to hear from Mary because I don't think she's going to be at GM forever.

And this might be, you know, what she set up to unfold in 2026 and beyond might be her legacy.

Yeah, for sure. By the way, um, you say you don't think she's going to be a GMC forever because

where do you think she's going to go? She's not going to live for, I think she'll retire

eventually. Once this, I think, I think she's very goal oriented. Admittedly, my exposure

to her has been limited, but just following the industry, I think she's very goal oriented. And,

once the, the task of basically establishing GM in this new world of EVs is done, or at least in

a safe place, that to me would be a natural exit for her to retire and spend more time with

her family. Exactly. And that would be a really strong legacy to leave. I wonder if she'll be

pulled into government because. Oh, that'd be interesting. Yeah. Really interesting. Because

she's been so successful there on so many levels. And, um, she's obviously an incredibly talented

leader. And it doesn't just, it doesn't have to be limited just to corporate. Back to cars. What

has impressed you this year? Like what has anything positively surprised you? And I know

you're going to. I'm going to write a column about that, but I also have a column going live

on Monday that we can talk about after the break about the brands that did really well

this year. And there's one in particular that was a huge standout. All right. That's all ahead

on hot pursuit. That's coming up next. That's after this. It's next. Stay with us. Stick with us.

We're back in two.

Support for the show comes from public. On public, you can build a multi-asset portfolio

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All right. Now let's talk about, well, we teased Hannah, your column that's coming out on Monday.

I'm excited to hear about the brands that you think surprise this year or that will surprise

in 2026. What's the story? Well, this may not be a surprise to someone. We've already

touched on it a little bit, but the real shining star of 2026 is Ferrari. Again, I don't think this

will be a huge surprise, but to maintain such big profit margins, to have order books full until

2027 to basically just have the average price of its new vehicles, like three and four times the

average price of everybody else in the luxury segment just puts every other of its luxury arrivals

to shame. And yes, it's been a hard year for everyone, including Ferrari. They have readjusted

targets, especially with electrification, which I actually think is probably smart.

But still at the end of the day, Ferrari has come out of 2025 looking really good.

And I also think that's because they're less exposed in China. Like we know Porsche in particular

got really hit in China with the EV thing. Ferrari sells like 10% of its vehicles in China.

So it's not really exposed there as much as other luxury brands. So my crown jewel of 2025,

and this is not really a surprise to any of our analysts, is Ferrari.

That's interesting. I also had a chance this year to talk to Benedetto Vigna, the CEO

of Ferrari, and I sensed a willingness, though he wasn't spilling the beans. I sensed a willingness

in him to go back to a manual transmission to three pedals.

You sensed it. You got this vibe.

He was implying that they can do that in their sort of top end, like one-off models.

And we've seen other companies, Aston Martin, for example, do that for their

million-dollar hypercars. But it seemed also, he was asking me what I would do and

I want the take rate to be high. So I think you have to plan it. You have to be strategic about

it. But I think there's a lot more room for manual transmissions in these really expensive

cars, right? I'll never forget what the Bentley CEO told us a couple of weeks ago, Frank Walliser,

Frank Stephan Walliser, about the take rate for the GT3, for the manual transmission in the GT3,

because they had been selling base Carreras or maybe GTSs where the take rate on the manual

was only 20% or less. The engineers bet him that it wouldn't beat that for the GT3. And he was like,

oh, it'll definitely be better than 20. It turned out to be 70%. And the lesson is, though, as you

climb up the price scale, you weed out people who are daily drivers or like us. And you get

these real enthusiasts with money to back it up. And of course, they're going to pick

a manual transmission because this is a car that's going to go in their museum like

gargantuan garage and maybe be driven two or three times a year. Why would they want a PDK?

They're not tracking it. Or at least that's how I read it. So, yeah, Ferrari has just

crushed it. And it was weird to see the stock crater this year after the capital

yesterday. Yeah, it hasn't been a good, it hasn't been like a perfect year for them

admittedly. Yeah. But it hasn't been for anybody.

I thought you were going to talk about Audi because, well...

Oh, Audi's one of my ones to watch, actually. Okay, yeah, exactly. For 2026.

Because... That is in the story, but it's a one to watch.

Yeah, because it just seems like Audi is starting to, I think they've not done poorly.

