Nissan Rogue PHEV First Drive, Plus Audi A5 & Acura Integra Road Tests

Welcome to the podcast of MotorWeek, television's original automotive magazine.

MotorWeek is made possible by AutoValue and Bumper2Bumper and TireRack.com.

Here's your MotorWeek podcast host, John Davis.

And welcome everyone to MotorWeek podcast number 368.

I am indeed your host, John Davis.

Glad to have you with us.

And as we wrap up 2025, well, as they say, we have a lot to talk about, including three

of the newest vehicles to come under our radar.

We're going to cover today the very interesting, for a whole lot of reasons, Nissan, Rogue,

Plugin Hybrid, the latest and always fun sports sedan series from Audi, the redesigned

A5, and the refreshed, but always entertaining, Acura Integra.

Joining me today are our over-the-edge reporter, Greg Carlos.

I am here and bundled up because it is absolutely freezing.

Our studio today is like a refrigerator, it's appropriate, I guess, for December.

Our digital producer, Jessica Rae.

Yeah, sorry, we only just got the lights on in here.

Yeah, well, lights are on anyway in my house.

Staff writer, Alex Kellum, if his teeth are not chattering.

I'll stick with my trademark, Howdy.

All right, Alex, we're going to start with you and the Acura Integra.

What's new, what's not, and what's still important about this little machine?

Oh, wow, we're hopping right into it.

Right into it.

Yeah, so the 2026 Acura Integra sees a very mild refresh.

Now, if you're familiar with this current gen Integra and you were to see a 26 on a lot,

not next to a 25 or a previous model year, you would think what I just said

is a total fabrication, but I promise that it has been refreshed.

And once you kind of point out some of those things, depending on the color,

and I'll explain that in a second, it's a bit more striking.

So kind of alluded to it already.

I'll start with the outside, then the inside, and then talk about the drive

experience. So outside, the Integra sees a paint

matched or a body matched front grille, but that is only on certain colors,

one of which is double apex blue pearl, a color that was debuted on the ZDX Type S.

So you can get that now on the Integra, specifically, I think, only A-spec models.

The trim structure stayed the same.

It's Integra, and then A-spec, and then A-spec with Tech Package.

Two other colors join.

It's solar, silver, and urban gray.

If you want that paint matched grille, and this is where it gets convoluted

or a little convoluted, if you want the paint matched grille,

you get blue or you get red.

If you get one of the other colors, but only certain colors,

you can option for a paint matched grille.

Otherwise, it's gloss black.

If you get blue or red, you can then option for a gloss black grille.

Would you like to say all that again for the microphone?

Not in the slightest, no.

So in other words, if you're not really an Integra aficionado,

you probably won't notice.

Yeah, you probably won't care.

Nor will you notice the A-specs arrow kit that it gets.

Now, when you hear arrow kit, you think like a massive rear wing

in a crazy front dive plane situation.

Yeah, but this is accurate.

Yeah, so it's a couple new ground effects.

I went in the builder and I compared an A-spec and a not A-spec,

and you really have to look for it.

But it is still, in my opinion, at least

a very attractive vehicle.

When you get inside, that's where the changes are also

minimal, but I think maybe more substantial.

I think more people will care that every grade doesn't

matter which Integra you get.

It gets a larger 9-inch touchscreen

and wireless smartphone projection.

Everything else has pretty much stayed the same.

I think if you get the Orchid interior like we had,

which is like a very nice white kind of interior,

there's like a blue suede insert now.

They've also changed some of the bezels,

extended the ambient lighting, that kind of stuff.

The Type S, in case anyone is wondering,

other than the A-pecs blue pearl paint has not changed.

So that is that.

You can still get a manual transmission.

You can still get a manual, and that's the thing.

All right.

So they did this when the Integra first came out,

and I didn't understand it then, and they still do it,

and I still don't understand it.

If you want a manual transmission Integra,

you have to specifically get the A-spec with tech package,

which is the highest trim barring the crazy Type S.

What a flip from where manuals used to be

the standard transmission.

Now it's basically the premium transmission.

Yeah, it's an interesting decision,

and that is paired to a 1.5-liter Turbo 4,

which we've seen, it's one of Honda's standby choices.

It's still here.

It's unchanged.

It's 200 horsepower, 192 pound-feet of torque.

And before I talk about the drive experience real quick,

which, believe it or not, has not changed much

from our first drive, our road test,

and our long-term Integra,

I have a personal anecdote about this vehicle.

So I brought it home one day,

and my roommate is not a car guy.

He appreciates a good car, but he's not

an enthusiast like us.

Normally, if I bring something home,

he says nothing about it.

Maybe every now and then, he's like,

oh, that's kind of cool, or whatever.

This car, he made a point to talk to me about it.

Like, yeah, that's really cool.

I really like that car.

What is that?

Oh, and I'm explaining it to him.

We go outside.

He's like, I love this blue.

I love the interior.

I love all this.

And he doesn't know all the terminology

to explain the kind of exaggerated fenders

or the pointed front end and stuff.