I've never driven an Audi where I thought this is lame.

Yeah, no, of course. But sometimes I've driven them and thought,

I wish there was a little bit more. Yeah.

I wish there was something grabbing my stomach a little bit more.

A little bit more Audi and less Volkswagen.

Yes, yes. And it looks like...

They have it in them, too. I was just going to say like this company has been around

to racing success for a hundred years. Let's not forget Tom Christensen

winning an Audi's at Le Mans. The heritage is there.

Of course, we saw the concept see that they debuted in September in Milan.

That is, I think it looked cool. I think it's a good indicator of where they're going to go.

And let's not forget they're joining Formula One in the spring.

So cool. Which is going to be a huge shot of adrenaline for them,

both just from a technology, but also marketing standpoint, a glamour standpoint.

I think you're totally right about that, Matt. I'm really looking forward to seeing what they do.

I can't wait to watch Formula One pretty soon. I know. Are you watching Cadillac?

Are you watching Audi? Who are you going to be curious about?

Audi, Cadillac. The competition is just getting so much more intense in terms of

brands that touch me personally on a regular basis. Yes.

I just want to see how it all works out. And I hope somehow Liberty Media figures out a way to

inject more excitement into this. I mean, this season turned out to be pretty exciting at the end,

but the individual races need to have more passing. And I don't know how they do that.

What are the other takeaways from your story? Let's talk about one company that really struggled.

And again, this is not going to be a surprise, but we should talk about it, which is Porsche.

And I would say to be kicked off of Germany's stock index, their blue chip index is a huge

loss of face for them. And that is an indicator of everything else that has been going on for

Porsche. And obviously, Porsche looks to me the worst because it was at the heights. It was

so hyped up. It was the most profitable automaker in the world.

Yes, yes. And when it was kicked off of this German stock index, the shares had fallen over 30%

from the previous year. It has said that it will barely even make a profit in 2025.

So that's unbelievable, only because Porsche has been so dominant. And because the 911 is still,

I think the pinnacle sports car for the money, I still think it is by far the Swiss army knife,

if you have, you can't beat it in terms of every of the value and everything it gives and how it

drives. It's, it's very, very, very close to perfect. So it's just wild to see this

incredible product that we all know and drive often and then see the company struggle. Also,

let's not forget their CEO, Oliver Bluma, you know, was doing a double duty role at BW and Porsche

for a long time. Yeah. And I think that was our strain. I don't know. I'd love to hear your

thoughts. Well, for one thing, we have a fantastic story on Bloomberg.com and on the

Bloomberg terminal about the Porsche PSH family and how they have kind of borrowed

themselves into a corner to some extent. This is a clan that is, while they're storied for

everything we love, they also have made just really bad business decisions over the last 25

years, right? A failed attempt at Porsche taking over Volkswagen resulted in Volkswagen

swallowing up Porsche. And, you know, when they, when the family was ousting Ferdinand Piesch, who

made Volkswagen, everything we love, I mean, this is the hero that bought and brought back

Bugatti. This is the guy who got himself Ducati for his birthday. Like he built this

incredible stable. He's one of us. Yeah, he's one of us. And they, and they, and enforcing

him out had to take massive loans to buy his, you know, $1.3 billion stake. And now they're

having to decide whether or not they pay dividends over what's right for the operational business,

or at least that's something the analysts are questioning. So this all led me to wonder

whether things like the lack of a handbrake, which went away in the 997, or things like

the lack of real gauges, which went away in the 992, you know, things like electronic steering

instead of hydraulic, like are these technological advancements or are they cost cutting mechanisms?

I'm starting to think the answer is yes. Well, I'm starting to think they're just,

it's amazing at a car that starts at $150,000 before options, but I'm starting to think

they just can't afford to put real gauges in because nobody would prefer screens, right?

On a 911, you want the beautiful gauges that for which the car was famous and that they're trying

to like digitally imitate. Like why not give us the real thing? I don't want a fake version of that,

you know? I think it's possible that the powers that be at Porsche

misjudged the consumer a little bit and thought they wouldn't be bothered by all of those very,

they're all very small, minor changes, but they do add up to a bigger thing, I think.

Yeah. And maybe there was a little bit of a misjudge of the depth of devotion on

some of the buyers to that analog feel. Well, let's hope some of it comes back because

I, you know, safe to say it's the brand that we talk about more than any other.