But he's looking at it, and he's like,

it looks very muscular.

It reminds me of a muscle car.

And I'm like, OK, that's an interesting point.

I'm sure you had nothing to say about that.

You know, I kept my mouth shut.

Yeah, I got to look at that.

Alex, you were recall a podcast recently

where you were almost on the table talking about muscle cars.

That doesn't sound like me.

Alex is Mr. Muscle Cart, where are we?

Doesn't sound like me.

But I gave him a ride in it, and he really liked it.

The one thing he said, and he drives a Honda Accord,

so that kind of gives you an idea of what he's

used to driving, is he said,

if I had a bunch of people just filled it up

every seat with people, he's like,

I feel like I'd be maybe just a little cramped.

But outside of that, he's like, I love this interior.

The ride is so smooth.

And he was seriously thinking about buying one,

because he is looking to upgrade.

No, no, he would probably do an automatic,

which if you don't know, the Integra's automatic is a CVT.

So you get a choice between either CVT or six-speed manual

if you go A-spec with tech.

And the drive experience, I mean, the Integra is still,

I mean, 200 horsepower, I know this is maybe crazy to some,

but 200 horsepower isn't exactly a lot these days.

We're used to seeing these big numbers,

but in a car like this, small,

especially with the manual transmission,

it feels lively, it feels fun.

It's front-wheel drive, I should have said that.

The novelty has sort of worn off a little bit for me,

not to say that this isn't a good car.

This is a very good car,

and it's understandable why so many people like it

and why it's, let me get it out of my system,

integral to the Accura strategy these days.

All right, got that done.

The fact that they're still offering a car,

you know, in their market is notable.

This, along with something like Honda's Civic Si,

I think are great like first cars

if you want a manual transmission,

because one of the things I've talked about this before

is this car, like the Civic, has a lot of assists in it.

So a brake hold, if you're worried about rolling back

on a hill, you can have that feature on,

and it's got like a rev-match feature.

So if you're not quite used to heel-telling,

you can let the machine do it for you,

and then you can turn all that off

when you're ready to practice those things,

you get better at it.

The rev-matching is, yeah, that one you have to stop,

you have to go through the infotainment,

it's kind of like splitting the atom,

it's a little bit of a pain, but.

I left it on because of that.

I wanted to turn it off, but then I remember,

because we had a long term, like a year ago,

so we spent a ton of time in it.

We spent a lot of time in it.

And yeah, I was ready to turn it off,

and then in the last year,

I've forgotten where it was in the menu system,

and then realized you can't do it while you're driving,

so I just quit, and just stuck with the rev-matching.

Yep, and so to kind of end it,

one with pricing is that now the Integra starts

a little bit more than it did when it first came out.

They start around 35, 36.

The A-spec with tech, so if you want the manual,

you're paying about 41, 42,

which is a lot of money,

but at the same time, compared to, again, like a Civic,

this has got a more upscale feel,

more premium fit and finish, in my opinion.

And it does.

And I would be willing to bet

you can probably do some real haggling on that price.

I'm sure you can.

And it just goes to show that while, yes,

the number of choices out there

for a small manual transmission, sporty car,

it's certainly dwindled,

there still are some options out there

and some pretty practical options.

I think that's record time for me.

Before the podcast, Jess, rather aggressively,

I should say, told me to keep it short,

so I open the floor to comments and then we'll move on.

And thank you.

Whoa, we haven't even had our holiday party yet.

I plead the fifth.

Should I call it?

Just blink twice as much as I should call HR, Alex.

You looked away when I blinked.

I feel like we were talking about this car too.

I know it's a little bit like

you have to spend more to get the manual transmission.

I think for the A-spec with tech,

it's like just over $40,000, so...

It's probably so the dealers won't get stuck with the manual

that most people don't want.

But what we were talking about too is the new prelude

is coming out and this, a loaded Integra

still manages to undercut the prelude.

Granted, the prelude is a bit different,

but still, I mean, if you're looking for,

if you're looking for manual transmission

like this sporty little car, it's a great option.

It's worth also mentioning, in my opinion,

of all those options I've kind of said,

like, oh, there's manual transmissions out there.

Honda, at least to me, for consumer grade manuals,

this is one of the best in the business.

Oh, it always has been.

The shifter is notchy, the throws are short,

the clutch has always been the thing

that's been a little iffy to me.

Pickup points great, but it's a little light for my taste,

which driving this thing in traffic

is very much appreciated.

But it's spirited drives, I'd like something more weighted.

Outside of that, this is just such a great powertrain.

And we should point out it's still

one of our all-time favorite, you know,

small sporty cars.

I mean, that along with the various versions of the Golf,

I mean, it's right up there and it's a pleasure to drive.

Yep.

Anything else for Greg?

No, I agree.

I was being reacquainted with an old friend.

It was nice.

OK, thanks, everybody.

That brought us up to date on the Integra.

Thanks, Alex.

Don't forget we're going to talk about this new plug-in hybrid

PHEV from Nissan coming up a bit.