You think? Yes. Yeah. I think car enthusiasts in general probably talk about the 911 more

than any model, including the Miata. I have to disagree. I think people in Ferrari circles

or Lamborghini circles or Pagani circles would say, well, we talk about our favorite cars.

For sure. But I'm just saying, like if you put all car enthusiasts together, right? If you

stack up road and track and car and driver for the past 50 years, I think you're going to see

911 as the most mentioned. Well, that's probably, I can dig through the day. I can use AI to figure

that out. Yeah, please use your chat GBT. If that's the case, then that is still another

testament to how good that car is and how shocking it is that Porsche has fallen.

By the way, can I just say to go back to what we were talking about previously?

One of the big surprises for me this year also was the Taycan, which you'd already driven, I think,

in previous years. Yes. And I had not. It blew me away in a really positive sense. And now,

when I drive by them on the street, I'm looking, you know, and, you know, I may start to

pull them up in car gurus or auto trader just to shop, to see if they've had some depreciation.

That'll set a baby seat in the back. So fast. Yeah. But again, it's not going to come with three

pedals and it's all like Casio screens instead of. No, but I'm okay. I'm actually okay with that.

I think it's the right tool for the job. You know, it's all about, you can have

different tools in your tool, tool belt, right? Yes, for sure. I just wish I could have a lot

of different tools. Yeah, I know. I know. And I just didn't buy Bitcoin early enough, you know.

What's that thing that Barry always says, like, you should have, the money that you've

spent on an Apple computer back in the day, you should have invested with Apple.

Yes, exactly. Instead of buying an iPhone, you should have put the thousand dollars into the

stop. Yes. Which is for the most part true. But then he would have said the same thing

about Portia and I'm glad he didn't buy those shares. Well, story's not over yet.

You know, a true champion finds a way to come back. That's true. And I think we would all be happy

if Portia really showed its champion stripes here. So time will tell. All right. Well,

we tease that you love the stereo in the vehicle that we're currently driving. So when

we come back, we will tell everyone what you're driving right now and who makes the stereo?

Burmeister. This is Hot Pursuit.

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year-over-year, you can literally type any prompt and put the AI to work. It screens

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All right, I'm just looking at, I think it's, I think it's Burmester, but...

Is that if you're living in Germany? I don't know.

Burmeister. Burmeister, whatever. It's something that...

Oh, Burmester. Maybe it's Burmester.

From hearing you say that, that's who makes the stereo, I can surmise that you are either

talking about a Porsche, which by the way, if you ever have to check between that box and Bose,

please check Burmeister or Mercedes, which uses these stereos a lot. So which is it?

Ding, ding, ding, Stuttgart. It's Mercedes. Yet another Mercedes and this is the basically

kind of the four-door version of the car I had last week. This is the Mercedes AMG S63E

performance. It's the four-door version suggested retail price, $186,000. This is like a big car.

If you want a big Mercedes, that's got a big engine. It's got a V8, 791 horsepower.

This is the one for you. So, but wait, say those numbers again. The horsepower and torque,

what is it? Four-liter V8 by turbo, 791 horsepower, over 1,000 pound-feet of torque, 1,054 pound-feet

of torque. So it's the four-door version of the GT63. Yes, and it actually has the same

amount of torque as that two-door GT60 AMG GT. Little lighter on horsepower, but

near enough... Yeah, slightly, but who can tell the difference? Yeah, no, who cares?

Completely. It's a serious thing. So hybrid powertrain, right? Yep, hybrid. Yeah, all of those

figures I just gave are combined figures. Nine-speed transmission, this one doesn't come with a stick.

Matt. No, no, none of them. I hate the color. They gave me... What's the color of the...

Why does the press color always so bad? What's the color? I think because whoever

respects the press cars wants to just try something crazy and wild because it doesn't

really matter because it's not their car. So they just like try... This is like a baby blue.

Oh, I love baby, like a Robin's Egg blue, like a Tiffany blue? It's certainly not as classy as a

Tiffany blue. It's more like a... It's almost a Matt baby blue. That's not okay. Yeah. It's not

okay. Matt colors in general should be done by now and... I agree. Baby blue, like the new

or newish BMW M2. I love that blue, you know, but it's shiny. Oh, yeah. No, this is... And actually,

I'm looking at the paperwork for the car. They don't have the color listed there saying it's

black. Maroney doesn't say color? No, I think this isn't correct because it's calling it black

and it's certainly not black. Maybe it's a wrap. Ooh, that's an interesting proposition.