But first, more sports sedan news

with the new Audi A5 and Greg Carlos.

It's all yours.

Sort of sports sedan.

I mean, it's the A5.

You've always sort of called it that even though it's

gotten plusher and plusher over the years.

Yeah, and also like, what is a sedan?

Because so the A5 traditionally was

the coupe version of the A4.

That means two doors.

Years ago, coupe used to mean two doors.

Then they started calling it a sport back

and they added two doors.

So it was the A5, a four-door coupe with a hatchback.

With a hatchback.

So now for the third gen, they've just

gotten rid of the sport back terminology

and it's just called the A5.

But it still has that coupe-ish kind of slanting style.

And it's still a five-door.

And it's still a five-door, which we absolutely love.

I mean, we all love the utility of a hatchback.

So how?

We have finally joined the European circus

because the five doors have been what they've

favored for decades.

And it was a hard sell here.

It's a little odd because now I'm getting off topic.

The two series grand coupe has gone away from the hatchback

now it's just a regular deck lid.

But anyway, moving on to the powertrain.

We have a mild hybrid system, which

I feel like we kind of don't really talk about anymore.

Mercedes was doing a mild hybrid,

which is very briefly not a dumb-down version.

A very light, think of like a hybrid vehicle,

but light version of it.

Really small battery.

It's a 48-volt system.

So it's how Audi describes the system

is it's like partial electric drive.

So it is capable.

It gives you a little bit of umph when you need it.

Correct.

It's capable at very low speeds to run on electric power alone.

But it's very briefly and at very low speeds.

And actually at higher speeds, the whole thing disconnects.

And then you're just running on gas.

So what they do is they put a little,

they call it a generator.

And it's a motor.

They stick it directly to the transmission output shaft.

And it helps, like I said, in low speeds.

And what it can do, though, is it recoups energy, typically

lost to breaking heat and actually feeds it back into the system.

And you can use that for all sorts of things,

all your tech inside and for driving and things like that.

It helps with the fuel economy.

It helps with technology.

But it's not like a full-on hybrid system.

You're also working with a four-cylinder turbocharged

engine, 268 horsepower, which I feel like is enough.

Certainly not over the top, but I

didn't feel like it was underpowered.

Alex drove it at the track.

And I just drove it around town.

So I feel like it was fine.

That's what they have the S5 for.

You get a B6 turbo.

It's a nice car.

I mean, it's a pleasant car to drive.

A pleasant, I think, is a really accurate word.

From just looking at it, it kind of lost some of its

sportiness.

And it's not as edgy of a design

and art-particular color.

I'm blanking on the name of it right now as sort of like

blah, blah.

It was definitely blah.

Yeah, but exciting.

But you hop inside and it's Audi.

I think I've given Audi some crap about stagnant interior wise.

They're riding a wave of having some of the most acclaimed

interior.

And I can't say what they've done is my favorite.

But at least they're starting to change a little bit.

They have two huge screens that kind of looks like one

screen, which is the whole, it's a fad right now.

So you have your big gauge screen.

And then to the right of it is your big infotainment screen.

It sticks up from the dash.

It's not quite as integrated as it used to be.

And then if you hop up to the top trim for the prestige

model, the passenger, the front passenger,

can get a screen because everybody

deserves screens these days.

My interesting feature on the interior

was if you hop up to the middle grade, which

is premium plus about 55 grand as opposed to the base,

like 50 grand A5, you get the variable light control roof.

So it's not a typical sunroof that can open and close

physically.

And it doesn't have an actual shade.

It has it has like a electrochromic.

Exactly.

Electrochromatic.

You still use it the same way.

There's like a slider button up top.

And you can quote unquote open it by that.

That was what was different, though.

I think that you could actually do it in stages.

Correct.

Usually those electrochromatic roofs, it's like all or nothing.

All exactly.

So typically it's like either frosted or not frosted.

But what they've done is they've you

can do it in different patterns almost.

And which sounds kind of stupid.

But it was cool.

Like why would I ever use it?

But like anecdotally, I'm driving around

and I'm just messing with it.

And the sun is blasting through the top.

And I hit it to where that it was segmented.

You have some non-frosted, some frosted.

And it actually was nice because it did happen to be

where the sun was positioned.

I had a nice frosted spot to get it out of my eyes.

But you still let light into the vehicle

through the other unfrosted area.

So a luxury feature for sure.

Do you need it?

No, but it is a cool feature.

And it advanced something.

We've had, you know, we've seen these frosted

and unfrosted sun roofs, gosh, for years.

I mean over a decade, almost two.

But it's usually been all or nothing.

And this is the first one I remember

that sort of mimicked a mechanical roof.

Yep, for sure.

And as far as driving, smooth Audi experience,

I would definitely call this a luxury experience

and not just a premium experience.

A little bit of sport thrown in there.

And then the only thing I can think of

that we had some debate about,

and Alex specifically.

That's a tough word for me to say too.

We were actually shooting the exteriors.

And I thought, so they've switched to these

electric switch door handles for Aero,

whatever, just looks, whatever.

You can't actually physically open a door handle.

It doesn't move.

So you reach your hand under there

and then you just hit a little switch button

and that's how it opens.

I think it's, I don't know what's wrong

with regular door handles.

I will say that it does look cool,

but I didn't think the operation was particularly smooth.

But I know, like Alex said,

he didn't really mind it as much.

And I think Logan at the time wasn't super opposed to it.

Yeah, like, cause they work

and I can still get in the vehicle.

So as long as I can do that, that's cool.

But at the same time, like,

there's an art to the door handle.

Like many things I say on this podcast

that starts from my dad, something he told me,

which is, oh, you know, back in the day

it was chrome door handles.

That's how you break up the side profile of a vehicle.

You have chrome bits.

Now you don't do that anymore.

And I always thought like, you're a crazy old man.

But, and I know you're listening to this.

Sorry.

But, like that car.

The unfiltered Alex Cohen.

This is still filtered.

But that A5, I remember looking at it thinking like,

you know, like a nice like chrome door handle

actually would look kind of nice on this.

Like, I don't know.

Like maybe that's just because of the.

You can still see, they're not totally hidden.

Like to give you an idea.

They're technically flush door handles.

But they're not like a Kia EV6

where they're like hidden and they pop out.

You can still like reach under.

Right.

And that's what I like about them is

it's not something that is dependent on a mechanism

for it to pop out or something.

When you put your hand in there,

like to me, once the hand's in there

it still feels like a door handle.

It's a one step motion where it's like those.

If you don't have the powered door handles from the Kia

you have to like push in and pull out.

That's a two step motion to open the door now

which is totally ridiculous.

I wonder if that would be a plus

in icy and cold weather.

Cause a lot of those flush door handles

not the ones you pop out

but the ones you reach under and pull out.

If they get iced over, it's hard to do it.

And this obviously has got to switch just on the back.

I wonder if that's a plus.

It wasn't here when we got snow.

So I don't know.

But anyway, we spent about 10 minutes

talking about door handles.

Anything else you want to mention about it?

The headrest speakers is a very interesting feature.

And it's one of those things where if you're not expecting it

it'll like kind of freak you out a little bit.

Cause you have the navigation playing

and it'll tell you like turn left at this street.

But it's hyper directed at your ears

which me personally kind of threw me off.

Like I don't know if it mess with my equilibrium or what

but like it was almost too focused on my ears.

It felt artificial in a way.

But it is a debt.

I mean, the goal was to focus the nav directions

on your ears and it absolutely does that.

I can't like, I guess I would assume nobody else in the car

heard it nearly as much as I did.

I don't know about that.

But it's one of those things where like I tried it out

and I'm like, I get it.

Like it is kind of cool.

But then I'm like, it's also a little gimmicky

which to me luxury cars,

they always got to throw some gimmicks in

and that's fine.

But you have to find a way to slice

that onion a little thinner.

It's not something I like when I have nav in my car

like I almost never use the voice.

So for me, it's already just kind of lost on me.

I'm not the target audience for headrest speakers.

Jessica anything to add?

You know, one of the interesting things I thought

about the A5 was that it had a lot of sneaky aspects

of it that brought it to like a level I wasn't expecting.

Like I remember we were talking about the head up display

in it and how it was like so it was.

Borderline too good.

Almost too good.

Like it was so crisp.

It had so much information on it.

We're talking about the...

Unnecessary graphics.

Very, yeah, unnecessary graphics.

But it was like, wait, this isn't like their top

of the line sedan.

And like this isn't even the, this is the A5.

This isn't even the S5 or an RS5.

And I think that head up comes in at the mid grade.

So like 55 grand.

So 55 grand.

I think we're talking about a bunch of these features

and even the prestige is, I think at MSRP is at 56.

So we'll just say under 60 grand.

I think it just was, had a lot more of these really

premium features that you wouldn't expect.

Like a few years ago you'd only see in like an A8

exactly or something that cost about 25, 30% more.

Yeah, exactly.

Interesting.

Wow, it's an intriguing car.

I think it's one, a new Audi has a history

of taking a vehicle and giving it more content

than you expect.

That's how they made their names for themselves.

And I think they've done it again with the A5.

Well, before we move on to the next vehicle,

I wanna thank our sponsors of the podcast

and of everything Motor Week, Auto Value

and bumper to bumper and the folks over at tirerack.com.

We know our viewers and listeners appreciate

your dedication to Motor Week.

Okay, I'm sure most all car fans

have seen the headlines about EV sales dropping like a stone

after federal tax incentives expired earlier this fall.

But they may have missed the just as big news

that hybrid sales are booming as Americans

and Europeans look for efficiency without range anxiety.

And Nissan didn't wanna be left out of this surge.

So they took an old but effective approach

to getting something to their dealers lots quickly.

Jessica, tell us more about the Nissan Rogue PHEV.

Yeah, so a very interesting product

that was everything I expected it to be

because it is a car we've all driven before.