I will say though, the sound system, it's the Burmister or Burmeister 4D surround sound

costs $6,800 extra. It's so good. Worth it. So good. So worth it. When you're listening to

Cardi B on your way to work, you will hear the back of her throat like you've never heard before.

I highly recommend it. Aside from... Away from cars for a moment, I'll say that...

Cardi B may be the cultural phenomenon that also surprised me most to the upside this year.

Why? Was it her legal travails? No. Her time in court? Nope. Nope. Because she's a real genius.

I've never heard anything from her like music wise or even statements. I paid zero...

Once you said Cardi B, I stopped paying attention. You're missing out. And so I cared

very little. But I was at a concert in Central Park. I knew there was a butt coming.

And they were like, Oh, Cardi B is going to play. And I was like,

this will be interesting. I'm going to probably leave early. And I don't think that I've seen

someone this year who is more herself than Cardi B. She is a genuine version of herself. And in

a way that you can tell like... I know. And I admire and respect her for it. Same. Same

exactly. She... Authentic. She is so authentic. There's no apparent distance between what is

going on in her head and what she says and how she presents herself to the world. And I find that

in a world where everyone wears a mask, I find that so cool. And it's actually really smart.

And it takes a lot of discipline to truly be yourself.

I wonder if... Or if that's just the way she is. I don't see her as a disciplined person,

although she's so successful. You should hear her on social media talking about

like not being lazy and working hard every day. She gives these like pep talks. It's kind of

amazing. Well, she blew me away. And yeah, I was thinking... Last night, I was thinking

about character. What it means to have character. Or does it mean you're being a character? You're

acting a character. You're playing a character. Obviously, all of us are to some extent.

And Cardi B seems like she isn't. She really is that person. I don't know why we... Wait,

why do we get to this? Oh, so you're listening to Cardi B on the Burmester Stereo. It's a

$7,000 option and you're saying tick that box. Tick the box. It really... I'm telling you,

it's one of those things where you're listening to songs and you're like,

oh, I didn't know that. I didn't know that part was in it. I had never realized it. And I think also,

and I need to go back and check, but I also think Dolby Atmos is playing a role here because

this car has it. And I am a fan after getting a very extensive run through of all of the

technology that goes into remastering songs so that they can be played on that platform.

It really does make a difference. So anyway, love the sound system and love the seats too.

Very, very comfortable seats. And when you have a huge town car like this, you kind of want to feel

like you're in a cushy environment. So that's good news. I have grown so frustrated with car

stereos and how bad they are that I have to some extent... Well, I've greatly reduced the

amount of music that I listen to in cars. So I listen to Bloomberg Radio a lot,

but I also listen to BBC and NPR and podcasts. No podcasts? You do listen to a lot of podcasts.

Mostly car podcasts, believe it or not. And because I'm just so disappointed with what

car stereos can give us. There are exceptions. I do think it's overlooked. I'm excited when they've

gotten it right because then I don't have to turn around and spend 10 grand to get it right myself.

Me too. It's cool that you like this car and the car stereo. I don't love how it looks.

I mean, it's not for me. It's kind of like a mobster car in a way. It's just big.

Well, I wouldn't want... I've never liked... So when they had the AMG GT, which came out in 2016,

and I always talk about how much I love that shape, and then they came out with the four-door

version of it, I thought, this is totally wrong. It looks silly. It doesn't work.

But now the new version of the AMG GT, which we've spoken about a lot recently,

that I would say is probably my favorite car of the year that I've driven. Obviously,

there are different cars for different purposes, and so this is not a pickup truck,

but immense power, such an elegant package and an understated luxury. It's just at the price

tag where I get tripped up. The price tag. Also, fuel economy almost 50 miles per gallon

in combined city and highway driving. Depending on who's driving.

Depending on who's driving it. The results may vary because of that hybrid powertrain.

So that's good. Yeah. Well, I don't know if I like that or not. When I think about this car,

the best cars I've driven this year, this is one of them, the Vanquish and the RS6.

I'm not sure if I like the complexity in this car especially, but also the RS6.

The hybrid thing, I'm a huge fan of it, of the Corvettes. I really like the E-Ray

because it has the electric motor pulling on the front wheels, but I would prefer fewer parts that

can break in any car. Yeah, I get it. But man, this thing, I love to go on the Mercedes Benz

configurator and build my own because they have like 100 colors from which you can choose.

Back to the color thing. Colors are important. Yes. But it's over $200,000 before I add a

single option. Yeah, it's so fast though. Zero to 60 in three seconds for a car,

for a big heavy car like this is pretty impressive. Yeah. I don't think a lot of people know

how powerful this vehicle is. Even people who are read in to the automotive world

are hard-pressed to name a sports car under $400,000 that has more than

a thousand pound feet of torque. A lot of people would not be able to. That's like twice what most

911s have. Yeah, 911s are always pretty weak on torque, aren't they, except for the turbos. Well,

I guess they're all turbos now. Back to the 911, Hannah. Oops. All right, so what are your plans?

We're getting closer and closer to, like, I think Hanukkah's starting, Christmas is coming

up. What are your holiday plans? You know what? Well, I'm going to go to Portugal this weekend

and drive that Ferrari real quick. And then I'm really looking forward to being here at home

in LA. We, as you know, Magnus and I are working on a book. Our deadline for that is quickly

approaching. So I will be crashing some chapters of that. Hey, what's the book about?

The book is a coffee table book, 20 chapters, 20 Porsches, actually, with lots of pictures for

anyone who doesn't want to read. There are lots of great photos too. And that should be coming out

probably in early 2027. But I'm also going to go visit, we are going to go visit our friend

Shmueli, who is currently on a ranch at basically near Paso Robles, which is a really nice,

like wine area sort of on the way to Carmel over before New Year in the days between Christmas

and New Year. So you're so lucky that you live out there, you know? You got to come out, Matt.

I really have so many friends. I'm 100% going to come out. You have so many friends and fans.

Well, I just want to hang out with you guys. And obviously my brother-in-law,

Louise. But it's like you can go, it's like living in Europe, California. Kind of. Kind of.

You can just jet off for the weekend to a new amazing place that everyone else wants to see.

And meanwhile here, I can choose between Connecticut and New Jersey, you know?

Where will you be for Christmas? No, I'll be at my place in Westchester. And I love Westchester.

But you know, driving gets a little bit dicey. It's always a little dicey on these

in the winter. And I'm just going to be probably at home scrolling through, bring a trailer.

You know, I mark basically every like non-new 911. But I'm really narrowed it down to like a 997.

I like the look of the .1 better because it's before LEDs. And I like the wheels better on that

and probably sound better without the direct injection. But I like the reliability of the

997.2. Plus I always bookmark any of these older Ferraris. There's a 308. Yeah. I don't know if I

would fit in one, you know, but it doesn't need engine out service. And they go for, they're

not a million dollars. But yeah, that's, I mean, I'm going to have like 17 people at my house

again for Christmas, the whole family. This is relatives coming in. Oh man. That's a lot.

So that'll be fun. Is your tree up? The tree's up, man. We got that at Thanksgiving.

Oh yeah, same. Yeah. Gotta draw it out. Absolutely fantastic. Well, it's been great. We're not going

anywhere. We're still going to be back here same time, same place next week, right? Yes, we will.

Are we doing, Ryan, are we doing a new episode every week still? Yes. I think that's a yes.

That does it for this week's show. Remember to follow and subscribe to

Hot Pursuit on Apple Spotify. And anywhere else you listen,

you can also send us your comments. Email us at hot pursuit at Bloomberg.net.

Yes. And by the way, a dude who listens to the show just bought a Testarosa the other day.

Oh, no way. Wow. And he, on bringing a trailer, he was like, I think I've made a horrible mistake.

Horribly wonderful. Definitely tell us what you're shopping for

and tell us if you pull the trigger or want to. I'm always good for a convo on email.

Check out Hannah's columns and stories on Bloomberg.com and the Bloomberg Business

App. Go there for car reviews, events and stories that you won't find anywhere else.

Find it all at Bloomberg.com slash pursuit slash autos. I'm Matt Miller.

And I'm Hannah Elliott. We'll be back in your podcast feed again next week.

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