Yeah, so it's very interesting.

We talked a little bit about this vehicle

in the last podcast when Nissan debuted it.

I went to drive it and Nissan was pretty

like just straight up about this product.

They're like, we have no hybrids.

People come to our dealerships asking for a hybrid

and we needed to say we have a hybrid we could offer you.

And this is the easiest way for them to do that

in the shortest period of time.

Which is, we haven't really told people what it is yet.

Literally putting a Nissan badge

on a Mitsubishi Outlander plug-in hybrid.

This badge engineering returns.

But technically the Mitsubishi Outlander is a Nissan Rogue.

So like it goes in one hand and Nissan Rogue

is the basis for the Outlander.

But now the Outlander is the Nissan Rogue B&GV.

It's very...

It's the age old question.

What came first, the Rogue or the Outlander?

Yes.

Exactly, it's so true.

And the fact that we like the Mitsubishi PHEV so much

and we've had the previous version of it here for you

and we like the vehicle.

It's good.

We like the vehicle a lot.

It's a really solid plug-in hybrid.

We like the gas version as well, both very solid.

It takes the Rogue's platform

and it actually is a bit longer.

So it makes the...

This is the first time the Rogue I guess is...

Or maybe not the first time.

Don't quote me on that actually

because I don't know all the Rogue's history.

Sorry, you've been quoted.

This becomes a three-row SUV.

I don't think they've ever done a three-row.

The Rogue traditionally has not been a three-row.

So the third-row's, it's fine,

but you could fit seven passengers in this if you want to.

So it's a bit bigger.

And of course this looks nothing like the gas-powered Rogues

that you're still going to see on lots at Nissan dealers.

And I do actually think that this Rogue plug-in

is a little bit more attractive than the Outlander

just because the Outlander has a lot more Chrome bits

on the front and Nissan just decides

to make that all black.

So I think it just has like a sleeker look to it as well.

It's like I said, it's a plug-in hybrid.

So this goes up to 38 miles on a single charge,

which we always found that the 20 kilowatt hour battery

while it on level two,

it does take a bit of time to charge

about seven and a half hours.

But most people,

you're probably not driving more than 40 miles a day.

So this could handle a lot of people's commutes.

Pretty easily.

So that's really nice.

The powertrain, we've always found to be really solid.

It has just the right amount of power.

It's relatively seamless when it's going back and forth

between the gas engine and the electric driving experience.

Like even when you have it on EV mode,

it's really comfortable and relatively efficient.

And then when it switches back over

to the gas engine, say,

when you got to like put a lot more oomph to it,

it's a solid vehicle.

One thing I will say is, you know,

this isn't just, you know,

Mitsubishi doesn't get like the raw end of this deal.

The way that the Rogue plug-in is offered

is it's only going to be in two pretty well-equipped

grades, the SL and the Platinum.

But the Outlander,

and while we haven't seen the 2026 Outlander plug-in

quite yet, there's still some features

that you're not going to get in the Rogue,

like massaging seats, ventilated seats.

So the Outlander does have a little bit of an edge

compared to this Rogue plug-in hybrid.

The interior is really nice with the quilted leather.

It has, the Mitsubishi already had Nissan's

like infotainment system.

So yeah, overall, I almost like don't have much more

to say about it because we've said it all before.

Here's a big plus.

Mitsubishi doesn't have nearly the number

of dealers that Nissan has.

So this takes a very good vehicle

and exposes it to a lot of people

that probably would never even have considered going in

to a Mitsubishi dealer if they could find one.

Yeah, I mean, I think that's a huge, huge plus.

And also, I guess this means that like

if you had a Mitsubishi, you could start getting

a service at an Nissan dealer.

A more convenient dealer.

So it kind of, yeah, it works hand-in-hand.

Pricing-wise, they did talk about,

we don't have exact pricing quite yet,

but they did say that this would be

at the higher end of the Rogue lineup.

So the highest end of the Rogue lineup right now

is about 50 grand.

So that's probably what we're looking at.

I think the PHEV adds like almost 10 grand

to the Outlander.

Yeah, I think it's like 45.

It's not like a hybrid that costs you maybe

1500 or 2000. You're paying for the battery.

For a bigger battery, yeah.

Yeah, I'm seeing MSRPs for the Mitsubishi plug-in hybrid.

Actually is for 2025 is about $40,000.

But again, the Outlander does come

with more trim levels.

And like I mentioned,

the Rogue plug-in hybrid is only available

in those higher trims.

I just saw something yesterday.

They were talking about the German car market

where plug-in hybrids have all of a sudden become

the hottest thing out there.

And the average transaction price is

about 12 to $13,000 more with a PHEV

than without in Germany.

So that jives with that.

You're paying a lot for the battery

and all the other.

Yeah, because it is.

Compared to a regular hybrid battery,

it is significantly bigger.

20 times as large.

Well, you do have two powertrains now.

And that's a factor, too.

But I think the real angle here is

they wanted Rogue to be associated with hybrid.

Because really, truly, the biggest news here

is that a hybrid powertrain is coming to the Rogue.

And we're going to talk about that next.

Because since this is the last show of 2025,

I want everybody around the table

to look into their crystal wall.

And we're going to ask the group what they're looking forward

to driving in 26.

And Alex, what New Year's gift are you

looking most forward to?

Is it something that we've had in mind

or something out of left field?

Man, I don't know.

First, I'll make the same joke I make about every Nissan

looking forward to driving the Nismo version for the Rogue

PHEV.

Well, we've got some cars on the list here.

It could be not on the list.

Yeah, it has to be on the list.

We'll talk about a lot of these things.

But if you had anything else.

What am I looking forward to driving?

What am I looking forward to seeing?

Period.

I mean, is there anything new?

I mean, you're the Mustang, guys.

You're coming down the pike there.

Someone wants to toss me the keys to a Mustang GTD.

I'll take it around the ring.

We all would like to do that.

But outside of that pass, I'll have to think on it.

All right, let's go back to Jessica.

You started talking about the real standard-ish hybrid

coming from the Rogue and Nissan.

So why don't you keep on that track?

This is really when I went to go drive the Rogue.

It's actually bringing to the US

something they're already doing.

Correct, yes.

So when I went to go drive the Rogue,

they also gave me drive time in a thing called the Nissan

cash-kai, which is a car I had never heard of and never seen.

And you probably haven't either, because it's

a car only available in Europe.

It's a global market vehicle.

The reason that they brought out this car, which I'm sure

it wasn't easy to import to the US and tag,

and for us to even drive on a public road,

was because it's powered by their new traditional hybrid

system, which they call E-Power, which functions

very differently than all the other hybrids,

the traditional hybrids, the Toyotas, the Fords,

the Kia's, the Hyundai's.

But it's where the industry's going.

It's where the industry's going.

So in the simplest way to explain it

is that it has a gas engine under the hood.

But the gas engine does not power the wheels.

It's a pure generator.

It's a pure generator, which means that the electric motor,

and this one has a larger battery

than a typical hybrid, it's a two kilowatt hour battery pack,

which you might not think versus a normal typical hybrid

in a Toyotas about a little over one,

a little over one kilowatt hours.

You would think, oh, that's not that big of a difference.

But in Nissan, the way that they explained it

was that it actually allows it to be more efficient

in a lot of its highway driving.

That helps having the slightly larger battery.

Anyway, in the simplest terms,

it drives more like an EV,

because just the EV motor and the battery,

that's what's running the car.

It's a two-motor hybrid.

Yes.

But it's a little something different.

They aren't working in tandem.

They aren't sort of alternating with each other.

They're doing two different roles.

So they're separate.

And so what was interesting about that, too,

is they said that they were able to brace

the gas engine differently

and even better than they typically would be

because it's functioning differently

than if it was powering the wheels.

So they're able to, I guess, secure it a little differently.

Yeah, because it's not,

I guess it's not spinning the flywheel to spin the wheel

so you wouldn't have to brace it as much, I guess.

I mean, I'm not an engineer.

That was the basics of, I think,

what they were trying to explain.

So that helps with NVH.

Also, everybody looks at Nissan.

They have a lot of bad press because of their transmissions

and their CVTs.

The good news is this doesn't have a transmission at all.

It doesn't need one.

So less parts.

This also leads in the two-motor hybrid approach,

which we're seeing more and more of.

That's also what Ford is getting ready to do with their F-150,

the Lightning EVs going away.

And they just announced that they're going to basically

do a two-motor hybrid, which, you know,

a gas engine up front that's just a generator

and a battery for the electric motor like Ram is doing.

So, I mean, we're seeing, going to see a lot more of that.

And I'm actually very interested in driving

one of the pickups with that system in it,

whether it's the F-150 or the Ram.

Yeah, I think that...

I believe that's a really smart approach.

I think it's going to be a lot to get

wrap people's heads around these things.

That you don't actually have a pickup truck

that it doesn't really have.

You really have to.

Like, it's just, you need to...

I mean, the proof is in the pudding.

How much will it tow and how far will it go?

Right, like, I don't think you need to, like,

think about the dealer experience,

the guy who wants to walk in and buy an F-150.

I mean, most of them probably don't care how it tows

the weight, it's just that it can't tow the weight.

They don't care that, you know,

how it gets to 700 miles, it's just that you don't,

you can drive 700 miles and guess what?

You can still fill up your gas tank

and you're not, you are not at the mercy

of the electric infrastructure.

I mean, that was the problem with the lightning.

I think it could tow 10,000 pounds, but not very far.

It definitely, yeah, like, even if you had

an extended range, like, current lightning,

which I think on the normal could get close to 300 miles,

if you towed anything with it, it would cut that down

to a little over 100.

I've forgotten what we did when we saw our test,

but it was somewhere around 150 years from now.

Especially now, cause like we're already getting away

from Average Joe working on their new car.

A lot of times you can't even check the oil

or transmission fluid.

I mean, you gotta go through the system

and I mean, it's getting to the point now

where like they are, automakers are actively trying

to keep you from working on your vehicle, so.

Let's focus though, let's go back to something

that we've heard a lot about

and is coming slowly into focus.

I mean, just because we're seeing more of these

hybrids, it doesn't mean that some of the manufacturers

are giving up on EVs.

We do have the new Chevy Bolt coming,

which will be interesting cause that'll give.

That was the best selling EV and the model

in the country for a while.

But Scout, Scout Motors, you know,

they're edging towards production end of 27 or 28,

as a 28 model year, they just got approval

to go do direct to customer sales in Colorado

and bypass dealers.

What do you think about Scout?

And is anybody around the table looking forward

to actually experiencing it?

For sure.

I know they spent a lot of money on advertising.

They had a Super Bowl commercial last year,

if I'm not mistaken, and I've seen it a few times

just watching TV, so they seem serious financially.

They're building a plant, they've got their headquarters

now, they're building a plant in South Carolina

and they're putting their headquarters

in Charlotte, North Carolina, not sure why.

But I mean, they're, and it's Volkswagen,

in case folks don't know, and it's causing quite a stir

because VW has a lot to dealers

and they'd love to get their hands on a truck

and a rugged SUV and they're basically saying nope,

we're gonna try and sell it directly

to consumers like Tesla, so.

That would top my list as something I'm most interested

in coming in the year.

I think it's, with how successful Rivian has been

and how they've been able to really become mainstream.

Like you, if you talk to somebody now

and you mention Rivian, chances are they've seen one,

they know what you're talking about.

Scout seems to be following a very similar formula,

a very similar ethos, in a very similar look.

And a look that I think pulls a lot more on nostalgia

than maybe the Rivian does.

Oh, I think a lot of, they're banking a lot

on the few people of my age that might remember

the last of Scout.

But it's funny because like,

Scout is where Rivian was a few years ago

and Rivian is in a really nice position now

and they've graduated to now, it's like, all right,

you've shown us what's the next step

and which is what they're gonna take this year

with the R2, hopefully we'll see it.

So they need something else to prove

that they can stay on top or near the top of the EV game.

But they came, Rivian came in at a hot time for EVs.

Like I'm not sure they could have come in at a better time.

Scout isn't really getting that advantage.

So there's no incentives there,

the government incentives are going on.

They might be working uphill

whereas Rivian was kind of working

on a level playing field.

Yeah, and even Rivian's gonna have a hard time.

I mean, they've yet to make a profit on a vehicle

and everybody's been using these EV credits.

Well, they're gone away.

So it's gonna be tough for them too, and lucid.

R2 is, this is their cheaper model

but the idea I guess too with the R2

is like they have to start doing some serious volume.

I mean, to be a successful automaker

you have to be doing some sort of volume

and as much as we really like the R1 series trucks

they are just not affordable for most people.

I mean, $80,000, they're nice.

We get in there and they are very nice vehicles.

They're incredibly capable.

But yeah, I think we're really looking forward

to the R2 that's coming first

and then the R3 which will be on the way

I guess after that sometimes.

While we were talking about Nissan

just to note the XTERRA is coming back.

So I think that's gonna be,

that's gonna excite talking about more rugged SUVs.

Yeah, Nissan kind of talked very little about this

but what they did say is they confirmed

it's going to be a body on frame truck.

So it's not just gonna be like a Pathfinder copy.

Another crossover.

They're bringing a body on frame SUV back

and sort of also the, they said it's gonna come sooner

than we think.

I think the idea is that it'll probably come around

the time that they redesign the frontier.

The frontiers probably do for a significant platform update

within the next like two, three years.

I don't think they can wait that long.

I think they gotta need to do it now

on the chassis they've got.

It's a solid bone.

Well, me and Alex talk a lot about the frontier

how it's just a really solid.

I think it's a great truck.

More than the average person probably talks about the frontier.

Yeah, I love that thing.

I have an old Ranger before the current larger one

and the one alternative truck I constantly look at

is the Frontier because of the powertrain

and just the driving experience.

It's a great truck.

You put a cab on the back of a Frontier today

and shorten it up a little bit

and boom, you're a forerunner competitor.

Anyway, before we move on to our last thing

of before we wrap up this podcast,

anything else, anything from the performance era area

that we on our radar, you mentioned the Mustang.

Well, and I have another Mustang entry

is they're partnering with RTR ready to rock

to bring a from the factory kind of like,

I'm gonna use the phrase drift ready.

I don't know if that's maybe quite what it should be

referred to as, but a more performance spec model

of a consumer Mustang.

And to that end, it's actually gonna be based

on the EcoBoost, so the 2.3 liter turbo four.

And it's not just a body kit.

It is like the big thing that it gets

is a factory anti lag system,

which will keep the turbo spooled up

during shifting and driving, which is pretty neat.

It is a 10 speed auto.

Well, they haven't confirmed this,

but right now the EcoBoost is only a

available with the 10 speed auto.

So I think it's gonna be a 10 speed auto only,

but outside of that, that should be pretty interesting.

Trying to think of other performance entries.

I'm sure there's more in the pipeline,

but now that I'm in the hot seat, I can't think of it.

And we'll save that for the first podcast of 2026.

Sounds good to me.

Hey, before we wrap things up,

just wanna remind everybody,

if you haven't discovered it yet,

go to your favorite app store

and look for the free motor week app.

It works on just about every phone and tablet

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It also has this very unique power tab

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That means every hybrid, every PHEV,

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it's on there.

So we invite you, go out and download

that motor week app today.

It's a nice holiday present and it's free

and you'll never miss a mile of motor week.

Hey, our Rant and Raves,

anybody got something they wanna get off their chest

or has a new year's driving resolution or?

PSA, so this is a rant that has gone back years now

that I was always, when it comes to parking,

a pull in and back out kind of person

don't pull through, I'll admit.

And you have gone this podcast.

You have gone ballistic on it.

I have since, I've gotten older,

a little more understanding, a little more patient.

I understand it, but if I can make a pitch back

to my original point, holiday season,

lots of people out driving.

It is 2025, a lot of cars,

I would say at this point,

the vast majority have backup cameras, right?

A lot of those have rear cross traffic alert,

not as many have front cross traffic alert and assist features.

So with this in mind,

maybe we do a little more pulling into spaces,

not pulling through and backing out

because I will argue that I think

with the current state of vehicle technology,

backing up is more often than not safer

than pulling out of a busy parking space.

I would agree with you on that.

Because you have a wider angle of view,

you have all the systems that are in there,

and they're good, and they work,

and they alert you ahead of time,

and sometimes they'll even break for you.

So you're saying don't back into a space?

No, no, he's saying don't pull through

so you can pull straight out.

Also yes, because that's what you're going to back in either.

But how does he pull through?

That's my better drive,

especially at a grocery store when I'm backing in.

I can't stand it.

What do you do?

Why are you backing into a space

if you're going to go get groceries?

You need that access to the back.

It's funny you bring that up

because the grocery store is one of the few places

that I won't back into a space.

Because it doesn't make sense.

Because I have to get into my trunk

to load up all my groceries.

So yeah.

No, that's a great point.

I think, I feel like I saw somewhere,

maybe like six months ago to a year ago,

there was something somewhere where somebody was advising,

like if you have a younger driver,

you should be,

and they have like a rear cross traffic alert,

they have a car that has a backup camera.

They should be pulling in because,

especially if you're in a parking lot

and say you're in a smaller car

and you're in between two trucks.

You can't see. Somebody coming down the aisle

can't see you.

The camera can because it's way behind you

and it has a wide angle

that you can't even see with your physical eyes.

And it's crazy.

I mean, either the sensors on our cars are so good

or the cameras seem to catch things,

but like you could be backing up

and your eyeball does not see that car,

like right on the edge of your screen.

Like you can't catch it with your eye,

but the car can.

The sensor does.

And then it stops you.

It's time to start trusting these systems a little more.

My wife doesn't even fully trust her backup camera.

It kind of like, it's like with the lines and stuff.

Everything about it.

I've had, I've had somebody actually tell me

they don't trust what the camera is showing.

They don't trust what they can see with their own eyes.

And I get it like you're like, there's the old school,

like I want to do everything myself,

but like, man, these things are so good.

And we drive way more than the average person

we use these systems.

We use good ones and we use bad ones.

I was gonna say, not all cameras and sensors are equal.

But even the worst ones are still.

Are better than you looking through mirrors.

Or trying to crank your head around,

which I know a lot of people still do,

but as you get older, it gets harder to do that.

So let the systems do it.

Yes, you shouldn't do, she's absolutely right.

You shouldn't let the cameras do everything.

The camera completely, it's a tool.

But think about how cool you look

when you put your hand up on the passenger headrest.

You look behind, I'm doing it right now.

So when, that was part of the driving test

when I was 16, you had to put your arm over.

Really?

And I smacked my driving instructor right in the face.

He probably thought, dang, this guy looks cool.

He was an older dude and like, I can't,

like, backhand right across the face.

And he was like, God, he had to be in his 70s

at the time he did the whole,

I felt so bad.

Oh my God.

And here we are on the podcast many years later.

But he passed me.

Wow.

The moral to this story or the summary is

when you get to a spot, just pull in straight,

don't block the aisle, trying to back in

and use the sensors when backing out,

they're safer than your eyeballs at times.

Yeah, especially this holiday season

when every parking lot is going to be slammed.

Or threaten your driving instructor

to slap him silly.

You'll pass.

Maybe it is why I bet now.

It was a hit.

This guy was kung-fu.

He didn't want you to come back.

All right, thanks everybody.

Thanks to our over edge, over the edge reporter,

Greg Carlos, for that great memory.

Digital producer, Jessica Ray, staff writer, Alex Kellam.

Thanks everybody out there for listening

to our podcast today.

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